Members of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Task Force studying state education funding today voted on an interim report to present to the governor before the start of the legislative session. The task force members voted unanimously on six recommendations, which provide a core vision for improving education funding. The recommendations include supporting efforts to…
DetailsCEA is calling for a legislative remedy to ensure that the surviving spouse of a retirement-eligible teacher who dies would automatically be offered pre-retirement Plan D, even if the spouse was not the sole named beneficiary. The importance of fixing the Connecticut General Statutes came to CEA’s attention recently because of a very unfortunate incident.…
DetailsGovernor Dannel P. Malloy told a room full of education advocates and leaders that education reform is the “great issue of our time,” and “We must invest in early childhood education.” “To make some of the progress we need to make in early childhood and teacher improvement, some additional monies are going to have to…
DetailsOn January 3, CEA released an education plan that includes reforming the teacher evaluation process and replacing tenure with a streamlined dismissal process for underperforming teachers. At a news conference at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, CEA shared A View from the Classroom: Proven Ideas for Student Achievement — a comprehensive education reform plan…
DetailsGovernor Malloy sent a letter today to leaders of the Connecticut General Assembly outlining his principles for education reform. According to his press release, the “principles will serve as a ‘roadmap’ for the upcoming 2012 session of the General Assembly, a session in which the Governor has repeatedly said he will focus on education.” CEA’s…
DetailsConnecticut is below the New England average in public education spending per pupil, and it also spends less than New York and New Jersey. That’s what the Education Cost Sharing Task Force heard yesterday from Michael Griffith, senior finance analyst with the Education Commission of the States, a nonpartisan education policy group that provides funding…
Details“I see a spirit of collaboration, achievement and possibilities,” said State Department of Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor during his visit to Bassick High School in Bridgeport today, where he saw innovative school reform in action. Bassick, is a CommPACT school. The CommPACT model, which stands for Community, Parents, Administrators, Children, and Teachers, is implemented within…
DetailsGovernor Malloy has said that 2012 will be “The Year of Education” at the state legislature, and new proposals could be on the legislative front burner. Teachers want to be part of the education conversation. There’s a unique initiative this January where you can share what’s on your mind when it comes to state education…
DetailsThey’re one of the hottest acts in music. With hit songs “Tonight Tonight” and “I Like It Like That” topping the music industry charts, the band Hot Chelle Rae has performed on national television, including appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. So what were…
DetailsThe federal government should focus on what it can do well and the four functions it alone can perform, according to an op-ed in today’s New York Times. In their piece “How to Rescue Education Reform” Frederick M. Hess and Linda Darling-Hammond say these functions are: Encourage transparency for school performance and spending. Ensure that basic…
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