The State Department of Education (SDE) is proposing some dramatic changes that could upend critical certification regulations and put your teaching license at risk. Hundreds of CEA members attended the first three of five scheduled public hearings on these certification changes, and urged SDE officials to reconsider their proposed regulation revisions. Watch what they had…
DetailsBudget cuts are hurting schools around the state. From Norwich to Farmington, teachers are speaking out and drawing attention to the damage cuts will inflict on student learning. In Avon, almost 1,000 school supporters came out in force for a rally and to attend a public budget hearing on April 5. The Hartford Courant wrote…
DetailsAt today’s meeting of Connecticut’s P-20 Council forty state and congressional leaders gathered to sign on to a set of guiding principles, known as a Declaration of Cooperation. The principles will guide Connecticut and its educational systems. Read them here. CEA is a member of the P-20 Council that was created last year to…
DetailsThe CT Mirror has an article today you’ll want to check out titled Public schools confronting ‘catastrophic’ budget woes–and the worst is ahead. The article surveys the budget problems towns around the state are facing. In Norwich, as in other cash-strapped public school districts, spring is the mean season. Trying to balance its budget, the…
DetailsThe Obama administration officially conveyed it’s blueprint for reauthorization to Congress last week, even while seeking ideas from teachers. So what else is new, you might ask? Apparently, while seeking input, the plan was also being written, as I have suggested in the past, jaded cynic that I have become. Secretary Duncan told the House…
DetailsThe Connecticut Supreme Court has breathed new life into one of the most important school finance cases in the history of our state. The case, CCJEF v. Rell, asserts that the state should provide funding to ensure each and every child can meet specific standards and function as productive citizens. This assertion is in contrast…
DetailsOn Saturday the Obama administration announced the release of its blueprint for reforming the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Read the blueprint and find more information from the Department of Education here. “We’re surprised that the Obama administration’s first attempt to rectify the problems in NCLB appears so inadequate. For starters, there’s no serious…
DetailsRace to the Top finalists were announced last week and, probably not coincidentally, teachers and education have been in the news recently. Newsweek and the New York Times Magazine, mainstream publications with a wide reach, have had features on teachers and teaching: Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers and Building a Better Teacher. Meanwhile the…
DetailsKey state economists gathered at CEA today – along with reporters – to discuss a variety of topics from the depth of the state recession to the wisdom of how federal stimulus funds were applied by state policymakers. The reason for their meeting was the release of the Spring 2010 issue of The Connecticut Economy:…
DetailsWell known conservative NYU education historian Diane Ravitch has done a slow, but complete 180º turn in her views on education reform. In her recently published book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, she fully documents her transition from ardent “standardista” and advocate of…
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