Only two hours after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law a compromise education reform bill to near universal applause, a disagreement erupted at the State Department of Education over how to implement a provision on evaluating teachers.
The dispute was a quick reminder that passing the reforms might be easier than carrying them out, especially on the politically sensitive topic of teacher evaluations.
Read moreGov. Dannel P. Malloy smiled and gave a thumbs up to Mary Loftus Levine, the leader of a teachers' union that all but declared war on the governor over education reforms. She smiled back. The brief, silent exchange at a bill-signing ceremony Tuesday spoke volumes about the roller-coaster ride that was education reform.
Read moreConnecticut received its report card Thursday on how well its students are learning science, and it's not a pretty picture.
Scores from the U.S. Department of Education show that on national science tests, the achievement gap between low-income Connecticut students and their more affluent peers continues to be the largest in the nation. The gap between black and Hispanic students and their white peers is also one of the worst in the country.
The day after the annual legislative session ends is typically a time for all sides to declare victory, lament defeat, or spin one into the other. Below, our list of winners and losers from the 2012 session.
Not everything that didn’t get done is dead; legislators are expected to return for a special session in the coming weeks to vote on budget implementation bills that could incorporate proposals that didn’t get through in the regular session.
One thing is certain in the budget legislators passed this week: The state will soon be spending an additional $90 million in new funding in an effort to improve the state's lowest-performing districts.
But a larger question looms: Will municipalities be required to spend more on education, too? Top state budget officials say the answer is likely 'yes.' But this spending requirement was omitted from the near unanimously approved education reform package.
A quarter of the students who enter a public college spend their first year taking only non-credit remedial courses. Some even spend two years.
That may soon end. The legislature has overwhelmingly approved a bill that will, starting in 2014, restrict the circumstances that college officials can require students to spend time and money taking these courses.
Read moreLegislators agree: The education reform bill they unanimously approved Tuesday is but a step, one of several needed to provide a better education for the lowest-performing students.
Which is why many of their comments were qualified: 'It's a step. I wouldn't call it monumental,' said Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, head of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.
"It's what we should have been doing long ago," said Republican Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr.
Read moreAs the Senate voted 22-13 to give final approval late Tuesday to a revised $20.5 billion budget for next year, both parties saw state finances on the cusp of a major change.
There was no agreement on the nature of that change: Democrats see the budget closing small deficits and preserving vital services until a recovery, while Republicans predict that gimmicks in the plan mean another looming budget crisis.
Read moreGov. Dannel P. Malloy took to the radio airwaves in New York Tuesday to celebrate the changes to the education system and teacher tenure he has won in the education bill making its way through the Connecticut legislature.
"We were stuck in the mud [on real reform]. That all ends," the Democratic governor told WCBS, a New York City radio station, this afternoon. "We are going to hold people accountable for driving achievement."
The Senate passed a sweeping education reform bill early Tuesday morning on a 28-7 vote, with the only opposition coming from Republican legislators who complained of the last-minute release of the compromise, saying no one should be voting on a bill they have not had a chance to read. The House takes up the bill later today.
Read moreThe House of Representatives voted early Tuesday to approve a revised $20.5 billion budget for the next fiscal year that preserves most of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's initiatives for education and nonprofit social services while closing a $200 million-plus shortfall in current finances.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy declared victory Monday night in his long, contentious push for education reforms, announcing a compromise agreement at a televised press conference with legislative leaders who promised quick passage, beginning with an overnight debate in the Senate.
Read more"I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement on meaningful education reform. I can say, with confidence, that this bill will allow us to begin fixing what is broken in our public schools.
"I want to thank my team - Mark Ojakian, Commissioner Stefan Pryor, and Liz Donohue, our policy director - for their hard work on this.
"I also want to thank all the key stakeholders - legislators, teachers, administrators, advocates, parents, and students - for the passionate voices that were heard during the past five months.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders used a mix of programmatic cuts, borrowing and a raid on transportation and other special funds to preserve nearly three-fourths of the governor's proposed education spending.
The General Assembly today kicked off a three-day scramble to its adjournment of midnight Wednesday with hopes of beginning debate on compromise education-reform and budget bills as soon as tonight.
In early action today, the House gave final legislative approval to bills on racial profiling and project-labor agreements, then broke this afternoon to caucus on education, the budget and other remaining issues.
State data from 2011 show that whether a youth is black, white or Latino, he has about a 50 percent chance of having his case dismissed once it reaches a courtroom.
But state data also show that skin color and ethnicity are powerful indicators of which children will be arrested in the first place. In fact, when students are arrested on school property, one of every two will be black or Hispanic.
Read more
A controversial proposal to give collective bargaining rights to certain home care workers and daycare providers is headed to the governor's desk after passage Thursday night by the Senate, completing a process begun less than seven months ago with two executive orders. The measure would allow unions representing daycare providers and personal care attendants paid through public programs to negotiate with the state.
Read moreThe legislature's Black and Puerto Rican Caucus tried Thursday to nudge forward some of the education reforms that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says are needed to turn around troubled urban schools.
But the caucus, which includes 22 of the legislature's 187 members, offered a mixed message at a news conference, embracing some reforms, while opposing or offering no opinion on areas most strongly fought by teacher unions.
Read moreThough Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is trying to see the fiscal glass as half full, key legislators tied to budget talks conceded this week that many of Malloy's top initiatives may have to be scaled back, delayed, or cut altogether.
As Gov. Dannel P. Malloy attempts to push his controversial education reforms through the legislature, he's taking up a new talking point: Failure means the state's chances of being relieved from the dictates of the federal No Child Left Behind law are at risk.
So, what are the state's chances at landing a waiver and relief from this law at risk if the legislature doesn't pass his bill? It depends who you ask.
Read more"He brings experience. He's been elected."
Mike Clark on endorsing State Sen. Andrew Roraback for the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District race.
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