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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — Saying Connecticut has "lost our edge" in education, Gov. Dannel Malloy told the state Legislature and education groups Tuesday that the state's economy depends on passing wide-ranging education reform in 2012.
What's your first impression of Gov. Malloy's ideas for reforming education?
View ResultsWhat's your first impression of Gov. Malloy's ideas for reforming education?
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Great ideas. It's just what Connecticut's schools need.
49% -
Misguided. Schools are doing just fine
4% -
Need to hear more about the plans
47%
Though Connecticut's best school districts and students remain among the nation's top performers, the state's minority and low-income students are falling further behind, Malloy wrote in a letter to lawmakers and education groups Tuesday.
“Our state’s positioning has weakened to the point that we are not competitive in national grant competitions like the recent Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge,” Malloy wrote.
“Worse, the recent release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress results demonstrated that in most cases, Connecticut’s poor and minority students are less prepared for success than their peers in the vast majority of other states — and that our state has the largest achievement gap in the nation.”
Judging teachers and principals by performance rather than tenure, providing more intensive assistance to low-performing schools, giving the state's top districts more freedom to innovate and expanding access to high-quality early-childhood education are among Malloy's proposals for reform.
"One of the most frustrating things I heard repeatedly from employers on my jobs tour was some version of 'I have job openings at my company but I can't find enough qualified people to fill them,'" Malloy wrote. "We cannot prosper if we do not produce a workforce equal to the task of keeping Connecticut's companies competitive."
The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now — a statewide group that annually ranks school district performance — commended Malloy's plan on its website Tuesday. The organization, better known as ConnCAN, called it "an audacious set of priorities."
“We are particularly excited about the governor’s emphasis on excellent teachers and principals, fair funding for the students and districts that are most in need, expanding high-quality school options and transforming the lowest-performing schools and districts," ConnCAN CEO Patrick Riccards wrote.
Comments (6)
Applaud the changes proposed by the state-- teachers and administrators (principals, supervisors, etc) all need to be evaluated... What happens after the evaluations are complete is what I'm interested in... we need an 'out' for poor performing adminstrators too--they are the ones guiding the teachers..
I commend Gov. Malloy on his willingness to change the Educational System. Too bad he couldn't do it when he was mayor for 14 years. Do you want to know why minorities aren't keeping up, it's because the teachers and principals ignore them. There are few in AP classes even though some are qualified to be there. Tenure should be thrown out the window and teachers and principals should perform yearly or be fired. Changing curriculum and possibly postpone academics till 10AM may help, split sessions and even concentrate certain areas like English,Math and Science and have refresher classes later in the day. Those subjects are better studied in smaller time frames.
Give me the job and you will see the improvement. My kids didn't benefit from the Stamford school system, maybe the next generation can.
It isn't just "education" that the State of Connecticut needs help with. Considering the low income families that are falling behind in education, you need to start with the economy and getting better salaries for people. And, to boot, I would like to know the companies who commented 'I have job openings at my company but I can't find enough qualified people to fill them,' because I am more than qualified for every position to which I have applied and have been turned down, despite the fact that I have had an exemplary employment record. And if you are over-qualified for a position, it is because the employer doesn't want to pay the salary commensurate with the experience or capability of the individual applying for the position. The State of Connecticut needs A LOT of changes, and not just in education.
It isn't just "education" that the State of Connecticut needs help with. Considering the low income families that are falling behind in education, you need to start with the economy and getting better salaries for people. And, to boot, I would like to know the companies who commented 'I have job openings at my company but I can't find enough qualified people to fill them,' because I am more than qualified for every position to which I have applied and have been turned down, despite the fact that I have had an exemplary employment record. And if you are over-qualified for a position, it is because the employer doesn't want to pay the salary commensurate with the experience or capability of the individual applying for the position. The State of Connecticut needs A LOT of changes, and not just in education.
The problem in CT schools isn't so much teachers, buildings or administrators. The problem in CT schools is that the percentage of children born to unwed mothers has gone from 5% in 1960 to 45% in 2010. For african americans it's over 70%. Wake up people
Does it truly matter whether you are a single parent or not. Teenage pregnancy has nothing to do with intelligence. Plenty of couples screw their kids up, your point isn't proven.