Dismantling access to Connecticut’s higher education
I woke up recently to the headline that the governor of Nevada had signed into law the Nevada Promise Scholarship which would provide tuition-free community college to eligible students. Thus Nevada...
View ArticleOffice of Early Childhood merger takes us back, not forward
It is troubling that several of the budget proposals floating around the State Capitol call for the merger of the Office of Early Childhood into the State Department of Education. It was just three...
View ArticleAs state grapples with budget, poor students shouldn’t get left behind
As the budget process continues in Hartford, we urge legislators to ensure that urban schools, from traditional district schools to magnet and charter schools, don’t fall by the wayside.
View ArticleBalancing the state budget is not a game
Have you ever played Jenga, the game where you try to preserve a structure built out of wooden blocks while at the same time you remove pieces one at a time? If so, you know that there is a limit to...
View ArticleSeeking a debt-free college education
Attending a college is something most of us dream about as teenagers. We look forward to becoming doctors, police officers, artists, nurses, etc. When the time comes to enroll in a college, the last...
View ArticleNew charter seats will strip Bridgeport Public Schools of resources
On July 19, the unelected, governor-appointed Connecticut State Board of Education approved 504 additional seats in state charter schools for next year, with 154 of those seats going to Capital...
View ArticleProtect your family from Meningitis B
As a public health advocate, I work each day to educate families and health care providers about the importance and availability of vaccines. As a parent, my top priority is the health and safety of my...
View ArticleAfter-school programs bring big benefits to families
It’s 3 p.m., do you know where your children are? We often refer to youth as our future, yet when budget cuts roll around, the money used to invest in students gets put on the chopping block. Even with...
View ArticleCommunity colleges move the people and can move the state
I am not forgetting about or unsympathetic to the state’s demanding financial situation and the complex challenges of addressing the projected shortfalls in the next biennial budget. At Naugatuck...
View ArticleThe NAACP tells it as it is on charter schools
An English teacher friend of mine was a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year in the mid 90’s. As one of the culminating steps in the selection process, the four finalists were instructed to...
View ArticleConnecticut’s budget needs to encourage more higher ed, not hamper it
Connecticut is not getting the message sent by General Electric, Aetna and other corporations who have either left the state for greener pastures or are contemplating a move. GE pulled up stakes and...
View ArticleWhat next for Connecticut education?
Teachers wear many hats. Instructor. Mentor. Advocate. Mystery shopper typically isn’t one of them. But for this teacher and Stratford City Councilwoman, my past life as a mystery shopper has been...
View ArticleState plans to change teacher certification requirements are ‘misguided’
Last week’s CT Mirror reporting concerning the State Department of Education’s plans to once again change the teacher certification regulations to allow more “non-traditional” pathways is both deeply...
View ArticleWhy the CCSU Senate voted for Ojakian’s resignation, Regents’ abolition
On Monday, April 30, the Central Connecticut State University Senate voted by an overwhelming majority (38-1) through a secret ballot to call for President Mark Ojakian's resignation, a halt to...
View ArticleCSCU needs new management and leadership
As the legislative session draws to a close, the budget debate continues but in a much different environment than last year. Hopeful predictions for the future are changing the discussion from “slash...
View ArticleUnCreativity, Inc.: The Board of Regents for Higher Education
Now that NEASC has confirmed what most of us already knew —that the Board of Regents' Students First proposal to consolidate the state’s community colleges was a very bad idea —we are now left with the...
View ArticleDanbury, Norwalk need these two new proposed charter schools
Nationwide we are celebrating National Charter Schools Week, and noting how far the charter movement has come since the passage of the first charter law in 1991. But locally we are on the cusp of...
View ArticleA big mistake: Defunded services to Connecticut’s most at-risk youth
Last week we learned that state funds for critical programs that serve high-risk youth and families was “swept” as “an inadvertent casualty” of the transfer of juvenile justice services and its funds...
View ArticleStudy of religions in high school would build understanding and diversity
Upon discovering that three Biblical excerpts were included in my university’s required “Literature Humanities” seminar, I was shocked. After dropping out of my Confraternity of Christian Doctrine...
View ArticleConnecticut should invest more in community colleges, not less
Connecticut faces an ongoing budget crisis and somehow the community colleges have become the scapegoat. Why is the sector of public higher education that serves the highest number of minority...
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