“Let’s speak bluntly: many parts of our system of public education are broken.”
“Let’s be honest with ourselves, and let’s speak bluntly: many parts of our system of public education are broken.”
– Gov. Malloy introduces the topic of education in his State of the State Address
The 2012 Legislative Session is now underway. For those of us who insist time and again that the only way to bring lasting changes to Connecticut is to introduce a portfolio of reforms that link issues of policy, funding and action to the needs and experiences of the students (rather than the adults) – our time is now.
In the past few weeks, Governor Malloy and Commissioner Pryor have unfolded a bold and impressive proposal for education reform that is highly aligned with the recommendations put forth by the Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement, CCER’s precursor organization, in its 2010 Report. From intensive school turnaround strategies to forward-thinking models of educator preparation, certification, evaluation, compensation, retention, and professional development – we believe the Governor is on the right track. What follows is a discussion of a few of the areas of alignment between CCER’s recommendations and Governor Malloy’s education proposals:
Update on the Achievement Gap Task Force
The CT Achievement Gap Task Force had its first meeting on November 14th at the Legislative Office Building. The eleven-member group is responsible for developing a master plan that will identify the academic achievement gaps that exist across various groups, focus efforts to close those gaps, and establish annual benchmarks while implementing their recommendations. The legislation establishing this task force set a goal to close Connecticut’s achievement gap by January 1, 2020.
This is the “second chapter” of the original task force that met over several months in 2010 and issued its report in January of 2011. Recent legislation requires the establishment of an Interagency Task Force, representing the government’s key stakeholders, to develop and, more importantly, implement the plan.