Most Seem To Be Happy With Watered-Down Education Bill

Nearly everyone seems to be happy with the watered-down education bill.

The state House of Representatives approved the compromise bill unanimously at the end of the legislative session, and a crowd of supporters gathered Tuesday at the state Capitol to hear U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announce that Connecticut had received a waiver under the federal law known as No Child Left Behind.

It’s a long way from the contentiousness between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the state’s largest teachers’ unions that lasted for months.

Not that long ago, on April 15, the Connecticut Education Association was still broadcasting a scathing commercial on “60 Minutes,” one of the most-watched programs on television.

Referring to Malloy’s education plan, the commercial said, “It’s like a bad science experiment – unproven ideas, backed by special interests, taking tax dollars away from our neighborhood schools. It’s sure to explode.”

The commercial ended by saying, ”We don’t need a bad experiment.”

But that was not mentioned Tuesday during the celebration in the high-ceilinged Old Judiciary Room on the third floor at the state Capitol.  Both Malloy and the CEA were happy, issuing statements hailing the federal waiver.