After all the talk and bluster about a year of education reform what’s emerged from the General Assembly’s education committee is a non-threatening and more-of-the-same education spending plan. That’s not likely to put Connecticut at the forefront of any reform movement.
It’s reform lite.
Is that what Connecticut wants? That’s unclear. Is it a compromise? That depends on your perspective. By any measure, it is a significant, if preliminary, win for the Connecticut Education Association. The CEA and the American Federation of Teachers certainly deserve credit here for getting a bill out of committee that meets their desires.
But it’s not what Gov. Dannel Malloy — the big loser thus far in this still-unfolding story — sought. The governor’s office didn’t say much Tuesday night, except that Malloy is committed to “fixing what’s broken in our public schools no matter how long it takes.” His office didn’t say whether that would include taking on the leaders of his own party, House Speaker Chris Donovan and Senate President Don Williams, who are most certainly the muscle behind the success of this compromise.
There’s more money for preschool, which everyone agrees is good. The teacher evaluation process was streamlined and improved. A big move to grant the state bold new power to take over chronically failing schools was scaled back. A plan to link evaluation to tenure and decisions about dismissal of chronically ineffective teachers — a high-profile though less significant part of the bill — was removed. Notably, a long-sought effort to boost funding for charter schools was dialed back, knocking the state’s charter school movement on its heels.
Compared to what some other states have done, Connecticut’s initiative — which could still be radically altered over the next six weeks – really doesn’t look that ambitious. Maybe that’s why we have the biggest achievement gap in the land.
For my weekend blog readers, a correction: my early blog posts of the CEA email leaked to me Sunday afternoon were jump-the-gun inaccurate. The email was not sent to teachers and I was wrong to have said that — as many commenters made clear. I updated the post later in the day. What was most significant about the email was that union leaders declared that no deal was better than one they didn’t like. They meant it.
In the version that won preliminary approval Monday, the union got just what it wanted. The legislation isn’t quite a shell of what Malloy proposed, but it is substantially diminished and the reform groups that backed the governor and his plan appeared stunned Monday. Now, the governor must decide — is this compromise or capitulation?
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9 Responses to As The School Reform World Turns: Compromise Or Just The Start Of A Battle?
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I praise the CT legislators for not “Following what everyone else is doing” as this bill did absolutly nothing to close the achievement gap in CT. Put the resources the high performing districts have into the struggling schools, if you want to close the achievement gap. Close the tax loophole, put a fair tax code into place and use the additional revenue to level the playing field. Teacher tenure has NOTHING to do with it.
Compared to what some other states have done, Connecticut’s initiative — which could still be radically altered over the next six weeks – really doesn’t look that ambitious. Maybe that’s why we have the biggest achievement gap in the land.
Is this based upon your independent readings and research or what you have been told or what you have heard from Roy O., Malloy and the Charter gang?
Other states have been held hostage by the Race to the Top and that isn’t necessarily reform.
Totally agree with your suggestion of the link to the biggest achievement gap. Again, the Albert Einstein quote: “INSANITY: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different outcomes.” CEA just cares about CEA, teachers’ dues, and protection for teachers – regardless of effectiveness. There’s still time to restore reality and address the achievement gaps. Legislators, join the governor and make a difference for all students!
You want the truth on this movement. Read this….You want real research and journalism, read Jon Pelto’s articles:
http://jonathanpelto.com/2012/03/27/dan-malloy-and-the-national-forces-pushing-for-education-reform/
Malloy is a puppet for the philanthrocapitalists who are pretending to care about our children. Don’t be fooled by their lies.
You keep your (questionable) source of truth and I’ll keep mine. … Pelto???
It was a win for the unions from Day One. For CT it was a ‘Progressive Agenda’ but still weak.
What is True Reform? Vouchers for charter, parochial, and private schools to restore true school choice; parental triggers to dissolve failing schools; mandatory retention at grades 3, 5 and 8 accompanied by preschool expansion, timely intervention based on testing, increased contact hours including nights, weekends and summer, and early parental outreach.
Adopting New Innovative programs embracing technology and modular study; tighter integration with Community Colleges and the Workforce. Teaching the 4 R’s with Respect leading the way: respect for self, the school community, and external stakeholders.
What is Teacher Reform? A move towards 5-year contracts; 401Ks; an end to step increases based on academic credits over and above a Bachelors degree; compensation based on results and contribution.
Ultimately it involves placing the kids above collective bargaining and putting organized crime in its place. The heavy-handed, anti-taxpayer union tactics used in CT would qualify as conspiracy and organized crime in some states of the US.
5 Republicans voted against the compromise which went down 28-5 with 7 GOP joining the 21 Democrats.
“Everything was thrown out with the bath water,” said Rep. DebraLee Hovey, R-Monroe.
Richard, you couldn’t be any more off. I’m guessing you don’t know any teachers, as most that I know do work nights, weekends and summers are always available through email or their websites.
You have true choice already: you can pay for private school or parochial if you want (I don’t any private school will want government money given the conditions it comes with), homeschool, move to another district, or get involved with your local school district to make sure it is running efficiently. Most of us opt for that last one. Most importantly, we make sure our kids our focusing on their education, behaving and studying.
I do agree with you on technology and community college collaboration. I also believe many high school teachers can and do teach their classes with the same intensity as community colleges so long as they are not held back by administration and state mandates.
If you want true reform, let’s end the laws that don’t allow us to group kids by ability until they are in seventh grade. Let’s look at the reality of mainstreaming kids, allowing incorrigible kids to stay in a class no matter how detrimental their presence is to the other students,and how many bright kids’ abilities are stunted by test preparation.
Finally, in cases of failing schools, you will find that a student’s performance is tied to the education and lack of involvement of their parents. Why can’t we tie food stamps, HUSKY, welfare assistance and subsidized housing to parental education classes (nutrition, school readiness/involvement, budgeting, job training, finishing their own education)?
I’m an ex-teacher AM.
I don’t support the one-size, closed-shop union model. We need more teacher mobility, not less. More fresh blood, not less. I loved the 5-year contract and switch to 401Ks as a model. Teaching needs a flexible workforce.
There is a model in NYC where an entire housing complex is turned into learning centers for parents and their kids. It’s fairly immersive with various classes running up to 9:00 PM. It’s also expensive and requires a flexible teaching and learning model. This Means its non-union.
Various HeadStart facilities include parental classes and training opportunities.
I don’t disagree with much of what you say but there are some points: Florida found out that the tough love approach to remediation and retention worked in large part because it changed the culture of the teachers. Teachers often accepted social promotion and too often took the path of least resistance. Is that typical of all teachers? No.
Florida claims a reduction from 29% illiteracy from finishing 3rd graders to 16% and place much of the improvement on a changed culture and increased expectations and oversight that is very much test driven. Opt outs for highly functional situations where increased testing is likely to be counter productive is another thing entirely.
If 1 of 10 kids benefits from more oversight and accountability of the teaching profession, why such opposition? Call it the low hanging fruit theory. Some of these programs have the most bang for the buck in the first few years before becoming entrenched paperwork and bureaucracy.
Call it t