Late last night, on the last day of the 2010 legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly passed one of the most significant education reform bills in recent decades. The far-reaching bill which passed 31-4 will increase high school graduation requirements, ease enrollment restrictions on charter schools, create a “fast track” for teachers to become principals, tie teacher evaluations to student progress, give parents authority to help overhaul failing schools and allow the State Board of Education to disband locally elected school boards if a district consistently does not show progress.
“All of Connecticut’s children deserve top quality education, and we have a duty to do whatever it takes to make that a reality. Today’s reforms are a huge step forward in ensuring that we do just that,” said Rep. Andy Fleischmann (D-West Hartford), House chair of the Legislature’s Education Committee. “By updating our high school curriculum so that it has sufficient science, technology and math we’re helping to ensure that Connecticut’s youth are ready for 21st century jobs.”
State Commissioner Mark McQuillan has been pushing for these high school reforms passed by the legislature. The bill which does not go into affect until 2014 requires increased graduation requirements and making students take additional credits in mathematics, science and foreign language. Starting with the class of 2018, students would be required to complete a senior project and pass graduation exams in algebra, geometry, biology, American history and English.
The bill also aims to turnaround low performing schools and strengthen Connecticut's application for the Obama Administration’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top Grant. Connecticut stands to win as much as $195 million in federal funds. However, the state's application was rejected in the first round of Race to the Top, placing 25 out of 40 states. The new laws, it's believed, will align the state’s next applications-- due in June--with Race to the Top goals of 1) improve teacher effectiveness, 2) create better assessments aligned to rigorous standards, 3) fix failing schools, or 4) use data systems to track student achievement.
“Today is a breakthrough for the Connecticut education reform movement,” said Alex Johnston, CEO of Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), an education advocacy organization that has been instrumental is pushing through the bill. “These policies would have been unimaginable just five years ago, but they are on their way to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law today.”
Some legislators worry that if Connecticut does not win Race to the Top, the state will be saddled with the cost of extra teachers and training required to fulfill the new high school requirements. The bill could require the hiring as many as 380 additional teachers statewide at a cost of nearly $21 million, according to an estimate by the Legislature's Office of Fiscal Analysis.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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Sigh. More unfunded mandates.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree. 25 and 27 in math and science on a global competitive scale is unsustainable unless we like off shoring and issuing H-1B's. And 30 years since a Nation at Risk is an entire generation of kids who have fallen through the cracks. Thank you President Obama for dangling this $4.35 billion carrot called Race to the Top, a $650 million carrot called i3, and another $1+ billion carrot in next year's budget. Now on to the next federal reform initiative - the overhaul of NCLB and Title 1. Imagine if Title 1 were tied to Race to the Top as part of NCLB and changed from entitlement to competitive funding. Then might tenure no longer be a stranglehold on student progress?
ReplyDeleteHmmm. And imagine if parents had to take responsibility for failing to monitor and address their children's commitment to their school work in high school. It's not all the teachers' doing, folks. Studies show that parents who value education and make a serious effort to hold their kids accountable are parents who have children who succeed. So how about if we tie tax breaks for parents to their children's achievement on state tests? We will meet you half way and accept merit pay if you accept that deal.
ReplyDeleteRead about Florida's new Merit pay laws, estimates are that each district will have to set aside 5% of it's budget to PAY for the new system!
ReplyDeleteTypical example of big government thinking they know best.
ReplyDeleteYou know that Superintendents aren't held accountable in the new bill-- yet, on average in CT they all earn over $220K!
The state wants to disband ELECTED school boards and put in bureaucrats if the schools are in trouble. Great-- more folks from Hartford telling us how to spend our tax money. Any chance they'll agree to disband the General Assembly if the state stays in such deep trouble?????
Once the teacher's unions lose their power and charter schools offer education of choice there will ultimately be even more funds available to schools. This is the future of education and thus our country. Breaking new ground is always a bit scary but having seen the success of my children in a charter school environment I am convinced beyond any doubt that this is the only way.
ReplyDelete8:18
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are a teacher with a grudge. While it is obvious that parental support is absolutely necessary for academic success it is absurd to apply that argument to merit pay. Like any job in this country there are challenges that affect job performance that involve dealing with the public with many different backgrounds, values and ideals. You, as a teacher are still there -- I hope -- to educate students from all backgrounds and walks of life -- and have in place proven support both administratively and structurally to do this effectively. I too have children in a charter school and can tell you first hand that the families in our wonderful school come from a variety of backgrounds and offer differing levels of academic support to our students. Our organizational structure promotes support for our educators on many different levels and the result is absolutely remarkable. The fact that charter schools work is a testament to this theory -- get rid of your ridiculous unions and their mantra of dissing every single component of change -- the result will be quite remarkable.
C'mon-- Charter Schools are big business and they don't play on a level playing field with the public schools.
ReplyDeleteThey can self-select their student body and require greater parental input.
They aren't answerable to the broader public (as a public school must be) and they never have to worry about overcrowding and resources becoming scarce because they can CONTROL THE EXACT NUMBER OF STUDENTS who can attend.
Let's see if charter schools could work if they had no control over the students who could attend, couldn't force families out who didn't tow their line, had little control over support services in the school (because those services were being shared with another school) and had to make do with 10% less every year.
You couldn't be more wrong. Charter school students are chosen during a blind public lottery. They operate with much less per student funding than public schools. They typically get their proportional share if not more of families in need of outside support. They often take on students who have problems succeeding in traditional public schools. Their enrollment caps are set by the state and they have long lobbied to be allowed to accept more students and give their communities more educational choice. What you are spouting is rhetoric that is largely unproven and false that is spouted by the teachers unions that are threatened by the charter schools. Don't knock it until you've tried it. They are truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteSome data on charter schools.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/education/02charters.html?scp=4&sq=Charter%20schools&st=cse
Again, union propaganda. Charters have similar challenges to most schools. However, one thing they do not do is build their entire curriculum around CMT scores. They use Benchmark and Blue Ribbon testing and new and proven teaching methods that allow for advancement far ahead of their public school counterparts. They are being taught in ways that stimulate their thinking and allow for success in college and into their future. There are always going to be 2 sides to this debate. Ultimately it is about more school choices. While your CMT drenched curriculum may work well for your students, mine, having been in both public and private are thriving in a charter school environment. It is not for everyone. It is a choice I am grateful to have.
ReplyDelete9:54: So are you saying Charter schools are not answerable to CMT testing? Lord knows the public schools would like it that way so those "proven teaching methods" can utilize performance tasks with clear standards to assess. Everyone knows any common assessment is flawed when it seeks to measure student progress. It only works for visual learners on a good hair day. Blue Riboon testing? Isn't that a CMT wannabe?
ReplyDeleteSide by Side's CMT results are on the website, and they are not very good.
ReplyDelete