Link to State
Department of Education by clicking above...how about CHARTER SCHOOLS?
AT THE BOARD'S OUTREACH MEETING NOV. 21...more here.
Phil Schaefer, Chairman and Jerry Belair, Superintendent of Schools
NEW
SUPERINTENDENT SELECTED -
Jerome Belair new Superintendent (at left, with Dr.
Pierson, 2007 "About Town" and at right, with Dr. Keating - watch
this interview here)!
EDUCATION:
including notes from meetings of that Weston Board that we occasionally
attend
in person.
State Educators Hail Obama's Budget
Proposals
Hartford Courant
By GRACE E. MERRITT
February 4, 2010
State education leaders say they're pleased that President Barack
Obama's proposed education budget would overhaul the Bush
administration's test-based No Child Left Behind law with a more
competitive approach that rewards reforms designed to raise student
achievement, improve teaching and inspire students to excel in math and
science.
Connecticut is set to receive $455 million under Obama's proposed
budget to help develop better schools, improve student achievement and
make high school graduates ready for college and a career.
Many of the proposals in the education budget, released Monday, expand
Obama's Race to the Top national school reform competition, which
encourages expansion of charter schools and linking teacher pay to
student performance, among other reforms.
The budget would add $1.35 billion more to Race to the Top and offer
millions in competitive grants for state and local efforts to improve
literacy instruction and develop effective strategies for teaching and
learning science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
"It more clearly defines what's most important to invest in," said
George Sugai, a professor at the Neag School of Education at the
University of Connecticut.
He said he liked the fact that the budget increases funding for
education overall, focuses on improving student performance "by looking
at how you teach" and pays attention to special education to make sure
the needs of all children are addressed.
"We see a refocused shift from No Child Left Behind, which was based on
year-to-year test scores and consequences, to a new calculus of
focusing on instruction, using data and putting more emphasis on
student performance from year to year," said State Board of Education
spokesman Thomas Murphy.
State Rep. Andrew M. Fleischmann, D-West Hartford, co-chairman of the
legislature's education committee, called the new approach a "vast
improvement" from the "one-size-fits-all" approach of the Bush
administration.
He said the new approach is more logical and attempts to improve the
nation's global competitiveness.
"It sounds to me like the right direction," Fleischmann said. "We know
the United States is falling behind our competitors when it comes to
math and science."
State Sen. Thomas P. Gaffey, D-Meriden, the other education committee
chairman, was more reserved, saying he'd like to know more specifics.
"It remains unclear as to actually how they are going to define these
terms as having children college-ready and career-ready," Gaffey said.
"That's going to be left to the Department of Education to write those
terms. I get very nervous when there is stuff proposed in legislation,
but it is left up to the bureaucrats to write the terms."
Copyright © 2010, The Hartford Courant
School choice: 'The most efficient
way' to desegregate
CT MIRROR
Robert A. Frahm
February 2, 2010
As Connecticut spends millions of dollars a year to meet a court
desegregation order by building and running racially-integrated magnet
schools, parents like Iraida Sanchez of Hartford would be happy with a
far less expensive alternative.
Year after year, Sanchez has put her son Nathaniel's name in a lottery.
She is not aiming for one of the region's state-of-the-art magnet
schools but hoping instead for a desk in a regular elementary school in
any of the city's neighboring suburbs.
No luck so far. "Ever since first grade or kindergarten he's always on
the waiting list," she said. Nathaniel's now in fourth grade.
Despite what state officials insist is an ample supply of open seats
under a decades-old school choice program, suburban schools have
accepted only a trickle of children while Sanchez and thousands of
other Hartford parents continue to wait.
Moving some of Hartford's largely minority student population to
integrated or mostly white suburban schools was to have been a key
element in the effort to comply with a 1996 state Supreme Court order
[3] in the Sheff vs. O'Neill desegregation case. However, the state put
its emphasis - and its money - mainly into building magnet schools with
popular specialty themes such as science, performing arts and
international studies. The suburban choice program languished.
But today, as magnet schools and the state's fiscal crisis push
education budgets to the breaking point, some educators believe this
civil rights-era program, now known as Open Choice, could be a more
budget-friendly, long-term answer to school desegregation in the
Hartford region.
"The future of Sheff rests on the back of Open Choice, not magnet
schools," said Bruce Douglas, executive director of the Capitol Region
Education Council (CREC), an agency that runs both the choice program
and several magnet schools in the Hartford region.
Leaders of the state Department of Education and the legislature's
Education Committee agree that the choice program should be expanded,
and the potentially volatile issue of requiring suburban towns to
accept city students may come up in the General Assembly session that
starts Wednesday.
Urban-suburban transfer programs have been used to desegregate schools
in cities such as Boston, St. Louis and Milwaukee, and plaintiffs in
the Sheff lawsuit agree that Hartford's suburban choice program can
play a larger role.
"We've always believed that [suburban] choice was a far more effective
means to offer quality and integrated education for the bang for the
buck," said John Brittain, a civil rights lawyer who was part of the
team that filed the Sheff lawsuit in 1989.
Among those hoping to bolster the Open Choice program is state
Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan, who is troubled by the focus on
magnets as the central strategy to meet the Sheff goals.
"Relative to Sheff, it has not been a good strategy," McQuillan said.
Magnet schools sprouted across Connecticut following a 1996 law that
promised the state would pay the entire cost (later reduced to 95
percent) of building new magnets.
The state has spent nearly half a billion dollars to build more than a
dozen magnets in the Hartford region with several others under
construction or in planning. Nevertheless, the effort to place enough
Hartford children in integrated schools has been a struggle.
About one quarter of Hartford's 21,730 minority schoolchildren now
attend integrated magnet schools, charter schools, regional technical
and agricultural high schools, or suburban schools. However, under
terms of a court-approved agreement with the Sheff plaintiffs, the
state must increase that number to 41 percent by the 2012-2013 school
year.
As many as 14,000 names remain on waiting lists for magnet schools and
the Open Choice program, officials estimate. Most are Hartford students.
Although the legislature increased support for operating magnet schools
in the Sheff region this year, it did not increase the subsidy to
suburban schools for enrolling Hartford students in the choice program.
That subsidy remains at $2,500 per student despite McQuillan's request
for a substantial increase.
Bolstering that subsidy would be far more efficient than building
another magnet school for, say, $60 million, said former Avon
Superintendent of Schools Richard Kisiel, now representing the Sheff
plaintiffs under the court-approved settlement.
"You take that $60 million and translate that into [Open Choice]
incentive money - absolutely it's the most efficient way, but we can't
seem to convince the legislature," he said. "If they had increased the
incentive as the commissioner proposed, I'm convinced that would have
opened up seats. . . . I think it could solve the problem completely."
McQuillan still hopes to get more incentive money but also plans to ask
the legislature to give him authority to order suburban schools to
accept additional Open Choice applicants.
"Choice is the preferred strategy," McQuillan said, "but you can't
execute a strategy like that if you don't have any power and, secondly,
no money."
State Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Meriden, co-chairman of the legislature's
Education Committee, supports the idea of allowing the commissioner to
order schools to increase participation in the Open Choice program. "I
don't see how you reach the [Sheff] goal . . . unless he does have that
authority," he said.
Nevertheless, forcing schools to accept students in what has always
been a voluntary program undoubtedly would be met with resistance. "In
my community, the fact it's voluntary has an extremely positive effect.
Mandating things is very corrosive," said Cal Heminway, chairman of the
Granby Board of Education and past president of the Connecticut
Association of Boards of Education.
Granby is among the most active school systems in the Open Choice
program, taking more than 3 percent of its student body from Hartford.
But is the expansion of Open Choice the best strategy for pursuing the
Sheff goals?
The magnet school approach has led to major school construction
projects in places such as New Haven and Hartford, helping those cities
replace or renovate crumbling schools. Magnets also have renewed
interest in city schools from thousands of applicants, including
suburban families who have put their names on long waiting lists for
the popular specialized schools. Four Hartford magnet schools recently
were cited in U.S. News & World Report's survey of America's best
high schools.
"As long as there is a demand, then we haven't reached the limit" for
magnets, said Norma Neumann-Johnson, principal of Hartford's
Breakthrough Magnet School. "Just building magnets may not be the only
solution. Choice should be part of it, but I think we need to keep
going."
Edward Linehan, who formerly ran magnet programs in both Hartford and
New Haven, said state officials should not ignore the benefits of
magnets.
"If Open Choice were seen as the only future expansion [of
desegregation programs], you lose the potential impact on urban school
districts that magnets represent," he said. "The cost of voluntarily
desegregating our schools is going to be substantial, and the least
expensive alternative may not be the most effective."
The choice program was known as Project Concern when it began in 1966
with 266 Hartford children bused to schools in Farmington, Manchester,
Simsbury, South Windsor and West Hartford. It drew national attention
and was once considered a showcase for racial integration, but after
reaching a peak of about 1,200 students in the 1970s it fell on hard
times and nearly closed.
Today, enrollment hovers near 1,200 again but growth has been slow. A
state study last year reported that suburbs have the capacity to enroll
three times that number. Still, of more than 4,000 applicants this
year, just 236 children were selected in a lottery for new seats,
according to CREC.
Suburban officials have been reluctant to open more spaces. Some
question the accuracy of the state study on school capacity. Others
cite factors such as cost and limited class sizes. Many accept only the
youngest students, those in kindergarten or the primary grades, saying
older students have more difficulty adjusting or are sometimes lagging
academically.
In Granby, for example, schools accept new Open Choice applicants only
up to second grade so that they can stay in the Granby system
throughout elementary, middle and high school, said Heminway.
"You send us a ninth-grader with $2,500, and there is no way we can
service that kid," he said.
To run a choice program successfully, schools should have support to
pay for services such as extra training for teachers or after-school
buses allowing city children to take part in sports or extracurricular
activities, Heminway said.
In Plainville, about 50 students from Hartford attend school under the
choice program. "We keep trying to take more, but we don't have the
space," said Kathy Binkowski, superintendent of schools. Some
classrooms already exceed school board guidelines on class size limits,
she said.
An early study of the choice program, then known as Project Concern,
said it produced long-term benefits. The study, published in 1992 by
Teachers College at Columbia University, found that graduates of the
program had lower dropout rates, more social contact with whites,
better success in college and fewer problems with police.
"I learned how to deal with different cultures," said Angela Minto, of
Hartford, a former Open Choice student and one of nine black graduates
in a class of 192 seniors at Plainville High School in 2004. "In
the real world when you grow up, you're going to have to deal with
different kinds of people," said Minto, who later attended Howard
University, where she graduated in 2008.
Minto's mother enrolled three daughters in the choice program in
Plainville, looking for "a diverse education," Minto said, and "a
better education than what Hartford schools were giving at the time."
That is the same goal that prompts parents such as Iraida Sanchez,
Nathaniel's mother, to put their children's names in the lottery again
and again.
"I'm still keeping my fingers crossed," Sanchez said.
Charter Schools - not a popular idea in most states, as of now...
Obama to seek $1.35 billion more for education
YAHOO
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press Writer
January 19, 2010
FAIRFAX, Va. – President Barack Obama announced Tuesday he'll ask
Congress for $1.35 billion to extend an education grant program for
states, saying that getting schools right "will shape our future as a
nation."
Obama outlined the proposal that will be part of his budget request for
this year at an elementary school here, where he also held a short
discussion with sixth-grade students.
The $787 billion economic stimulus program that Obama signed into law
soon after taking office included $4.3 billion in competitive grants
for states, nicknamed the "Race to the Top" fund. States must amend
education laws and policies to compete for a share of the money.
The deadline to apply for the program is Tuesday, and officials expect
more than 30 states to apply. The Education Department is expected to
announce its first of two rounds of awards in April — with Obama saying
that not all who enter will get a grant.
The president said that extending the program would allow more states
to win grants. He also wants to use some of the $1.35 billion for a
similarly competitive grant program for local school districts.
"Offering our children an outstanding education is one of our most
fundamental — perhaps our most fundamental — obligations as a country,"
Obama said in brief remarks. "Countries that out-educate us today will
out-compete us tomorrow, and I refuse to let that happen on my watch."
With the grant programs, Obama is trying to make federal education
spending more of a competitive endeavor to encourage states and school
districts to do better, rather than a solely formula-driven effort in
which states and districts look forward to receiving a certain amount
of money each school year, regardless of how good a job they do
educating students.
To that end, Obama sees the use of student test scores to judge teacher
performance and the creation of charter schools, which are funded with
public money but operate independently of local school boards, as
solutions to the problems that plague public education.
National teachers' unions disagree. They argue that student achievement
amounts to much more than a score on a standardized test and that it
would be a mistake to rely heavily on charter schools.
The "Race to the Top" fund — and the opportunity to compete for the
billions of dollars it holds — was designed to encourage states to
rework their education systems and bring them more in line with Obama's
vision. Education is largely a state and local responsibility.
So far, more than a dozen states have changed laws or policies to link
data on student achievement to the performance of teachers and
principals, or pave the way for opening more charter schools.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor
Committee, called the administration's plans "exciting."
Obama is expected to send Congress his 2011 budget proposal sometime
next month.
State
Stands To Win Up To $175M For School Reform
Department of Education Racing To
Finish Race To The Top Application
The Hartford Courant
By GRACE E. MERRITT
January 18, 2010
HARTFORD —
The state Department of Education has been racing to finish its
application to the federal Race to the Top competition that's designed
to stimulate broad-based school reform.
With $4.35 billion on the table — a tantalizing chunk of change in a
time of tight budgets — states are fiercely competing to file the most
compelling proposal.
"We're in an era of fiscal crisis. This is the only game in town," said
Tom Murphy, spokesman for the state Department of Education.
The grant program, part of the federal economic stimulus package, is
designed to reward states that promote innovative reforms to improve
teaching, do a better job tracking student performance and shore up
failing schools.
Connecticut stands to win up to $175 million in Race to the Top money
and is working overtime to get towns to sign on, write proposed
legislation and iron out hundreds of other details by Tuesday's
deadline.
Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan has been working late and on
weekends and held numerous meetings with superintendents, teacher
organizations and school boards to encourage schools systems across the
state to support the application by signing a memorandum of
understanding to participate.
So far, 120 out of 187 school districts — including charter schools and
regional education centers — have signed up. To promote cooperation,
the application encourages each district's superintendent, school board
chairman and teacher union representative to sign the agreement.
Some school boards have been hesitant to sign, worried about whether
they will be able to withdraw from the project at any time and whether
local taxpayers will be saddled with extra costs to keep programs
running after the federal money dries up, said Robert Rader, executive
director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, which
has been advising local boards.
"What we're doing is just telling them they should review details of
the state plan, figure how much they are eligible to receive and think
about whether the district will be able to support the work when the
funding ends in four years," Rader said.
Suffield's board of education, for example, opted not to sign the
memorandum of agreement last week, arguing that its estimated $33,000
allocation spread out over four years would not come close to helping
the board pay for changes it wants to make.
Connecticut is eligible to receive a maximum of $175 million spread
over four years, a small number compared to the $8.5 billion the state
spends on pre-kindergarten through Grade 12 public education each year.
Half the Race to the Top money would go directly to local participating
towns based on need. Hartford, for example, would get $14.8 million.
West Hartford would get a relatively small lump sum of $170,000 in each
of the four years.
"Big cities are in for millions of dollars and we're in for
diddly-squat. That's not the issue," said Terry Schmitt, vice chairman
of the West Hartford school board. The school board voted recently to
be a "good citizen" and respond to the commissioner's appeal to sign up
but also to take advantage of cutting-edge teacher training and
professional development.
The other half of the grant money would pay for state-run activities,
such as professional development for teachers, running a regional
teacher exchange, building data systems to track students from
kindergarten through the public university system, expanding advanced
placement courses and hiring more Department of Education employees to
run everything.
Along with getting towns to sign on, the board of education is
developing proposed legislation to allow for secondary school reform,
lift enrollment caps on charter schools and increase state per-pupil
grants to charter schools from $9,300 to $10,300.
•Staff writer Shawn Beals contributed
to this story.
Copyright © 2010, The Hartford Courant
State Board Of Education
Discourages
So-Called Tracking In Schools
Hartford Courant
By GRACE E. MERRITT
January 7, 2010
HARTFORD —
The State Board of Education voted Wednesday to oppose the longtime
practice of tracking students by academic ability, saying it funnels a
disproportionate number of low-income and minority students to less
challenging classes that hurt their chances to succeed.
The resolution is not binding on school systems, but is designed to
discourage the practice.
The board's resolution calls for schools that do track students to
inform parents if their child is on a low track and tell them that the
level of course work would not be rigorous enough to allow the child to
attend the state university system.
In addition, schools must file annual reports explaining their tracking
systems, describing the research that supports them and mapping out the
demographic characteristics of students assigned to each track level.
"The intent is not to take issue with instructional-level classes or
groups," board member Theresa Hopkins-Staten said. "It's to take issue
with the disproportionate number of students of color and low-income
students in low-track classes.
"This is something we, as a board, need to monitor ... to ensure high
quality education is available to all in this state."
The measure is not aimed at advanced placement courses or honors
courses or even just splitting up a classroom into different reading
groups, said Tom Murphy, spokesman for the state Department of
Education.
"That's not tracking," he said. "Tracking is when you have an A-team
and a B-team and maybe even a C-team and you never leave those teams.
You have a different curriculum, a different pace and a different set
of expectations."
Assistant Education Commissioner George Coleman said the resolution
approved unanimously Wednesday is designed to make sure parents realize
that their child has been placed in a non-college preparatory track and
give them an opportunity to see the data supporting that placement and
redress the decision.
Hopkins-Staten said she proposed the resolution after learning that
some school systems in Connecticut still adhere to rigid tracking. The
Department of Education doesn't know exactly how many school systems
still have tracking because schools systems are run and controlled by
local school boards.
For instance, the board learned that Danbury and Stamford still have
tracking systems — though they're dismantling them — when school
leaders presented the board with their school improvement plans
recently.
Tracking, which was popular in American schools in the 1970s, has
fallen out of favor in some education circles, Murphy said.
"We are trying to get away from it," Murphy said.
Instead, state school officials prefer a more heterogeneous approach in
which a wide range of students learn together in one classroom.
"Research says if you are in a heterogeneous classroom where you have
students of all levels and experiences, students, particularly students
who are struggling, can do better," Murphy said.
Critics, however, say that approach does a disservice to high-achieving
students who might become bored as extra time is spent with other
students. A group called Stamford Residents for Excellence in
Education, for example, has said that Stamford's plan to dismantle
tracking would "dumb down" instruction.
There is conflicting research on both sides of the issue.
A study by the Fordham Institute released last month on tracking in
Massachusetts middle schools found that more students at schools with
two or three levels of math scored near the top of state math tests
than those at schools with only one math track.
But Stamford Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr firmly believes
in the benefits of "eradicating" the tracking system, which he says
serves only high-performing students.
"The kids at bottom stay at bottom and it hurts kids that are
traditionally lower performers," he said. "They are not being
challenged. They are not being asked to work at a higher level. The
evidence is overwhelming. It all leads to the same conclusion: Tracking
does not work for those kids."
Copyright © 2010, The Hartford Courant
Kan. Delays Aid Payments to Schools
for 3rd Month
NYTIMES
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 5, 2010 Filed at 1:52 p.m. ET
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas is delaying $200 million in aid payments to
public schools this month so it can meet state government's payroll and
pay other bills on time, its top budget official confirmed Tuesday.
It will be the third consecutive month that an ongoing cash crunch has
led the state to postpone payments to its 295 school districts. State
officials expect nearly 100 districts will be forced to violate cash
management laws to pay their own bills.
The payments to schools, representing part of general aid to school
districts, were due Friday, the first day of the new year.
State Budget Director Duane Goossen said the state hopes to make half
the payments by the end of the week. But he said it doesn't expect to
pay the rest until the end of January because it won't collect enough
tax revenues in its main bank account until then.
''It depends on how fast money comes in,'' Goossen told The Associated
Press. ''These bills will be paid. It's just that we don't have the
cash right now to do it.''
The state's financial juggling comes as legislators, Gov. Mark
Parkinson and other officials wrestle with the state's ongoing budget
problems. Legislators are scheduled to open their 90-day annual session
Monday, and their biggest task will be heading off a projected budget
shortfall.
The state delayed general aid payments to schools in November, with
half the funds not arriving until early December. It also postponed
general aid payments and special education funding in December.
Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis said a third of school
districts probably will be forced to violate state laws that govern how
they're supposed to manage various accounts.
''The state really needs to step up and honor its commitments,'' said
Mark Desetti, a lobbyist for the Kansas National Education Association,
the state's largest teachers union. ''This is shameful.''
But Goossen said delaying payments to public schools will allow state
government to cover $25 million in payroll expenses this week. Also, he
said, the state will make $35 million in aid payments to community
colleges on time and pay health care providers $24 million for services
to needy Kansans in the Medicaid program.
Meanwhile, state Sens. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat, and John Vratil,
a Leawood Republican, planned to outline a bipartisan budget
initiative. Both are members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee,
which handles budget legislation.
Kansas
Governor Cuts Education Budget; Parkinson Reduces Spending By $259
Million
KMBC-TV
POSTED: 4:39 pm CST November 23, 2009
UPDATED: 7:52 pm CST November 23, 2009
TOPEKA, Kan. -- Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson announced $259 million worth
of spending cuts Monday, reducing funds for highway maintenance and
education to shore up a troubled state budget.
The cuts are the fifth such reduction for the state budget year, which
ends June 30. Parkinson said Kansas was in historic times, never before
seeing two consecutive years of revenue declines, let alone the
four-year trough it faces now.
"This has been particularly challenging for the 2010 budget, which has
been absolutely decimated by this decline in state revenue," Parkinson
said. "There are no longer any easy answers."
The Democrat's plan also calls for drawing down an additional $85.9
million in federal stimulus dollars given to states to prop up budgets.
That leaves $189.6 million remaining from Kansas's allocation.
Republicans said Parkinson was helpful in making the cuts, but thought
he could have gone deeper in cutting spending without borrowing from
transportation funds or federal funds that will be needed next year.
"I applaud the governor's effort to make what are some very difficult
decisions," said Rep. Kevin Yoder, chairman of the House budget
committee. "What we didn't see and hoped to see were real, significant
reductions in government spending."
Legislative budget analysts said Monday that even with the governor's
cuts, Kansas already is looking at a 2011 budget hole of as much as
$400 million.
Parkinson made the cuts in response to a Nov. 5 revenue estimate that
foretold a gap of $260 million between state revenues and approved
expenditures. Parkinson said he could not promise there wouldn't be
further cuts next spring when the next revenue forecast is given.
Policy-makers use the revenue forecast as the basis for setting the
state budget. Estimates are made twice a year, taking into account
trends in the economy.
Parkinson said every agency took a hit and will have to adjust
accordingly.
"I am genuinely sorry," he said. "There is no way to sugar coat this.
This will have negative affects across the state."
The governor promised legislative leaders earlier in the year that he
would balance the budget through cuts before the 2010 session begins in
January. He said Monday that work on the 2011 budget year begins
immediately, but wouldn't commit to pushing to raise taxes to cover
future revenue shortfalls.
Legislative action will be required to make permanent Parkinson's cuts,
which include a $50 million reduction to the Kansas Department of
Transportation for maintenance, $36 million for K-12 schools and $2
million for higher education. Medicaid reimbursements paid to
providers, such as doctors, nursing homes and services for the
disabled, were reduced 10 percent, or $22 million.
Parkinson said state agencies would have flexibility in responding to
the cuts, which may include layoffs or furloughing employees.
Yoder, an Overland Park Republican, said cutting wage costs was the way
the state could reduce spending, much like the private sector has been
forced to do when the economy slumped.
House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat, said state
budget cuts could have been avoided over the past decade if not for tax
cuts enacted by Republicans while spending increased.
"This goes far beyond 'trimming the fat' from state agencies," Davis
said. "These cuts are now doing severe harm to our public schools,
community colleges and universities and the most vulnerable Kansans who
are relying on state services to survive this economic downturn."
Derrick Sontag, state director of Americans for Prosperity, which
favors smaller government and opposes tax increases, said Parkinson
should continue to look for ways to cut inefficiencies and for
long-term solutions to end the budget crisis.
Parkinson cautioned school districts not to consider suing the state
for additional funding, as they did in 1999. That suit resulted in a
2005 Kansas Supreme Court ruling and a spending increase of nearly $1
billion over the past four years.
The governor said districts should wait to see what state revenues do
once the economy rebounds. If education cuts are not restored, then a
lawsuit may be necessary, Parkinson said.
Budget Adjustments
An overview of the Governor’s budget reductions and adjustments:
Budget Adjustments: $258.9 Million
* Targeted, strategic budget reductions in
individual agencies as outlined on the attached list.
* Reduce highway maintenance funds by $50 million.
This is achieved by transferring $50 million from the State Highway
Fund to the State General Fund.
* Reduce the amount transferred from the State
General Fund to the Bioscience Authority by $5 million. This will still
allow $35 million to be transferred from the General Fund to the
Bioscience Authority.
* Reduce funding for K-12 by $36 million and Regents
by $2 million, leaving both at 2006 spending levels. Do not fund
recommended $155.8 million K-12 increase based on revised estimates of
property tax revenue and student enrollment.
* Move unspent funds from prior years from
individual agency budgets to the State General Fund. This includes the
Governor’s Office and the Legislature.
* Reduce Medicaid reimbursement rates by 10%. This
cannot be implemented immediately, so it is estimated it will result in
savings of $22 million during the last three months of the fiscal year.
Offset Budget Adjustments With Recovery Act Funds: $85.9 Million
* Reduce K-12 Supplemental General State Aid by
$85.9 million, but offset that reduction with $85.9 million of federal
Recovery Act funds that had been budgeted for the 2011 fiscal year.
This leaves the state with $189.6 million of Recovery Act funds (State
Fiscal Stabilization and Special Education funds) for use in the 2011
budget.
* States have discretion over when to draw down
these Recovery Act funds. At least 10 states plan to use all of their
Fiscal Stabilization Recovery Act funding by the end of FY 2010. A
large majority of states plan to use a greater portion of the funding
in FY 2010 and a smaller portion in FY 2011.
In
neighboring Westport...
Consultant Projects Drop Off in
Elementary Enrollment
WestportNow
Monday, Dec. 7, 2009
An education consultant told the Westport Board of Education tonight
that the town’s elementary enrollment could drop off sharply over the
next few years.
However, Donald G. Kennedy of the New England School Development
Council, known as NESDEC, said the pattern could reverse itself quickly
depending on a number of factors, especially the economy.
“Will you lose?’” he asked. “Maybe, maybe not…these are strange
economic times.”
Kennedy said based on his analysis, Westport’s middle school population
will likely remain the same while the high school population will
continue to increase.
The NESDEC official cautioned that because Westport was so different
from other towns, it “may not have drop off like other communities.”
“Westport usually recovers more quickly than other communities,”
Kennedy said referring to the economy.
He said given the pattern in place, Westport will probably “level off
and grow again in student population in a shorter amount of time” than
some other communities.
Kennedy said one result of the difficult economy is that Westport has
experienced a growth in school enrollment as parents have moved their
youngsters from private schools to public schools.
He said this pattern could be reversed quickly if there is an
improvement in the economy.
Donald O’Day, chairman of the board, said while the projections were
useful he noted that many assumptions used 2000 census numbers and that
these numbers were nine years old and likely very outdated.
Layoffs likely after Shelton schools find
themselves $700,000 short; Layoffs possible after teachers reject
furloughs
CTPOST
By Kate Ramunni, STAFF WRITER
Updated: 12/07/2009 10:43:51 PM EST
SHELTON -- Layoffs are likely as school officials grapple to close a
$700,000 gap in the current year's school budget as teachers reportedly
have turned back a request to take two furlough days.
The teachers met Monday afternoon with union representatives to vote on
a proposal to take two unpaid days -- the last school day of the year
and a teacher's development day -- in order to avoid layoffs, but
unconfirmed reports say they rejected that request.
Union representative Deb Keller couldn't be reached for comment after
the meeting but multiple sources reported that the teachers rejected
the furlough proposal. Now school officials say that the result will
likely be layoffs, as well as other measures to close the gap. A
combination of an increase in the number of students needing special
education services and a decrease in the amount of state special
education funds has led to the shortfall, Board of Education chairman
Tim Walsh said.
"The state didn't fund what they said they were going to fund," he
said. "They're only coming through with about 70 percent of what they
did last year."
Add to that a dramatic increase in need and you have a problem, he said.
"Our special education costs are getting away from us -- they're
astronomical," he said. There's been an increase of about 50 students
requiring special education services this year, he said, and a total of
about 200 over the last several years.
There has been more demand for tutors, which is hurting the district's
finances, he said, but the district is mandated to provide them. "The
mandates are killing us -- it has put quite a strain on us," he said.
There are some children who are placed outside the district, and their
costs can top $100,000 each, he said.
The problem has consumed school officials' time, he said. "We have been
meeting morning, noon and night," he said. And Tuesday night the board
will address the problem in open session at 7:15 p.m. in the Shelton
Intermediate School auditorium.
"Hopefully (administrators) are going to present plans for mitigation
for this year's budget," Walsh said.
Exactly how much is needed to close the gap hasn't been determined yet,
Walsh said. "Hopefully we will find out (Tuesday) night," he said.
On Wednesday, Superintendent of Schools Freeman Burr will present his
2010-11 proposed budget at another special meeting at 7:15 p.m. at the
Central Office on Long Hill Avenue.
Former board chairman Win Oppel, who still sits on the board, said the
figure is about $700,000, which school officials had hoped could be
filled in part with a two-day furlough that the teachers' union voted
on Monday afternoon.
"Originally it was just under $2 million, but we were able to cover all
but $700,000 in our existing budget," Oppel said.
Even if the union had agreed to the two furlough days, there would
still have been about a $290,000 gap, Oppel said.
"The furlough days are the least impactful as far as students and
classrooms are concerned," Oppel said. "Even with furlough days, the
potential for a reduction in staffing is probable, and without it, it
would become pretty much a certainty."
Approving the furlough days would have meant that certified staff would
likely have been immune from layoffs, Oppel said, which would have
fallen on uncertified staff. But rejecting the furlough days means
certified staff will likely be included in any layoffs, he said.
When the board approved its budget, it used the 2008-09 budget figures
regarding state special education funding, but when state legislators
got around to passing a budget months later, that number was
considerably less than that, Walsh said.
"Part of it is we assumed we would get from the state at least what we
got last year, but that didn't happen," he said. In addition, the board
received a zero increase from City Hall, he said.
The school board may return to the Board of Aldermen for help, Walsh
said. "Hopefully they will let us come back and appeal for help," he
said, "but I don't have great hope that is going to happen."
Aldermanic president John Anglace couldn't be reached Monday afternoon,
but Mayor Mark A. Lauretti said he doesn't see the city bailing out the
school board.
"Our budget is set and I'm not interested in any new appropriations,"
he said. "This is something they are going to have to work out for
themselves."
The mayor said he doesn't have much sympathy for the school board.
"It's the same old story -- more raises, hire more people, they never
have enough money, and meanwhile the test scores are the same," he
said. "They are going to have to do whatever they have to do."
When formulating the current school budget, the board's goal was to
allow everyone to keep their jobs, Walsh said.
"We did everything we could to avoid layoffs," he said.
E L E C T I O N I
N F O R M A T I O N
At the request of the FORUM, we are including a link to the CT Statutes.
This section explains why Board of Education candidates always seem to
get fewer votes and thus appear to be less popular that other
candidates for seats on other Boards and Commissions: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/pub/chap146.htm#Sec9-204.htm
EDUCATION: Board Discusses
Application For Funds; Teacher Evaluation Requirement Raises Concerns
The Hartford Courant
By GRACE E. MERRITT
October 8, 2009
HARTFORD —
Holding its breath and jumping right in, the State Board of Education
broached the controversial subject of connecting teacher evaluations to
student performance Wednesday as members discussed the state's
application for funding under a new federal competition.
To be eligible for the U.S. Department of Education's $5 billion Race
to the Top reform-driven competition, applicants must prove that
performance assessments for teachers and school administrators are
linked to student and school achievement.
The state Department of Education wants to revise legislation to allow
that linkage in order to meet a Dec. 30 application deadline.
>>
2009 CMT & CAPT Test Scores Search
The state is developing an ambitious proposal for Race to the Top money
that calls for dramatically improving 20 school districts, mostly
urban, through secondary school reform and other initiatives.
During Wednesday's meeting, the board discussed various approaches to
the teacher evaluation issue, such as linking teacher merit pay to
student achievement. The issue proved immediately divisive as board
Vice Chairwoman Janet Finneran and others said they could not support
merit pay. Teacher unions, which negotiate pay for members as a
group,
are generally skeptical of merit pay.
"I just don't want to see us sell our soul as we are racing to the top
and not making philosophical decisions along the way," Finneran said.
She also raised concerns about the possibility of setting different
salary levels for teachers based on market demand in their fields.
"How can you decide whether a high school math teacher gets more pay
than a kindergarten teacher? Teaching kindergarten is a more difficult
job," she said.
Board member Lynne Farrell said teachers go into the profession knowing
that they won't get rich, but will get satisfaction from the job.
Chairman Allan Taylor said the issue of whether some teachers get paid
more than others is separate from the merit pay issue. Taylor
noted
that there are various other teacher evaluation models the board can
consider.The board eventually agreed to explore models developed by
other states and agreed to discuss the issue more fully at a future
meeting.
Also during the meeting, state Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan
gave a presentation of the state's Race to the Top application, which
he is still refining.
Currently, the plan would target 20 districts: Hartford, East Hartford,
Manchester, Bloomfield, New Britain, Bristol, Middletown, Meriden,
Ansonia, Bridgeport, Danbury, Hamden, Naugatuck, New Haven, New London,
Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury, West Haven and Windham, as well as the
state-run Connecticut Technical High School System. The goal is
to
make the Class of 2016 ready for college or work, lower the number of
students requiring remedial course work in college and lower high
school drop-out rates, among other measures.
Also during the meeting, McQuillan told board members he strongly
disagreed with recent criticism by the U.S. inspector general's office
that Connecticut used economic stimulus money to plug budget holes
rather than on education spending.
The inspector general's office said last week that Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania may not get Race to the Top money
because they misappropriated stimulus money set aside for education.But
Connecticut education officials said they used the money to shore up
education cost-sharing money funneled to towns. State Department of
Education spokesman Tom Murphy said the U.S. Department of Education
even complimented the state for its excellent application. Murphy said
the state is preparing an official response to "clarify and correct
misconceptions."
"We believe we will be treated fairly once he sees the response and
notes the compliance," he said.
Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant
Behind the unions' shift on
charters
By THOMAS W. CARROLL
Last Updated: 11:20 AM, October 9, 2009
Posted: 1:14 AM, October 9, 2009
NEW York's teachers unions have recently abandoned their open hostility
to charter schools. To see whether the shift is real or merely
rhetorical, it helps to look at the reasons behind the change in tone.
Shifting politics: By far the biggest factor has been the enthusiastic
embrace of charters by President Obama, who was elected with strong
union support.
Dick Iannuzzi, president of the state teachers union (New York State
United Teachers, or NYSUT) admitted as much to The Albany Times Union
this week, when asked if Obama had forced a change in the union's
position. Although still unenthusiastic, he said: "I'll be the first to
admit I was one of the staunchest opponents [of charters] and waged a
real battle in my own school district in Central Islip. The world has
changed since then. Charter schools are established."
Mounting evidence: A recent independent evaluation by Stanford
Professor Caroline Hoxby has much undercut the union's historic
anti-charter position.
The study's most important finding: "A student who attended a New York
City charter school for all of grades kindergarten through eight would
close about 86 percent of the 'Scarsdale-Harlem achievement gap' in
math and 66 percent of the achievement gap in English." Students
attending for shorter periods would see "commensurately smaller" gains.
The study also showed that charter students were more likely to post
higher results on state Regents exams.
In response to the study, Jonathan Gyurko, the point man on charters
for the city teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers,
grudgingly conceded on the union's blog that "Hoxby's findings are
encouraging."
Blowback from union members in charter schools: Teachers at most
charters have opted to remain nonunion, but some have unionized. And
these union members aren't happy to see their schools facing layoffs
this year because their own union got the Legislature to freeze charter
funding.
The freeze prompted union members at the Charter School for Applied
Technology in Tonawanda to demonstrate outside NYSUT headquarters.
Here in the city, the UFT has had to compromise even at "union" charter
schools. For example, it agreed to a more flexible contract with the
Green Dot charter that does away with tenure and limits on the length
of the school day and permits faster removal of bad teachers than the
UFT's master contract with the city.
The union is well aware that Green Dot was the chief organizer of a
2,000-plus parent rally earlier this year at a Los Angeles Board of
Education meeting. The rally led the school board to defy the LA
teachers union and turn over up to 250 schools to new management by
nonprofit charter operators or others.
Green Dot's charismatic leader, Steve Barr, has long argued for
collective bargaining in a charter-school context -- a rarity among
charter leaders. But, at the same time, Barr is perhaps the fiercest
foe of union attempts to block charters or broader education reforms.
Losing the prestige press: Reporters and editors no longer
automatically buy the union line on charters. The New York Times has
called a national teachers union "aggressively hidebound." The
Washington Post recently ran an editorial with the blistering headline:
"Poor children learn. Teachers unions are not pleased."
The coming year will show whether the shift in union rhetoric is just
cosmetic. Watch three key charter-related issues:
* Will NYSUT again call for a freeze on charter funding?
* Will the unions oppose lifting the cap on the number of charters? The
current cap of 200 schools will likely be exhausted early next year.
* Will the unions support preserving SUNY's authority as one of the two
state authorizers of charter schools -- or instead push to reserve this
power exclusively to the state Board of Regents, which is widely viewed
as not especially charter-friendly?
Whether the teachers unions are sincerely shifting is one test that
will be easy to grade in the year ahead.
Thomas W. Carroll is president of the
Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability.
Charter-school
clincher
New York Post
Last Updated: 10:15 AM, September 28, 2009
Posted: 5:07 AM, September 28, 2009
A new study has just blown away any remaining doubts about the remark
able success of charter schools.
Maybe now Albany will stand up to the teachers union and finally give
more New York students access to these better schools -- by lifting the
state cap on them.
Already, charter schools (public schools that operate largely free of
union rules) have mounted much evidence, especially in the city, that
they out-perform their union-run, public-school counterparts.
Last year, for example, 87 percent of city charter students met math
standards, while only 68 percent did at regular schools. In English, 82
percent made the grade at the charters, but only 58 percent did so at
traditional schools.
But critics -- like those in the teachers union -- have pooh-poohed
such data, claiming that charter schools score better only because they
admit better students.
Families that apply to charters, they claim, are likely more interested
in education -- so their kids are more likely to do better, no matter
where they go to school.
But Stanford economist Caroline Hoxby's new study shatters that
argument.
She compared the scores of applicants who were accepted to New York
charter schools with those of students who were not. Turns out, the
ones who got in to the charters did better -- by about six percentage
points in math and five in English.
But the key here is that New York charters don't get to cherry-pick
students; kids are accepted strictly by lottery. So Hoxby's study
strongly suggests that it is the schools, not the students or their
families, that make the difference.
Only one question left: Will Albany let more of these better schools
open?
Two years ago, the Legislature raised the cap on charters to 200
statewide and 100 in the city. But why have a cap at all, except to
please the teachers union (which doesn't particularly like the
competition)?
Albany needs to do what Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wants every
state to do: Ditch the cap completely.
Lawmakers no longer have any honest excuse.
Regional Shift Seen in Education Gap
NYTIMES
By SAM DILLON
July 15, 2009
Historically, the achievement gap between America’s black and white
students was widest in Southern states, where the legacies of slavery
and segregation were reflected in extremely low math and reading scores
among poor African-American children.
But black students have made important gains in several Southern states
over two decades, while in some Northern states, black achievement has
improved more slowly than white achievement, or has even declined,
according to a study of the black-white achievement gap released by the
Department of Education this morning.
As a result, the nation’s most dramatic black-white gaps are no longer
seen in Southern states like Alabama or Mississippi, but rather in
Northern and Midwestern states like Wisconsin, Nebraska, Connecticut
and Illinois, according to the federal data.
The study plotted the evolution of average scores of black and white
students on the series of federal tests, known as the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, that were administered every two to
four years in both math and reading from 1992 through 2007.
Nationwide, the average math score in 1992 for fourth grade white
students on a 500-point scale was 227, compared to an average score of
192 for black students that year. Those scores resulted in a
black-white gap of 35 points.
By 2007, the most recent year included in the new study, average fourth
grade white math scores had risen to 248, but average black scores had
risen faster, to 222, thus narrowing the black-white gap to 26 points,
about the equivalent of two and a half years of schooling.
By 2007, the widest black-white gap in the nation on the fourth-grade
math test, (not counting the District of Columbia, which is not a
state) showed up not in the deep South but in Wisconsin.
White students in Wisconsin scored 250, slightly above the national
average, but blacks scored 212, producing a 38 point achievement gap.
That average black score in Wisconsin was lower than for blacks in
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, or in any other Southern state, and 10
points below the national average for black students, the study
indicates.
Wisconsin was the only state in which the black-white achievement gap
in 2007 was larger than the national average in both the fourth and
eighth grade tests of both math and reading, according the study.
“I was just in Wisconsin meeting with principals, and I showed them the
scores, and that they had the largest achievement gaps, and they were
just stunned,” said Kati Haycock, president of Education Trust, a
Washington-based nonprofit that works to close achievement gaps. “Black
kids in Wisconsin do worse than in all these Southern states and the
reason is that they haven’t been focusing on doing what’s necessary to
close these gaps.”
Nebraska is another Midwestern state where black student achievement is
lower than anywhere in the old South. In eighth-grade math, for
instance, the average score among Nebraska’s black students in 2007 was
240 on a 500-point scale, compared to the national average for blacks
of 259, according to the federal data. The average score for black
eighth-graders was 246 in Alabama, 251 in Mississippi, 258 in
Louisiana, and 261 in Georgia.
The average white eighth grade score in Nebraska in math was 291,
almost exactly the national average, resulting in a black-white gap
there of 51 points, far larger than in any other state.
Connecticut is another Northern state where achievement gaps are larger
than in states across the South, the federal study shows. That is
partly because white students in Connecticut score above the national
average, but also because blacks there, on average, score lower than
blacks elsewhere.
Stimulus Funds Are Wildcard In Local
Budgets
DAY
By Karin Crompton
Published on 5/25/2009
As legislators wrangle and bicker in Hartford over state budget
details, local towns and school districts are embarking upon their
annual ritual of drafting proposed municipal budgets without knowing
exactly how much state funding they will receive. This year's
guessing
game is more complex than in most years, however, as municipalities
also factor in federal economic stimulus funds and try to sift through
the regulations attached to the federal funds headed their way.
A large chunk of stimulus money that will directly influence local
budgets comes in the form of education funds. And while the federal
government released the money and sent out instructions for its use on
April 1, local and state officials are still maneuvering through the
details.
”I'm right in the middle of it right now,” Groton superintendent Paul
Kadri said during a phone interview on Friday. “It's so complicated I
don't even know where to begin.”
And that comes from someone who said he felt he had a good grasp of the
subject.
”I feel we're on top of it,” Kadri said, “but make no bones about it,
my desk is a mess.”
The stimulus funds for education are split into three categories: Title
I (typically for low-income districts); IDEA (special education); and
“fiscal stabilization” funds.
The first two pots of money are being doled out according to existing
formulas districts are already familiar with. With a few exceptions
about how the money can be used - qualifying districts can use up to
half of their special education funds for other purposes, for example -
these two categories are largely seen as the most straightforward of
the stimulus funds. Then there is the stabilization money.
A one-time appropriation of $48.6 billion nationally, the stabilization
funding, as the name indicates, is meant to “minimize and avoid
reductions in education and other essential services,” according to the
federal education department's Web site. Each state has to apply
for
its share, demonstrating in its application to the federal government
that it will use the funds according to the guidelines laid out.
Twenty-two states and Puerto Rico have already applied for the
stabilization funds, according to the federal education department's
Web site, with 13 already having received money. But Connecticut
has
not yet applied for its $541 million in stabilization funds.
Tom Murphy, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the
department and the governor's budget office each has a role in putting
together the application. Murphy said Connecticut ran into some minor
technical issues regarding how the state funds its education grant
program and how that jibes with federal guidelines for the stimulus
funds. The spokesman in Gov. M. Jodi Rell's office who fields
stimulus
questions was off on Friday and unavailable to explain Connecticut's
delay in applying.
Meanwhile, local officials grapple with the unknowns in how the funds
can be used, some saying they're awaiting guidance from the state, some
pointing to the federal government.
”We have no idea yet what strings are going to be attached to another
2, 3, 4 million, whatever it's going to be, that the city's going to
get from ARRA (the stimulus package) and whether that is supplantable
or supplementable or what at this point in time,” said Donald Goodrich,
New London's interim director of finance.
Goodrich was referring to a key component of the stabilization funds:
the distinction between the terms “supplement” and “supplant.” Federal
guidelines indicate that the stabilization funds can only be used to
supplement a school district's budget, not be used in place of, or
supplant, other funds.
In other words, a municipality - and, apparently, the state - is not
supposed to “take” from education budgets and use stabilization funds
to fill in the gap. That point is still fuzzy to many, however.
Goodrich suggested the federal government re-examine the point “because
everyone is really getting hammered.”
”I think there's a lot of public misperception in how you can use the
money,” said Christine Carver, New London's assistant superintendent of
schools. “People think you can offset the local budget through the
stimulus money and you absolutely can't.”
However, Goodrich asked, what if the school district doesn't have a
perfect match for the funds?
”What if you cannot expend that (money) wisely; isn't it better to then
supplant and not just supplement to be spending money?” he asked. “Or
can we use it to, as we saw with the Board of Education adopting its
budget, (avoid) reductions in staff? Can we use it to bring some of the
staff back? Is that supplanting local dollars or supplementing it?”
It appears the state is considering the same issues. Connecticut is
currently considering cutting its state education grant money, known as
ECS funding, by 14 percent, then filling in the gap with stimulus
funds.
Murphy, the Department of Education spokesman, said one of the state's
technical issues was whether its pledge to flat-fund the state
education grant money would affect Connecticut's eligibility for the
stimulus funds. According to Murphy, the U.S. Department of
Education
“keeps saying in their guidance that dollars would be used to restore”
funding.
But the prospect of a 14 percent cut to a crucial piece of state
funding has many towns worried, local officials said.
A 14 percent cut in ECS funding means $4.5 million to Norwich, said
Joseph Ruffo, the city comptroller. Ruffo said officials who attended a
meeting of the Connecticut Council of Municipalities last week were
concerned that school districts could find themselves 14 percent over
budget already, and some went so far as to say the cut could bankrupt
their communities.
Ruffo was more measured, saying Norwich hasn't yet passed a budget and
still has a couple of weeks to receive clarification. Still, even if
the state intends to fill the gap with stimulus funds, it will pose
complications, he said.
”What we hear is (the state is) finding more information about how this
process will go forward, but this $4.5 million will be treated
separately, and there will be all sorts of requirements and
stipulations on how that money will be spent,” he said.
Conn. considers 'green cleaning'
in schools
DAY
Posted on May 5, 12:52 PM EDT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A coalition of lawmakers and health advocacy
groups are asking Connecticut's General Assembly to require all public
schools to use environmentally friendly cleaning products.
They gathered Tuesday to support a proposal that would bar school
districts from using products that contain various toxic substances and
are not certified as environmentally friendly.
Connecticut already requires crews to use certified green cleaning
products in all state-owned buildings, including its universities and
vocational-technical schools.
The legislation expanding the rules to public school buildings awaits
House action, and would give districts two years to start meeting the
new standards.
Op-Ed
Columnist: ‘No Picnic for Me
Either’
NYTIMES
By DAVID BROOKS
March 13, 2009
In his education speech this week, Barack Obama retold a
by-now familiar story. When he was a boy, his mother would wake him up
at 4:30 to tutor him for a few hours before he went off to school. When
young Barry complained about getting up so early, his mother responded:
“This is no picnic for me either, Buster.”
That experience was the perfect preparation for reforming American
education because it underlines the two traits necessary for academic
success: relationships and rigor. The young Obama had a loving
relationship with an adult passionate about his future. He also had at
least one teacher, his mom, disinclined to put up with any crap.
The reform vision Obama sketched out in his speech flows from that
experience. The Obama approach would make it more likely that young
Americans grow up in relationships with teaching adults. It would
expand nurse visits to disorganized homes. It would improve early
education. It would extend the school year. Most important, it would
increase merit pay for good teachers (the ones who develop emotional
bonds with students) and dismiss bad teachers (the ones who treat
students like cattle to be processed).
We’ve spent years working on ways to restructure schools, but what
matters most is the relationship between one student and one teacher.
You ask a kid who has graduated from high school to list the teachers
who mattered in his life, and he will reel off names. You ask a kid who
dropped out, and he will not even understand the question.
Relationships like that are beyond his experience.
In his speech, Obama actually put more emphasis on the other side of
the equation: rigor. In this context, that means testing and
accountability.
Thanks in part to No Child Left Behind, we’re a lot better at measuring
each student’s progress. Today, tests can tell you which students are
on track and which aren’t. They can tell you which teachers are
bringing their students’ achievement up by two grades in a single year
and which are bringing their students’ levels up by only half a grade.
They can tell you which education schools produce good teachers and
which do not.
New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has data showing that
progress on tests between the third and eighth grades powerfully
predicts high school graduation rates years later — a clear
demonstration of the importance of these assessments.
The problem is that as our ability to get data has improved, the
education establishment’s ability to evade the consequences of data has
improved, too. Most districts don’t use data to reward good teachers.
States have watered down their proficiency standards so parents think
their own schools are much better than they are.
As Education Secretary Arne Duncan told me, “We’ve seen a race to the
bottom. States are lying to children. They are lying to parents.
They’re ignoring failure, and that’s unacceptable. We have to be
fierce.”
Obama’s goal is to make sure results have consequences. He praises data
sets that “tell us which students had which teachers so we can assess
what’s working and what’s not.” He also aims to reward states that use
data to make decisions. He will build on a Bush program that gives
states money for merit pay so long as they measure teachers based on
real results. He will reward states that expand charter schools, which
are drivers of innovation, so long as they use data to figure out which
charters are working.
The administration also will give money to states like Massachusetts
that have rigorous proficiency standards. The goal is to replace the
race to the bottom with a race to the top, as states are compelled to
raise their standards if they hope to get federal money.
In short, Obama hopes to change incentives so districts do the
effective and hard things instead of the easy and mediocre things. The
question is whether he has the courage to follow through. Many doubt he
does. They point to the way the president has already caved in on the
D.C. vouchers case.
Democrats in Congress just killed an experiment that gives 1,700 poor
Washington kids school vouchers. They even refused to grandfather in
the kids already in the program, so those children will be ripped away
from their mentors and friends. The idea was to cause maximum
suffering, and 58 Senators voted for it.
Obama has, in fact, been shamefully quiet about this. But in the next
weeks he’ll at least try to protect the kids now in the program. And
more broadly, there’s reason for hope. Education is close to his heart.
He has broken with liberal orthodoxy on school reform more than any
other policy. He’s naturally inclined to be data driven. There’s reason
to think that this week’s impressive speech will be followed by real
and potentially historic action.
Ariz. District Cuts
School Week to Save
Cash
NYTIMES
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:31 p.m. ET
February 14, 2009
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz.
(AP) -- A school
district has decided to shrink the school week from five days to four
in an effort to save cash because of the deepening recession and
falling enrollment.
The Bisbee Unified School District
board voted Thursday to close schools every Friday for the next two
school years. District Superintendent Gail Covington had recommended
the shortened school week as a way to save $500,000 each year in the
small southeastern Arizona town.
School days would be lengthened by
an hour to make up the lost instructional time.
Bisbee Unified had just under 1,000
students during the 2007-2008 school year at four schools: an
elementary, middle, junior high and high school. The superintendent has
proposed closing the middle school and moving some grades.
Covington said the Friday closures
are a more desirable alternative to laying off 13 teachers, but some
staff -- including principals, cafeteria and custodial workers -- would
lose their jobs.
She acknowledged that working
families would have a hard time finding child care on Fridays.
Rebecca Barten, mother of a
kindergartener in the district, said parents who attended the board
meeting weren't allowed to address the panel before the vote. ''I
wanted to hear about all the possible scenarios, not just what was
said,'' she said.
Other school districts have proposed
cutting school weeks to save on high fuel costs.
Stamford here, Montville here (in another part of CT)
Starr requests smaller school budget
hike
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Wynne Parry, STAFF WRITER
Posted: 02/10/2009 11:08:14 PM EST
STAMFORD -- Superintendent Joshua Starr said Tuesday night he hopes to
reduce his budget request hike from 4.6 percent to 3.8 percent, a
savings of $1.7 million.
He also proposed using $160,000 from the retirement of an assistant
superintendent to restore some of the cuts he proposed for high school
athletics, choral and debate programs.
Starr presented the changes to the Board of Education, which is
scheduled to vote on the budget Thursday.
"This is where I think it becomes really clear to folks the choices we
have to make in this economy," Starr said. "I still frankly don't know
if the Board of Ed will support (3.8 percent) or if the other board
will support it."
Assistant Superintendent Eileen Swerdlick, who heads the Office of
Family and Community Engagement, announced her retirement last week.
Meanwhile, the board is considering a proposal to cut new supplies for
sports, freshman sports and one semester of teacher stipends for choral
and debate programs at Westhill and Stamford high schools.
Debaters from both schools turned out to speak with board members
before the meeting and hand out letters supporting their programs.
Starr said principals and the athletic directors would decide where to
distribute the reduced cut.
Board members reacted warily to leaving Swerdlick's position unfilled
because the Office of Family and Community Engagement tries to get
parents involved in their children's schooling. A literacy workshop
sponsored by the office attracted nearly 10 times as many parents in
January as in previous years.
Board member Jackie Heftman suggested replacing that with a lower-level
position. But board member Robert King worried about making such a
change.
"I don't want to lose that visibility because of the changes we are
trying to do in the budget," he said.
The reduction in Starr's budget request was made possible by several
factors.
The city reduced the amount it charges the Board of Education for
services shared between the city and the schools by $1.5 million.
Locking in the cost of fuel for buses saved $50,000, and the projected
spending for oil heat dropped by $100,000.
Starr's proposal takes into account a reduction in the amount the board
can anticipate paying for certain post-employment benefits. And Starr
said he and other high-level central office administrators will give up
$21,000 in bonuses next year.
Board President Susan Nabel said the new increase of 3.8 percent is
below what is needed to maintain the schools.
"I am not willing to support any other cuts below this level," she said.
Weston
girls basketball reaches states
Posted on 02/14/2009
Staff reports
WESTON -- Brittany Swanson tied a season high with 27 points, including
three 3-pointers, to lead the Weston High girls basketball team to a
57-47 victory over New Milford on Senior Night Friday to clinch a state
tournament berth.
The Trojans raised their record 8-10 overall, 4-7 SWC and qualified for
the state playoffs for the first time since the 2004-2005 season.
"We're very happy," Weston first-year coach Pat Cole said. "It's
something we wanted and to do it on Senior Night for Marissa Diaz was
great. The kids worked so hard and adjusted to a new system and went
through the highs and lows. We're looking forward to the second
season."
Weston had the lead throughout and held off the Green Wave in the
second half. Hannah Hutchins aided the cause with 14 points and buried
two 3-pointers.
See what
happens when you have a track to practice on and a new gym?
Weston boys, girls sweep to SWC crowns
Norwalk HOUR
Posted on 02/08/2009
The Weston track and field teams swept both titles at the South-West
Conference Championships Saturday night at the New Haven Athletic
Center.
The girls scored 144.5 points to blow the field away and claim their
fourth consecutive conference championship. Masuk was a distant second
with 86 points.
Weston's boys had a closer battle but hung on to win their fifth title
in six years with 93 points, five points better than Masuk.
The Trojans were edged by a point for the top spot a year ago.
Steven Piscatelli (first in the 1,000 meters) and Danny Eldon (first in
the shot put) led the boys charge.
For the girls, pole vaulters Emily Ando and Julie Sitver put on a
two-person tutorial in taking the top two spots. Sitver tied the state
record of 11 feet, 6 inches, and Ando followed by clearing that same
height a few minutes later.
A little while after that Ando created new girls' state standard by
clearing 12 feet to win the event.
Weston also ran 1-2 in the 600 meters, with Rebecca Fine first and Meg
Sanborn second. In the 1,000 meters Emma Tobin finished first, followed
by Sarah Griffin.
Ando also took first in the hight jump at 4-10, Kathryn Bacher was best
in the long jump at 15-10, and the Trojans won the sprint-medley, 4x400
and 4x200 relays.
Cathy Roberts ran second in the 55-meter dash, while Callie Arlo was
runner-up in the 300.
"Obviously it was an outstanding job by everyone," head coach Matt
Medve said.
Next
Big Thing To Go Online Could Be
College Education
DAY
By Tamar Lewin , New York Times News Service
Published on 1/26/2009
An Israeli entrepreneur with decades of experience in international
education plans to start the first global, tuition-free Internet
university, a nonprofit venture he has named the University of the
People.
”The idea is to take social networking and apply it to academia,” said
the entrepreneur, Shai Reshef, founder of several Internet-based
educational businesses.
”The open-source courseware is there, from universities that have put
their courses online, available to the public, free,” Reshef said. “We
know that online peer-to-peer teaching works. Putting it all together,
we can make a free university for students all over the world, anyone
who speaks English and has an Internet connection.”
About 4 million students in the United States took at least one online
course in 2007, according to a survey by the Sloan Consortium, a
nonprofit group devoted to integrating online learning into mainstream
higher education.
Online learning is growing in many different contexts. Through the Open
Courseware Consortium, started in 2001 by the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, universities around the world have posted materials for
thousands of courses - as varied as Lambing and Sheep Management at
Utah State and Relativistic Quantum Field Theory at MIT - all free to
the public. Many universities now post their lectures on iTunes.
For-profit universities like the University of Phoenix and Kaplan
University have extensive online offerings. And increasingly, both
public and private universities offer at least some classes online.
Outside the United States, too, online learning is booming. Open
University in Britain, for example, enrolls about 160,000
undergraduates in distance-learning courses.
The University of the People, like other Internet-based universities,
would have online study communities, weekly discussion topics, homework
assignments and exams. But in lieu of tuition, students would pay only
nominal fees for enrollment ($15 to $50) and exams ($10 to $100), with
students from poorer countries paying the lower fees and those from
richer countries paying the higher ones.
Experts in online education say the idea raises many questions.
”We've chatted about doing something like this over the last decade but
decided the time wasn't yet right,” said John Bourne, executive
director of the Sloan Consortium. “It's true that the open courseware
movement is pretty robust, so there are a lot of high-quality course
materials out there, but there's no human backup behind them. I'd be
interested to know how you'd find and train faculty and ensure quality
without tuition money.”
Other educators question the logistics of such a plan.
”The more you get people around the world talking to each other, great,
and the more they talk about what they're learning, just wonderful,”
said Philip G. Altbach, director of the Center for International Higher
Education at Boston College. “But I'm not at all sure, when you start
attaching that to credits and degrees and courses, that it translates
so well.
”How will they test students? How much will the professors do? How well
does the American or British curriculum serve the needs of people in
Mali? How do they handle students whose English is not at college
level?”
Reshef said his new university would use active and retired professors
- some paid, some volunteers - along with librarians, master-level
students and professionals to develop and evaluate curriculums and
oversee assessments.
He plans to start small, limiting enrollment at 300 students when the
university goes online in the fall and offering only bachelor's degrees
in business administration and computer science. Reshef said the
university would apply for accreditation as soon as possible.
Reshef hopes to build enrollment to 10,000 over five years, the level
at which he said the enterprise should be self-sustaining. Startup
costs would be about $5 million, Reshef said, of which he plans to
provide $1 million.
Reshef is now chairman of Cramster.com, an online study community
offering homework help to college students.
”Cramster has thousands of students helping other students,” said
Reshef, who lives in Pasadena, Calif., where both Cramster and the new
university are based.
Boston still vexed by school busing
Justin A. Rice THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Sunday, November 1, 2009
BOSTON | More than three decades after a federal court order
forced Boston to desegregate schools by busing black students to white
neighborhoods and whites to black areas, the birthplace of public
education is still fighting the battle.
But the lines no longer pit race against race, with 87 percent of the
student body now minorities.
Now the city is wrestling with school-choice issues and an antiquated
busing system that can send a lone student on a bus ride across the
city. And the more the Boston Public Schools system assigns students to
neighborhood schools, rather than bus them across town, the more likely
it is that children in the poorest neighborhoods will go to the
worst-performing schools.
Boston schools still let parents pick schools, but only within three
enormous and controversial geographical zones. Buses carting only one
student often crisscross the city - contributing to next year's nearly
$80 million transportation budget at a time when the district faces a
projected $100 million budget shortfall.
Proposals to replace the 20-year-old school-assignment zones with five
smaller ones fizzled twice this decade, most recently in June. And
while the city secured federal funding this month to take another stab
at overhauling its busing system, the issue remains a political hot
potato that is not among the talking points of either mayoral candidate.
"And they won't talk about it because it's very divisive," said Myriam
Ortiz, executive director of Boston Parent Organizing Network, which
successfully argued that Boston Public Schools' recent proposal to
return to neighborhood schools drastically decreased access to quality
schools for the city's poorest students, "because communities where
better schools are located could care less about the communities where
the underperforming schools are located."
"I know this for a fact. A few months ago, we heard parents testifying
that their schools should not receive budget cuts because their schools
perform better. They said, 'The schools that are not performing, budget
cuts should be their punishment.' "
At a recent debate, Mayor Thomas M. Menino had his performance on
education graded by his opponent - City Council member Michael F.
Flaherty Jr., who gave him an "F" - and by himself. He said he'd grade
himself "maybe a B-plus, no, a B. I'll be generous."
The two men sparred over the mayor's record: "We boast of having the
best colleges and universities in the world, yet children who actually
do graduate from Boston Public Schools will never get an opportunity to
compete," the mayor's 40-year-old challenger said. Each man slung
around statistics on dropouts, but neither addressed the educational
elephant in the auditorium at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
and Museum: busing.
Mr. Menino, who called for the abolition of busing in his 2008 State of
the City Address, could not be reached for comment for this report.
During a phone interview, Mr. Flaherty, a proponent of neighborhood
schools who said he recently realized the need to focus initially on
improving school quality, did address busing frankly.
"The city has a long history with the subject; at the same time, things
have changed tremendously," said Mr. Flaherty, who was born five years
before the 1974 forced-busing ruling. "We need to be sensitive to the
issue and recognize the past. I've seen Boston at its best and at its
very worst. To dismiss and discount the past is shortsighted. We need
to put all the issues on the table.
"The discussion around school assignment can be polarizing already.
With that said, maybe we do need to have a frank discussion about race
in Boston, where we came from and where we are now before we embark on
this particular issue."
While Boston's third attempt to rewrite its school-assignment plan
since 2004 has gone untouched this political season, Washington has
taken notice.
On Oct. 1, 35 years after the now-deceased federal Judge W. Arthur
Garrity Jr. ruled that Boston Public Schools practiced de facto
segregation, the U.S. Department of Education awarded Boston a $241,680
grant.
The Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans grant is designed
to help school districts reconcile long-term effects of busing by
studying the practices of cities nationwide. The 11 districts awarded
the grant have 12 to 24 months to use the funds and cast wide nets in
reaching out to school-assignment experts and civil rights activists.
For the Boston Public Schools system - which has 72 percent of its
students eligible for subsidized free and reduced-price meals - the
challenge is deflating a bloated transportation budget without impeding
access to the city's best schools.
Superintendent Carol Johnson shelved her five-zone plan in June after
it was revealed that the majority of the district's underperforming
schools were concentrated in the two zones populated by the city's
poorest residents.
Parents in those two zones were irate after learning they wouldn't have
equal access to bilingual and special education.
"We are pleased about the grant; it will help propel us further and
faster," Ms. Johnson said by phone. "But even if we had not gotten the
grant, we are committed to making changes to improve the quality of
schools in Boston."
While BPS abolished race-based school assignment in 1999, the district
currently conducts a school-choice lottery, in which students apply to
elementary and middle schools within their zone of residence. They can
apply to schools outside their zone as long as they are within walking
distance of their home. High schools are accessible citywide.
Ms. Johnson was widely applauded for tossing out her five-zone plan
this summer. But even after she announced in August that she was
applying for federal money to aid her new efforts, skepticism remained
widespread.
"I don't believe they're going back to the drawing board," said Carlos
Henriquez, a City Council candidate who says 10 out of 11 elementary
schools in his predominantly black and Hispanic district chronically
underperform. "They are waiting until November 3 is over, then they'll
propose a plan that convinces nobody." Election Day is Nov. 3.
In 2004, before Ms. Johnson's tenure began, a similar school-assignment
proposal also failed. Just as they did this summer, community
organizers and parents argued that the district should improve
underperforming schools before addressing transportation woes.
While Ms. Johnson says BPS can simultaneously work toward improving
poor schools and ending busing, Mr. Henriquez said presenting a
school-assignment plan would be much easier once all schools performed
equally.
"They can quickly throw together a transportation plan," the
32-year-old said, "but no one can put together how to improve 10 of 11
schools."
In 2008, state officials deemed 100 of 143 schools "in need of
improvement" before Ms. Johnson closed or consolidated chronically
inadequate schools. About three-quarters of the city's 135 schools
underperform today, but Ms. Johnson has increased the number of seats
in well-performing schools.
"I think we have some evidence that we made some improvement," Ms.
Johnson said. "I also think that since some parents feel they didn't
get any of their top three [school choices], they still want us to make
sure we address that issue. Yes, some people will feel better about the
school their child is in, but not everyone is satisfied. That's why
it's important for us to have the grant. We need to think about all the
different ways to have a choice system."
While busing battles in Seattle and Louisville played out in the
Supreme Court two years ago, Boston has hashed out school-assignment
debates hyper-locally in church basements, school cafeterias and
auditoriums.
And while the Supreme Court ultimately limited the role race can play
in determining student assignment, in Boston the issue is not
especially racial, since only 9 percent of public-school students are
white, compared with 39 percent black and 37 percent Hispanic.
The battle in Boston pits those trying to preserve access to quality
schools, as well as the English language and special education, versus
those lobbying for a return to neighborhood schools.
East Boston resident Gloribell Mota wasn't satisfied with the middle
schools in her predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood a few years
ago. So her son traveled 1 1/2 hours by bus each way to attend a better
school.
Ms. Mota credits that decision for helping him test into Boston Latin
School, the jewel of the district and the nation's oldest public
school, founded in 1635. But leaving the neighborhood to attend middle
school wasn't easy.
"It wasn't like he could stay after school with his friends hanging
out, it was straight home an hour and a half on the bus," said Ms.
Mota, whose daughter is in kindergarten. "I want to make sure she has
those options as well.
"Until BPS takes a structural look at some of the schools, parents will
continue to oppose [a new busing plan]. They want quality schools in
the neighborhoods."
Ms. Mota recently walked a few blocks from her home to attend her
daughter's parent-teacher conferences and acknowledged that
neighborhood schools can foster community and parent involvement.
When defending her school-assignment proposal last winter, Ms. Johnson
said the geographical districts reflected parents' desires to choose
schools closer to home.
Neighborhood schools, however, are not a silver bullet. The Orchard
Gardens Pilot School sets aside 75 percent of its seats for students
within walking distance of the school in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood,
but Mr. Henriquez notes that it still underperforms.
Ms. Johnson said she understands why parents are pushing so hard for
high quality, but added that the debate can sometimes get sidetracked
by focusing too much on transportation and school choice.
"I do sometimes think we lose track of what the core of our work in
schools is," Ms. Johnson said. "The core business of schools is about
student achievement. That is what this is about. We have to keep making
sure we ask questions that drive the agenda toward student achievement
and student success, as opposed to focusing solely on choice.
"Parents do want choice, but to what end?"
Chicago school chief Arne Duncan got the nod! And he's off
and running with a race to the...top?
Obama Offers 'Race to the Top' Contest
for Schools
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:23 p.m. ET
July 24, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Using money as bait, President Barack Obama
challenged states and school districts Friday to raise their academic
standards, improve teacher quality and allow more innovation if they
want a chance at roughly $5 billion in new grants.
Obama said the broad goals are to give every child a chance to succeed
and to boost the educational foundation of the nation's economy. Yet
the ''Race to the Top'' program is also specifically targeted at
expanding reforms the administration wants, such as linking teacher pay
to how well students do on tests.
''This competition will not be based on politics or ideology or the
preferences of a particular interest group,'' Obama said in an
appearance at the Education Department. ''Instead, it will be based on
a simple principle: whether a state is ready to do what works.''
The president added: ''Not every state will win and not every school
district will be happy with the results. But America's children,
America's economy, America itself will be better for it.''
Obama said the states and districts that apply for money will be
evaluated by clear criteria, with rewards going to those that adopt
strong standards and common tests; that get high-quality teachers in
the classroom; and that allow expansions of charter schools, which are
public schools that operate with more independence. He endorsed the
idea of linking student achievement to teacher pay -- a hotly debated
idea in education -- but said it should be just one factor in
compensation.
As he has with other domestic priorities, Obama said reforming
education has been talked about without enough action for years.
Speaking of the need to improve academics nationwide, he said: ''We
have no choice. And I'm absolutely confident that we can make it
happen.''
The $5 billion education fund, part of the economic stimulus law
enacted this year, is seen as Obama's shot at revamping schools over
the next couple of years.
A state will have to meet a series of conditions to earn points and
boost its chances. Some of those conditions are controversial,
especially among teachers' unions, which make up an influential segment
of Obama's Democratic base.
For example, the administration says it will not award money to states
that bar student performance data from being linked to teacher
evaluations. Several states, including California, New York and
Wisconsin, have such a prohibition.
But there are also elements the unions will embrace; states can earn
points by submitting letters of support from state union leaders.
The Obama administration is using the stimulus not only to help schools
ride out the recession but to try to transform the federal government's
role in education. Education Secretary Arne Duncan envisions the
dollars going to perhaps 10 to 20 states that can serve as models for
innovation.
The $5 billion fund might not seem like much, considering the stimulus
bill provided $100 billion for schools. But the fund is massive
compared with the $16 million in discretionary money Duncan's
predecessors got each year for their own priorities.
Moreover, the fund has taken on added importance because in many
states, the bulk of the stimulus money is being used to fill
increasingly larger budget holes, and not for the innovations Obama
wants.
A report from the Government Accountability Office earlier this month
said school districts are planning to use the money mostly to prevent
teacher layoffs.
''Most did not indicate they would use these funds to pursue
educational reform,'' the report said. The GAO is the investigative arm
of Congress.
Already, the promise of an extra $5 billion has helped Duncan prod
state legislatures to do the administration's bidding.
For example, he warned Tennessee lawmakers they could lose out on the
money if they kept blocking a bill to let more kids into charter
schools; within weeks, the bill was enacted and signed into law.
''It's amazing the amount of progress, literally, without us spending a
dime,'' Duncan said.
The Education Department will gather public comment on its rules for
the $5 billion fund for the next 30 days; applications will be
available in October, and the first round of money should be awarded
early next year.
Who Will He Choose?
NYTIMES OP-ED
By DAVID BROOKS
December 5, 2008
As in many other areas, the biggest education debates
are happening within the Democratic Party. On the one hand, there are
the reformers like Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee, who support merit pay
for good teachers, charter schools and tough accountability standards.
On the other hand, there are the teachers’ unions and the members of
the Ed School establishment, who emphasize greater funding, smaller
class sizes and superficial reforms.
During the presidential race, Barack Obama straddled the two camps. One
campaign adviser, John Schnur, represented the reform view in the
internal discussions. Another, Linda Darling-Hammond, was more likely
to represent the establishment view. Their disagreements were collegial
(this is Obamaland after all), but substantive.
In public, Obama shifted nimbly from camp to camp while education
experts studied his intonations with the intensity of Kremlinologists.
Sometimes, he flirted with the union positions. At other times, he
practiced dog-whistle politics, sending out reassuring signals that
only the reformers could hear.
Each camp was secretly convinced that at the end of the day, Obama
would come down on their side. The reformers were cheered when Obama
praised a Denver performance pay initiative. The unions could take
succor from the fact that though Obama would occasionally talk about
merit pay, none of his actual proposals contradicted their positions.
Obama never had to pick a side. That is, until now. There is only one
education secretary, and if you hang around these circles, the air is
thick with speculation, anticipation, anxiety, hope and misinformation.
Every day, new rumors are circulated and new front-runners declared.
It’s kind of like being in a Trollope novel as Lord So-and-So figures
out to whom he’s going to propose.
You can measure the anxiety in the reformist camp by the level of
nervous phone chatter each morning. Weeks ago, Obama announced that
Darling-Hammond would lead his transition team and reformist cellphones
around the country lit up. Darling-Hammond, a professor at Stanford, is
a sharp critic of Teach for America and promotes weaker reforms.
Anxieties cooled, but then one morning a few weeks ago, I got a flurry
of phone calls from reform leaders nervous that Obama was about to side
against them. I interviewed people in the president-elect’s inner
circle and was reassured that the reformers had nothing to worry about.
Obama had not gone native.
Obama’s aides point to his long record on merit pay, his sympathy for
charter schools and his tendency to highlight his commitment to serious
education reform.
But the union lobbying efforts are relentless and in the past week
prospects for a reforming education secretary are thought to have
dimmed. The candidates before Obama apparently include: Joel Klein, the
highly successful New York chancellor who has, nonetheless, been
blackballed by the unions; Arne Duncan, the reforming Chicago head who
is less controversial; Darling-Hammond herself; and some former
governor to be named later, with Darling-Hammond as the deputy
secretary.
In some sense, the final option would be the biggest setback for
reform. Education is one of those areas where implementation and the
details are more important than grand pronouncements. If the deputies
and assistants in the secretary’s office are not true reformers,
nothing will get done.
The stakes are huge. For the first time in decades, there is real
momentum for reform. It’s not only Rhee and Klein — the celebrities —
but also superintendents in cities across America who are getting
better teachers into the classrooms and producing measurable results.
There is an unprecedented political coalition building, among liberals
as well as conservatives, for radical reform.
No Child Left Behind is about to be reauthorized. Everyone has
reservations about that law, but it is the glaring spotlight that
reveals and pierces the complacency at mediocre schools. If
accountability standards are watered down, as the establishment wants,
then real reform will fade.
This will be a tough call for Obama, because it will mean offending
people, but he can either galvanize the cause of reform or demoralize
it. It’ll be one of the biggest choices of his presidency.
Many of the reformist hopes now hang on Obama’s friend, Arne Duncan. In
Chicago, he’s a successful reformer who has produced impressive results
in a huge and historically troubled system. He has the political skills
necessary to build a coalition on behalf of No Child Left Behind
reauthorization. Because he is close to both Obamas, he will ensure
that education doesn’t fall, as it usually does, into the ranks of the
second-tier issues.
If Obama picks a reformer like Duncan, Klein or one of the others, he
will be picking a fight with the status quo. But there’s never been a
better time to have that fight than right now.
Sound
familiar?
State looks for $1.7M from city
By Elizabeth Benton, New Haven Register Staff
Friday, November 21,
2008 5:55 AM EST
NEW HAVEN — Thirteen years after High School in the Community opened on
Water Street, the state is now seeking $1.7 million from the city,
primarily due to a disagreement over the purchase price of the property.
New Haven paid $2.2 million for the property, which they then renovated
into an inter-district magnet school. While the state initially
reimbursed the city for that expense, in a 2007 audit of the $6 million
project, the state determined the property to be worth only $700,000,
according to School Construction Coordinator Susan Weisselberg.
The remaining expense was due to charges the state deemed to be not
reimbursable.
Weisselberg and Chief Operating Officer Will Clark appeared before the
Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee Wednesday night seeking to
include the unexpected $1.7 million in bonds the city plans to issue in
March.
The committee approved the request, which will now appear before the
full board.
According to Weisselberg, the
state has 20 years to audit a project after its completion.
“It makes it really hard,” she said. “The project was done differently
than the way we do things now. People who worked on it are not people
who are here now. We were able to reconstruct a fair amount of it.
Ultimately what it came to was the auditors viewing the acquisition
price one way, we viewed it another way,” she said.
State education spokesman Tom Murphy said such reimbursement request
are “quite normal and quite prevalent.”
“Every school construction project is audited at close out,” he said.
“This is a common outcome in school construction. When you’re talking
about a 40, 60 or $100 million project, $1.5 million or even $5 million
is a real possibility.”
While the city and state differ over expenses for the older project,
the city also is considering $25 million worth of new upgrades to the
building, including window replacements, fa硤e improvements, energy
efficiency upgrades and expansion for a full-size gym and a
multipurpose space. Of that expense, all but $1.5 million would be paid
for by the state. The city plans to submit that project to the state in
2009, dependent on economic conditions.
No
Towns Willing To Take New London
Students; City required to ask under mandate of No Child Left
Behind
DAY
By Jenna Cho
Published on 10/6/2008
New London - To comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, New
London asked 18 school systems in the region last month whether they
would transport and educate New London students - for free.
So far, there are no takers.
New London was required to contact neighboring school districts because
its Harbor Elementary School this year became the fourth and last
elementary school in the district not to make adequate yearly progress
for two or more consecutive years under the law. That put Harbor on the
list of schools that are in need of improvement. Under NCLB,
school districts with an in-need school must offer parents of that
school the option to transfer to a different school within the
district. But all the elementary schools in New London are in need of
improvement, which means New London has no elementary school
alternatives to so-called failing schools.
So on Sept. 2, New London Assistant Superintendent Christine Carver
sent letters to school superintendents asking whether any of them would
be willing to educate some of New London's 1,600 elementary students if
a parent were to exercise his or her right to public school choice
under NCLB. New London Superintendent Christopher Clouet said no parent
has formally requested the school choice option this year.
”It doesn't say much about the quality of the teaching,” said Carver of
sending the letters. “It really is just about the requirement of No
Child Left Behind.”
Accepting New London's request would mean absorbing the cost of
educating and transporting the New London children. Griswold, Ledyard,
Lyme-Old Lyme, Montville, North Stonington, Norwich, Preston, Voluntown
and Waterford have all declined to enter into what Carver, in her
letter, called the “Inter-district School Choice Cooperative Agreement.”
Eight other districts have not replied, and Colchester is awaiting a
board of education discussion on the matter, according to Carver.
Most urban districts in the state are caught in the same predicament as
New London, said Susan Kennedy, chief of the state Department of
Education's Bureau of School and District Improvement.
”It is very difficult to get surrounding districts to participate in
taking kids,” Kennedy said. “Part of it is because there's no
transportation that's guaranteed there. Many of these districts have no
seats available. The timing is bad in terms of the economy; everybody's
struggling. And so to take kids that are not naturally theirs presents
some problems.”
Running out of schools able to serve as alternatives to failing schools
is a symptom of the fact that adequate yearly progress is a moving
target that keeps getting harder and harder to hit, said Kennedy. By
2013-14, 100 percent of students are expected to meet federal
proficiency levels in reading and math standardized tests, which means
most schools by then will be failing to make the yearly progress
standard.
”These schools are improving,” said Kennedy. “The problem, this year,
is that the threshold moved up.”
Kennedy said New London's request to other districts single-handedly
satisfies the NCLB requirement that school districts offer public
school choice, whether or not other districts agree to take on New
London's students. When all its schools are failing, a district can
offer supplemental services, such as tutoring to help struggling
students but isn't obligated to, said Kennedy. Michael Petrilli,
vice president for national programs and policy at the education think
tank Thomas B. Fordham Institute, called NCLB's provision for public
school choice “basically toothless.”
Only about 120,000 students nationwide exercised their right to public
school choice in 2006-07, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
”There's basically no way to force school districts to provide school
choice to parents if they don't want to,” Petrilli said, “and in this
case, if they don't have an ability to do so.”
Too expensive
For at least a couple of districts, cost was the main deciding factor
in declining New London's request. North Stonington's Board of
Education decided it could not foot the $13,747 annual cost of
educating out-of-district students, said the district's superintendent,
Natalie Pukas. Out-of-district tuition in Ledyard is $9,200 a
year for elementary students, and one school bus costs about $75,000 a
year, said Ledyard Superintendent Michael Graner.
”Given the nature of our budget this year and certainly for next year,”
said Graner, “it would've been a really substantial financial burden
for our school district.”
Graner acknowledged the difficulty New London faces in improving
student performance when the standards keep rising. He said New London
offers strong bilingual programs and has been adept at educating
English language learners.
”I have every confidence that New London Public Schools is providing
the programs to meet the needs of the children,” Graner said.
Stage is set for
new Weston
High School auditorium
Weston FORUM
Written by Kimberly Donnelly
Friday, August 08, 2008
The lights are dark and the stage is bare at the Weston High School
auditorium. That’s normal for this time of year; what’s not normal is
the fact that there are also no seats, no curtain, no floor tiles or
carpet, no walls in some places, and lots and lots of dust.
“The demolition part is done,” said Tom Landry, town administrator.
“Now they’re working on putting it back together.”
Renovation of the high school auditorium is the final piece in the
town’s $80-million school and athletic facilities project that voters
approved in 2001 and that broke ground in 2003. That project included
new playing fields at Morehouse Farm Park and Bisceglie-Scribner Park,
the new intermediate school, and renovation and additions at the high
school.
Refurbishing the high school auditorium was not originally a part of
the building project. However, when bids for a planned new auditorium
at Weston Middle School came in millions of dollars more than expected,
the focus shifted to making improvements to the existing high school
performance space instead.
Work on the auditorium includes adding air conditioning, replacing
antiquated rigging, lighting work, and floor replacement.
WestonArts, a nonprofit group, has raised about $300,000 in private
funds to help supplement the costs of the auditorium project,
specifically to replace the seats.
Mr. Landry said figuring out the cost of the project as a whole is
tricky because so many different contracts are involved. Carlson
Construction is the main contractor; Innovative Engineering Services of
North Haven is the main design engineer; William Warfel is the lighting
designer; Ducharme is responsible for the seating; two different fabric
companies, J.B. Martin and Designtex, are involved; and Theatre
Projects Consultancy is another designer.
In addition to the money raised by WestonArts, the money to pay for the
project — which Mr. Landry ultimately pins down at about $2.1 million —
comes from several different sources. Money that was originally bonded
to build the middle school auditorium was “transferred” to pay for the
high school roof replacement and auditorium renovation.
Mr. Landry said after the roof was completed, about $1.2 million was
left to apply toward the auditorium. At a special town meeting June 11
this year, voters approved an additional $586,585 appropriation from
the general fund, and there was money left in a capital account for the
roof replacement that will be applied toward the auditorium.
The auditorium will not be completed by the time school opens at the
end of this month. The building committee is pushing to have it ready
by mid-October, in time for the high school’s Company to stage its fall
performance.
No
surprises here...Weston rank in the state - #9 (math),#2
(science),#5 (reading),#7 (writing).
Sophomores Show Gains In CAPT Scores
By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER | Courant Staff Writer
10:30 AM EDT, July 15, 2008
Connecticut high school sophomores showed gains in math, science and
writing on the state's annual achievement test, while performance in
reading was flat, according to figures released this morning.
Statewide, just over half of high school sophomores reached state goals
in math on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test this year, a 4.9
percentage-point increase from sophomores in 2007.
Writing performance was up 4.8 percentage points, with 57.8 percent of
10th graders reaching state goals.
In science, 46.5 percent of students reached state goals, a 2
percentage-point increase, while 45.5 percent of students achieved
goals in reading, the same as 2007.
State Education Commissioner Mark K. McQuillan described the scores as
promising, but noted that many challenges persist, including wide
achievement gaps between minority students and their white peers.
"We still have far to go, but this is a step forward for our state,"
McQuillan said in a written statement.
Overall, 35 school districts and the Connecticut Technical High School
system showed performance gains on all four subjects. Seven districts
recorded drops in performance for all four subjects.
The numbers varied widely by district.
In New Canaan, which topped the state in math and science performance,
more than 90 percent of students reached state goals in math and
writing, and more than 80 percent achieved goal in science and reading.
In Hartford, which posted the state's lowest reading performance, 11
percent of students reached state reading goals.
Still, Hartford, like several other poor and traditionally
low-performing districts, showed some gains. While the percent of
students reaching goals in reading was down in the capital city, math,
science, and writing achievement was up, though the district still
ranked among the bottom 10 districts statewide in reaching goal in each
category.
White, black and Hispanic students all showed gains in math, science
and writing, but wide gaps persist. While 63.1 percent of white
students achieved goal on the math exam, for example, only 14.6 percent
of black students and 18.2 percent of Hispanic students did.
The scores come amid an increased focus on high schools by state
education officials, who have proposed an ambitious plan to reshape
secondary school education. The proposal, a response to concerns that
students are increasingly graduating unprepared for college or the
workforce, calls for added credit and curriculum requirements,
including an independent project for seniors, end-of-course exams that
students would have to pass to graduate, and an increased emphasis on
students' connections with teachers and other school staff.
Fewer
students in years to come?
Study projects 17% enrollment
drop in Conn. schools
DAY
By Jenna Cho
Published on 7/5/2008
In the world of population projections, there are always peaks and
valleys that mark a cycle of population growth and decline.
But according to an analysis by the University of Connecticut's
Connecticut State Data Center, the state is starting to see a
“long-term decline in the school-age population.” The data center
serves as a liaison to the U.S. Census Bureau. The state uses the data
to create public policy and to decide where to spend money.
The study summary, released last month, projects a 17-percent decline
between 2004-05 and 2020-21 in the total number of public-school
students in grades 1 to 12 in the state. Public school enrollment in
those grades peaked at 523,100 in 2004-05 and is expected to drop to
about 432,300 in 2020-21, according to the study.
”Low fertility rates are the root cause of this decline,” the study
release reads. “The boomer generation, now approaching retirement, had
fewer children than their parents. … Each progressive generation is
failing to replace itself.”
The state Department of Education's own projections, through the
2016-17 school year, also reflect a decline in student enrollment in
preschool through 12th grade.
”The UConn study suggests that we may not recover from this decline,
that the students that are graduating from the high schools now … will
move out of state and not return,” said department spokesman Thomas
Murphy. “And in some ways, they may be right. We've seen in recent
years larger and larger percentages of high school graduates go to
college outside of Connecticut and then fail to return.”
But Murphy also cautioned that trends over the past 60 years have shown
recoveries from such declines. The state experienced a low of about
466,000 in public-school enrollment in 1988 but in 2006-07 saw the
numbers climb back up to about 574,000, according to department records.
The 2008 graduating class was, at about 38,400, the largest the state
has seen in the past 10 years, Murphy said. The decline in enrollment
is expected starting this year.
”We should be mindful of the projections of the study and consider it a
strong possibility, but there's nothing certain because these are
projections,” Murphy said.
Orlando Rodriguez, the data center's manager and demographer, said the
latest study was actually a re-emphasis of a study released in May 2007
showing enrollment projections in grades 1 to 12 between the years 2000
and 2030.
”In a sense, it's repackaged information,” Rodriguez said. “But the
reason we brought it out is because we've been waiting for the numbers
to start dropping.”
The data center saw that drop, of about 3,886 students, between 2006-07
and 2007-08. Rodriguez cited several factors as contributing to the
decline, including lower birth rates, more people leaving Connecticut
than staying and a stagnant job market.
The study projects enrollment to increase again somewhat after 2020,
with an estimated 458,900 students in grades 1 to 12 in the year 2030.
The data center and state education department both looked at birth
rates and factors such as migration and job opportunities. But
Rodriguez said the data center and state numbers differ because the two
used different methods of projection. The data center also tracked
enrollment trends for a longer period, starting in 1990, he said.
Rodriguez said school districts should be cautious to spend money on
construction projects when there may not be a need for larger school
facilities in the future. A declining public-school population will
have other social repercussions, he said.
”We're projecting that our elderly population is going to increase
dramatically,” Rodriguez said. “So in terms of social services, we're
going to have fewer children but more elderly.”
New London schools Superintendent Christopher Clouet said the data
center's projections did not affect the school district's plan to
convert two of its elementary schools into magnet schools because the
magnet schools would draw a percentage of its students from outside New
London.
Additionally, New London families already tend to have larger families
than suburban families, he said.
”When they say the state of Connecticut will have a relative decline in
students, I don't doubt that,” Clouet said. “I think the decline will
be experienced differently in different types of communities.”
Magnet
School Referendum Is Cause For
Jitters; NL Lawmakers Fear Negative Vote Could Hamper Future State
Funding
DAY
By Kevin Dale
Published on 4/5/2008
New London — In July, officials from the city, school district and
state gathered in the city's Science and Technology Magnet High School
to celebrate what was portrayed as a legislative triumph. In the
waning days of the summer session, the General Assembly, after
considerable lobbying from New London legislators, passed what has come
to be known as the “magnet plan.”
The legislation designated New London as the state's first
magnet-school district. But the true purpose behind the creative label
was to give the cash-strapped city $58 million — 95 percent of the $61
million estimate — to renovate Winthrop and Nathan Hale schools into
600-student magnet schools. But as the magnet plan heads to a
resident-triggered referendum Tuesday, members of the city's
legislative delegation nervously await the outcome of an election that
they are surprised is even occurring. The rejection of the plan, they
said, could harm their future efforts to secure state funds for the
city.
“I don't think anybody thought this largess wouldn't be accepted,” said
state Rep. Ted Moukawsher, D-Groton. “It's kind of inconceivable, but
here we are.”
Echoing local supporters, Moukawsher noted the plan awards the city $10
million. Under the reimbursement formula for nonmagnet schools,
the city would have to contribute $13 million to renovate the two,
roughly 40-year-old elementary schools; the magnet plan requires $3
million.
“It's astounding to me you want to prevent kids from having new schools
at basically no cost,” said Moukawsher, echoing the “no-brainer”
argument made by the plan's supporters. State Rep. Ernest Hewett,
D-New London, said he has been a little chagrined to have to inform the
heads of the assembly's education committees — who backed the plan —
that residents forced the referendum and could vote the plan down.
“Actually, I'm a little apologetic to them,” Hewett said. “I'm kind of
hoping that it's passed. We would look pretty bad going back up there
and making a pitch for New London.”
New London Superintendent Christopher Clouet has said the magnet plan
came about because school officials needed additional state money to
renovate the schools. He said the district couldn't ask the city to
contribute $13 million, a figure equal to 17 percent of its total
budget.
“There just wouldn't be any appetite for it,” Clouet said.
The city's legislators said the plan's rejection could complicate
future pitches for state money. The assumption underlying those
requests, they said, is that New London, as a tax-poor city
overburdened with needs, should receive extra help from Hartford.
“People are watching,” said state Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford.
“It has so much support. For the residents to reject what is really a
gift from the state in the form of this grant would be a very difficult
thing for us to explain.”
In addition to the legislators, the plan enjoys the substantial support
of the city's elected officials. The city's Democratic Town Committee
has endorsed the plan, as have the city's three Republican elected
officials: city Councilors Rob Pero and Adam Sprecace and school board
member James Pearce. But the city's Republican Town Committee
appears to be split on the plan. After debating the merits at its
meeting this week, the committee decided not to take a position.
Last week, Sprecace, the council's chief number cruncher, and
Democratic Councilor Mike Buscetto III held a “nonpartisan” forum to
persuade residents of the plan's financial upside. Armed with the
slogan “Pay Less, Vote Yes,” Buscetto has stepped forward as a major
backer of the plan.
Buscetto, a developer, has said he will be “intimately involved” with
the schools' construction. In his appearance Thursday on the
cable-access show “The Renshaw Report,” he pledged that the city's $3
million share would be covered through cost savings and wouldn't
increase taxes.
“Put it on tape,” Buscetto said after host Murray “the Eye” Renshaw
held him to the promise.
With the city's GOP taking a sideline role in the debate, it is
difficult to gauge the extent of the plan's opposition, which appears
to be led by Charles Frink, Bill Cornish and Evelyn and Demetrious
Louziotis. Those residents, who have been vocal critics of the
plan, sponsored the 409-signature petition that challenged the City
Council's Feb. 4 decision to approve the plan.
Cornish, a One New London party member and former city councilor, has
been the magnet plan's most outspoken critic. He objects to a
stipulation in the plan that requires the city's magnet schools,
whether they are district-run or not, to enroll a combined 15 percent
of students from outside New London. The city must meet the
target by June 2012 or facing having to repay the $10 million,
according to the magnet-plan legislation.
The plan's proponents say the goal can be reached, and they point to
the roughly 400 suburban students who already attend the city's magnet
schools, including 300 enrolled at the Regional Multicultural Magnet
School, which is not run by the district.
Cornish and his fellow opponents are skeptical that the elementary
magnet schools will attract the 100 or so suburban students needed to
meet the 2012 target. “Take the penalty off. Take the quota off for
suburban kids,” he said.
During his appearance on “The Renshaw Report” Thursday, Cornish
questioned the widely held belief that the Winthrop and Nathan Hale
schools are in desperate need of repair. “I don't think they're falling
down,” he said.
And Cornish took issue with the $61 million price, which school
officials admit is the best estimate that can be made at this point.
“They can take that 'no-brainer' label and stuff it. It doesn't do
anything for me,” Cornish said.
Supporters of the plan have been harshly critical of the opponents,
characterizing them as a small but noisy group of naysayers.
“There's a few people that are pretty much against everything, or
mostly everything,” Buscetto said. Clouet, in a January interview about
the plan, accused some critics of being “part of an organized,
generalized assault on the young.”
Moukawsher said, “There's an element in New London that seems to be
critical — it's just knee-jerk reaction.”
He suggested the critics' overriding motivation is to deal
school-district leaders what would be a bruising political defeat on a
cardinal policy initiative.
“They're anxious — and desperate almost — to find something negative to
say,” Moukawsher said. “The only way their politics or political
situation can be advanced is through failure.”
Cornish said he remains unfazed. “There's been a lot of name-calling in
this,” he said. “It doesn't bother me at all.”
How
do residency, voting controversy,
beach access policy relate to this issue?
Schools check students' residence
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw
Published February 2 2008
Reality or not, concerned taxpayers and parents believe there are many
nonresidents attending Greenwich Public Schools taking up tax dollars
and classroom seats.
But school officials hope that a proposed centralized residency
verification system, combined with a recently acquired software program
that tracks address changes with the post office, will help address the
perception that there are scores of New York children attending schools
on the western side of town.
"We're spending some money to address that perception," said John
Curtin, assistant superintendent of research and evaluation. Curtin
heads the residency verification process.
The Board of Education's budget includes $48,500 for a centralized
system that will change the verification process, starting in July.
Instead of a new student bringing in proof of residency to their
neighborhood school, under the new system they will have to go to the
Havemeyer Building to be verified with district staff. As part of the
change, a full-time staff member will be added to help Curtin and his
part-time staff member. The school budget still needs to be approved by
the town.
Board Vice Chairwoman Leslie Moriarty said non-residency isn't the
large issue some believe, but she added that the centralized system
should help the district with a more standardized approach.
"We do want to make sure our tax dollars are being used effectively,"
Moriarty said.
The district's existing verification system has been criticized by some
parents for not being effective, based on their anecdotal evidence of
seeing New York license plates on cars carrying students.
Deanne Biddle, a mother of Western Middle School and Greenwich High
School students, said she's seen the out-of-state plates and thinks the
district can do more to check addresses, just as Greenwich uses strict
guidelines when approving its beach passes for town residents.
"I have to wonder how many of the children really belong there," said
Biddle, 46, of the crowded high school.
But school officials say the out-of-state car often is owned by a
relative, or is registered to a business, or there can be a variety of
other reasons. However, if a school has cause to believe a student
doesn't live in town, an investigation is conducted.
Western principal Stacey Gross said she takes residency verification
seriously and that teachers listen for verbal cues that a child doesn't
live in town. The school also checks for returned mail, chronic
tardiness or an inability to reach parents as warning signs.
The district investigations rarely lead to a student withdrawal, Curtin
said. From 2001 to 2006, 78 nonresident students were forced to
withdraw. Curtin estimated there are about 10 such students this year.
It costs the town about $14,000 a year to educate a student, not
including extracurricular activities, the teachers' time and
opportunities taken away from legitimate Greenwich students.
Tesei
backs early start on GHS art
center
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw, Staff Writer
Published December 22 2007
First Selectman Peter Tesei broke with his predecessor yesterday and
said he would consider funding construction of a new high school
performing arts center three years earlier than former First Selectman
Jim Lash.
The Board of Education wants $2.1 million in architectural and
engineering money for the project in the 2008-09 budget year, and $23.4
million construction money in the following year.
Before leaving office, Lash proposed that the construction money be
withheld until the 2012-13 budget year. Supporters of the project
feared that plans for the project would be out of date by then, and
that students need new facilities as soon as possible.
Tesei said students would benefit from having the facility built sooner
rather than later, in an interview yesterday.
"One cannot ignore the importance of it," Tesei said of renovating the
space. "It's not just about the auditorium. It's about additional space
for musical instruction and programming that's needed."
But he cautioned that getting funds earlier would depend heavily on the
project clearing zoning hurdles, specifically parking concerns. Lash,
who was the head of the Capital Improvements Committee, which evaluates
and prioritizes projects for the town, had predicted the project will
encounter zoning issues during the architectural and engineering study,
pushing construction back.
"I think it's going to take a full and complete hearing," with the
Planning and Zoning board, Lash said in an interview earlier this
month. "I don't think construction is going to be the thing holding up
the phasing of the project."
Parents strongly opposed Lash's plan, though. PTA co-president Leslie
Cooper said yesterday, "If they move the construction back, that's
another 8,000 to 10,000 kids that won't have use of that new facility."
The performing arts space has been cited for lack of classroom,
rehearsal and storage space and poor acoustics, among other issues. A
study by Glastonbury architect Perkins and Will showed the auditorium
has about half the capacity of those at nearby high schools in other
towns.
Tesei said he's impressed with the work done so far by the architect
and the community advocacy group, the Friends of the High School
Performing Arts, who cleared a hurdle Thursday night when the Board of
Education unanimously approved preliminary designs for the project.
That clears the way for the board to ask the town to create a building
committee to oversee the project.
Day 4 In
Sheff Case Reveals Rift
By RACHEL GOTTLIEB FRANK | Courant Staff Writer
November 10, 2007
Testimony by the state's education commissioner on the fourth day of a
hearing on the Sheff vs. O'Neill desegregation lawsuit revealed a testy
relationship between Hartford's superintendent of schools and the state
Department of Education over state efforts to quicken the pace of
desegregation.
The Sheff lawsuit, filed in 1989, resulted in an order by the state
Supreme Court in 1996 to end the racial, ethnic and economic isolation
of Hartford's minority students. The court left it to the state and the
plaintiffs to decide how to do that. Now the plaintiffs say
desegregation efforts have fallen short, and they are in Superior Court
appealing for help.
State Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan on Friday summarized an
exchange of letters that began last summer between him and
Superintendent Steven Adamowski in which McQuillan asked Hartford to
submit documents showing why several of the city's magnet schools
didn't have enough white students and how the district intended to
remedy the problem.
"This was a repeated plea that went out," McQuillan testified, and the
state was threatening to withhold millions of dollars if those
documents weren't submitted by Oct. 1.
In letters back to McQuillan, the commissioner testified, Adamowski
challenged the state's authority to withhold funding.
"I wrote back to say we really do have the authority to withhold
funds," McQuillan said
In time, he said, Adamowski set conditions for the release of the
documents that the state was seeking. One condition was the reform of
the lottery system used to admit students to magnet schools. In
Adamowski's opinion, the lottery system for admission to interdistrict
magnet schools is illegal in the wake of recent U.S. Supreme Court
rulings on the use of race for the assignment of students to schools,
McQuillan said.
"He continued to come back to me to say it was the state's
responsibility to develop a new lottery system," McQuillan testified.
Finally, he said, Adamowski took the position that until he saw a new
lottery system he would not release enrollment plans sought by the
state.
McQuillan testified that he believes the lottery, which is run by the
Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), is fair.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision released in June forbids schools from
enrolling children strictly on the basis of race and threatened many
voluntary desegregation plans throughout the nation. But at the time of
the ruling,, experts said they believed it would have little effect on
school desegregation efforts in Hartford. The key difference, legal
experts said, is that the magnet schools and school choice plans that
are a central piece of the Sheff efforts do not single out students by
race. Rather, the plans attempt to achieve racial balance by selecting
students based on where they live.
In the dispute between McQuillan and Adamowski, the state ultimately
withheld $4.6 million from Hartford because the city did not submit the
enrollment plans that the state demanded.
Another point of tension between McQuillan and Adamowski is the
development of a joint office between the state, Hartford and the CREC
to implement desegregation programs.
Since he took office last January, McQuillan testified, he has
reorganized his office and created a special division to concentrate
exclusively on Sheff mandates. The joint office between the state,
Hartford and CREC is a separate office he is attempting to create. But
Adamowski made clear to McQuillan that he thought the state should take
the lead role in implementing integration efforts.
Throughout the hearing on the status of the desegregation projects
under the Sheff ruling, Hartford's lawyer has pushed the point that it
is the state - not Hartford - that is the defendant in the case, so the
state should be responsible for all costs and implementation.
Before McQuillan was called as a witness for the state, Robert
Genuario, secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management,
testified about some of the funding dedicated to desegregating
Hartford's schools, including $4.9 million in the state budget this
year and $9.9 million in next year's budget. The money is earmarked for
the development of new charter schools, expanding the Open Choice
program through which city students enroll in suburban schools, funding
interdistrict cooperative programs and operations of the joint office
between Hartford, the state and CREC.
John Rose, Hartford's lawyer, asked Genuario if there was money
dedicated to make up for lost taxes when the city buys private property
for use as a school and whether the state was paying for all the staff
in the magnet schools opened in Hartford as part of the integration
efforts.
Genuario said that the state assists with salaries for staff through
its main grant for education called the Education Cost Sharing Grant,
and he pointed out that schools never pay taxes.
Spotty Sheff Enforcement
By RACHEL GOTTLIEB FRANK | And MAGDALENE PEREZ Courant Staff Writers
November 9, 2007
Over the years the state has helped develop a comprehensive plan to
desegregate Hartford's schools, spent hundreds of millions of dollars
on the efforts, appealed to suburban districts to open their schools to
city students and offered training to suburban districts to help city
students succeed, state witnesses testified Thursday in the Sheff vs.
O'Neill desegregation case.
But cross-examination of those witnesses in Superior Court in Hartford
revealed that shifts in management have resulted in spotty results and
murky accountability since 2003, when the plaintiffs in the Sheff
lawsuit reached a compromise agreement with the state on integration
goals.
During those years, changes in oversight included five state education
commissioners, multiple reorganizations of the state Department of
Education, four Hartford superintendents, a transition from state
control over Hartford schools to local control and the creation and
disbanding of a magnet school office in Hartford.
The lawsuit, filed in 1989, resulted in an order by the state Supreme
Court in 1996 to end the racial, ethnic and economic isolation of
Hartford's minority students. The court left it to the state and the
plaintiffs to decide how to do that, and sent the case back to Superior
Court for monitoring. Now, 11 years later, the plaintiffs say
desegregation efforts have fallen short, and they are in Superior Court
appealing for help.
Marcus Rivera, a consultant for the state education department,
testified that he helped Hartford create a plan for integration that
included developing magnet schools, improving all of Hartford's schools
and sending city students to suburban schools. After Hartford's school
board approved the plan, the state left it to the city to implement it,
he said.
But during his cross-examination of state witnesses Thursday, the
city's lawyer, John Rose, pointed out that Hartford is not a defendant
in the Sheff lawsuit and therefore not responsible for carrying out its
mandate.
After his testimony, Rivera said he isn't sure how much of the plan he
helped create was carried out, though he believes some of it was.
Some of the testimony suggested the state is not entirely to blame for
failure to reach Sheff goals to enroll specific numbers of Hartford
minority students in suburban schools through the Open Choice program.
Rivera said that Hartford hasn't always cooperated.
For example, Rivera said, when there were openings in suburban schools
for kindergartners and first-graders, then-Education Commissioner Betty
Sternberg asked then-Hartford Superintendent Robert Henry to include
information about the vacancies in a letter to Hartford parents that
the district was required to send anyway as part of the federal No
Child Left Behind law.
Henry refused to include information about the vacancies, Rivera said,
telling the state, "We really would not like to have these letters go
out because we want to keep all Hartford students in Hartford."
Under cross-examination by Sheff lawyer Martha Stone, Rivera said the
state did not take it upon itself to send the letter to parents.
"What we were not able to do is get information into the hands of all
parents that this was a choice open to them," Rivera said.
Stone pressed the point that the state had repeatedly made
participation in desegregation efforts voluntary by asking districts to
help, but never setting benchmarks for individual districts to meet.
When the state realized it would fall short of its requirement to place
1,600 Hartford minority students in suburban schools - last year 1,070
students were enrolled in the Open Choice program - Sternberg wrote a
letter to superintendents "strongly encouraging" them to open more
seats, Rivera said.
The July 2006 letter said that 469 new students must be added to the
Open Choice program - a total of 18 in each of the 27 school districts
governed by the Sheff compromise - to reach the state's ordered
obligation of placing 1,600 students in the program by 2007.
Each district has decided to heed or ignore that recommendation on its
own terms, Rivera said. While some districts have renewed seats for
Hartford students, others have not opened a single new seat in years.
Schools:
A Shift Of Views On Sheff;
Case Returns To Court Amid New Skepticism
By RACHEL GOTTLIEB FRANK | Courant Staff Writer
November 5, 2007
A decade after the state Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of
schools across Greater Hartford in the landmark Sheff v. O'Neill case,
the goal of integration remains elusive.
Magnet schools, the cornerstone of the state's plan to bring together
white children and children of color using voluntary incentives, have
fallen short. Hartford's schools still have a population that is
predominantly black, Hispanic and poor.
Now, as the Sheff plaintiffs head back to court Tuesday to demand the
state make good on its assurances, advocates of integration are facing
increasing skepticism on the part of both state lawmakers and city
officials over both the cost - and value - of continuing down the same
path.
Tensions that have long remain hidden are now erupting, opening up a
new and potentially contentious chapter in the effort to desegregate
schools in and around Hartford.
"It's breaking out in the open now," said John Brittain, a former Sheff
lawyer. "The current spat with the Hartford school system exposes the
fragility of the infrastructure of the Sheff v. O'Neill process."
Lawyers for the Sheff plaintiffs declined to say what they will seek in
court. The latest effort at compromise between the state and the
plaintiffs - which failed to win legislative approval - called for the
state to spend $112 million over the next five years to expand the
array of magnet, charter and vocational-technical schools.
But one attorney said now that the issue is heading back to court, the
plaintiffs won't be constrained by the compromises that they have
agreed to in the past.
"There's new thinking we'll be presenting at the trial," said Matthew
Colangelo, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who is
representing the plaintiffs in the Sheff v. O'Neill lawsuit.
"We're saying it's been 11 years and not enough progress has been made
and we think it's time for the court to get involved."
Forced Integration?
The question of whether the city's schools must be desegregated was
settled by a state Supreme Court order in 1996, though the court left
it to the Sheff plaintiffs and the state to figure out how to do it.
The state and the plaintiffs finally reached an agreement on a plan in
2003, and it was left largely to Hartford to implement its terms by
building magnet schools and sending students to suburban schools
through the state's "Open Choice" program.
The guiding principle of those efforts has been to make desegregation
voluntary - sidestepping the politically explosive prospect of forcibly
moving children from one school to another.
But the effectiveness of this approach is now being questioned.
"The notion that we're going to get a better result by voluntary
programs is ridiculous," said state Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Meriden,
co-chairman of the legislature's education committee. "We need to shift
away from the model of remedy that the state has been pursuing for
years. The district is as racially isolated today as it was 10 years
ago. It suggests you need to do something different."
Gaffey advocates giving the education commissioner more statutory
authority to enforce broad participation by area towns.
The best way to satisfy the court order, he said, probably would be to
expand the Open Choice program, through which Hartford students enroll
in suburban schools. This would give the commissioner power to order
reluctant towns to open their doors to more students from Hartford.
"How open Open Choice is, is really debatable," Gaffey said, conceding
that towns won't like being strong-armed into admitting more Hartford
kids and that getting any major changes through the General Assembly
would be difficult.
Hartford School Superintendent Steven Adamowski bluntly told the State
Board of Education recently that it isn't fair Hartford has borne the
brunt of making integration happen, while suburban participation
remains optional.
As it stands, the state is withholding $4.6 million from the city-run
magnet schools for failing to enroll enough white students, and won't
release that money until the city submits a plan outlining its plan for
a remedy. If the state doesn't release the money, Adamowski said, the
district will have to begin laying off staff at the four magnet schools
that don't meet the quota.
Adamowski told the State Board of Education and
the education commissioner that a regional approach is needed. He
strongly encouraged them to create a system of rewards and punishments
to get the region's many "fiefdoms" to work with Hartford in developing
models for integrated schools that are different from the traditional
magnet school model.
But while there are growing questions about the effectiveness of
voluntary solutions, the state will likely argue in court against
involuntary participation, said Education Commissioner Mark K.
McQuillan. "This state has historically and fervently relied on local
control," he said.
That devotion aside, he said, programs that are entered into
voluntarily are more likely to work.
"People will invest more of their energy and time to carry it out,"
McQuillan said. "Let's try voluntary measures now. If that fails then
we may have to take more drastic measures that people may not want."
McQuillan said he wants to expand the Open Choice program and to press
for the development of magnet schools in the suburbs.
He conceded that the assumption that suburban youngsters would be drawn
to magnet schools run by Hartford was mistaken. By locating schools in
the suburbs, officials said, the state could address the perception of
some parents that Hartford schools are not safe.
"Suburban parents have some trepidation about sending their children
into the inner city. Whether it's perceived or accurate, we are aware
of it," said Tom Murphy, spokesman for the state Department of
Education. "Having several schools in suburban communities as a choice
will give an opportunity to allay those concerns."
McQuillan said he thinks that six or seven magnet schools run by
suburban towns could work, focusing on young children in grades pre-K
through 3. Parents who would otherwise pay to send their preschool-aged
children to day care would find the offer of an all-day public
preschool school program particularly enticing, McQuillan said.
Hartford Pulls Back
Beyond the question of how to make desegregation happen is a broader
problem: Officials are growing more vocal about the burden Sheff
presents - and even questioning the value of its goals.
In a presentation to the State Board of Education on ways Hartford is
working to close the achievement gap between urban and suburban
children, Adamowski questioned the very premise of the Sheff lawsuit.
"There is no research to suggest that minority students will do better
by sitting next to a white student," he said.
The original lawsuit, filed in 1989, asserted that the racial
segregation of Hartford schools violates the state's constitution.
Adamowski's comment resonated with some, including Hartford school
board member Andrea Comer, who believes it is demeaning to assume that
children of color need to share a classroom with white students in
order to learn well.
But it drew a sharp response from some advocates of desegregation.
"We're disappointed that it's 2007 and the superintendent wants to
debate whether it is a bad thing for Hartford's minority children to be
taught in racially segregated schools," Colangelo said.
"As a social science matter, the answer has been clear for decades,"
Colangelo said. As a legal matter, he said, the case was settled years
ago.
In his presentation to the state board, Adamowski outlined a strategy
for improving the city's schools that does not specifically address the
court's order, although the Hartford school board's new policy for
redesigning failing schools directs the superintendent to "give
consideration" to the Sheff goals of reducing racial and economic
isolation.
"This is high stakes for the state," Murphy said. "The superintendent's
reform package has not connected Sheff with the strategies for
improvement. We've got to find some common ground."
In the past, Hartford's superintendents have publicly embraced the lead
position in fulfilling the requirements of the Sheff lawsuit, even if
they grumbled behind the scenes about cost. Adamowski's public
arm's-length posture from both the state and the tenets of the court
order represent a dramatic shift in the landscape.
Lawmakers are also asking questions about the direction of
desegregation efforts.
Legislative leaders this summer didn't put the $112 million plan to
expand magnets up for a vote in part because they questioned the
effectiveness of the approach, and in part because Hartford's mayor and
superintendent urged rejection until the state develops a more
comprehensive plan to integrate schools.
On the eve of the case's return to court, Mayor Eddie A. Perez,
chairman of the school board, lobbed his pitch into the arena, saying
that while the city remains committed to the Sheff goals, the state
shouldn't dump the burden on Hartford.
"The state wants to monitor us and have us implement Sheff. We want
them to implement Sheff and we will assist them," Perez said. "It can't
just be Hartford's burden."
Drug-Resistant Germ Nothing To
Lose Sleep Over, Experts Say
DAY
By Amy Renczkowski
Published on 10/19/2007
Local health officials are urging parents and students not to panic
about the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant staph infection found
this week in some schools around the state.
“It's out there, but it's not something to be scared of,” said Sue
Congdon, epidemiologist at Ledge Light Health District.
At least three high school students — in Weston, Berlin and Newtown —
have been diagnosed with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
infection, or MRSA. Three students at Albertus Magnus College in New
Haven also were confirmed Thursday to have contracted the
infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta, MRSA is a type of bacteria that causes staph
infections and is resistant to treatment with usual antibiotics.
A student from Virginia died from a similar infection earlier this
week.
The state Department of Public Health reported Thursday that about 900
cases of MRSA are reported in Connecticut each year, while hundreds of
other cases never become serious enough to require reporting.
Officials at the local Ledge Light and Uncas health districts said they
aren't aware of any cases of MRSA in the local high schools, so they
are concentrating on educating the community about prevention.
Congdon said Ledge Light sent out information about the infection to
school superintendents in areas the health district covers: East Lyme,
Groton, Ledyard, New London and Waterford. Some schools are taking it
upon themselves to notify parents and students about methods of
prevention.
Robert Bacewicz, principal of Robert E. Fitch High School in Groton,
said the school sent out a letter Thursday reminding students to be
mindful about washing their hands and keeping clean. He said there have
been no cases of the infection at the high school. High schools in
Montville and Stonington also reported no cases of MRSA.
“We're taking precautionary measures all the time,” said Thomas Amanti,
principal at Montville High School.
Amanti said the school nurse keeps administrators well informed about
the latest techniques in disease prevention. Deborah
Buxton-Morris, emergency preparedness coordinator and public health
nurse at Uncas Health District, said MRSA spreads through skin-to-skin
contact. Buxton-Morris said schools should be careful to sanitize
athletic mats and remind students about showering and changing their
clothing.
“We don't need to create a panic. Just focus on good hand washing and
good hygiene,” Buxton-Morris said.
Congdon added, “If you have a wound, clean it and cover it.”
The Centers for Disease Control reported that MRSA caused more than
94,000 life-threatening infections and nearly 19,000 deaths in the
United States in 2005, though these were associated with health-care
settings rather than community outbreaks. Most of the victims
were patients who underwent invasive medical procedures or had weakened
immune systems. MRSA in health-care settings commonly causes
serious and potentially life-threatening conditions, such as
bloodstream infections, surgical site infections or pneumonia.
Buxton-Morris said the infection also affects a lot of children and
those with weakened immune systems.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell said in a press release Thursday that her office is
working with the state Department of Education and the state Department
of Public Health to track cases of infection and to provide information
about MRSA to school districts and the public.
Deadly Germ, But It
Can Be Beaten
By WILLIAM HATHAWAY | Courant
Staff Writer
October 18, 2007
The antibiotic-resistant infection contracted by high school students
in Weston and Newtown is turning up more often in communities across
Connecticut as it sparks fear across the nation.
Doctors across Connecticut have been reporting more cases of
methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection, or MRSA, that
have been contracted by people outside of hospitals. The number of
serious blood-borne MRSA infections acquired in the community has
increased from 38 in 2001, to 99 in 2006, state officials said.
But infectious disease experts also said that although the strain can
kill the elderly and others with underlying health issues, in otherwise
healthy people it is highly treatable and rarely life-threatening.
Weston High School officials alerted the community to the problem this
week, telling parents in a letter that one student had a confirmed case
of MRSA and that they were waiting for results of tests on a second
student. A similar letter was sent to parents of students at Newtown
High School. Officials also posted the letter on the school's Web site.
Although the Weston students were not seriously ill, the news came amid
widening concern about the growth and severity of such infections.
The letter from the high school began circulating Tuesday - the same
day a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association
documented the high toll of MRSA in hospitals and the day the death of
a Virginia high school student from the infection became national news.
Ashton Bonds, 17, a senior at Staunton River High School in Moneta,
died Monday after being diagnosed with MRSA, his mother said. Protests
after Bonds' death led officials in Virginia to shut down 21 schools.
As news of a similar infection in Weston spread Wednesday, officials
took several steps - including a press conference - to address
community concerns.
There are no protocols that require schools to publicly report MRSA
infections, but Weston school district officials said they wanted to be
proactive in order to ease fears.
"Yesterday's New York Times and CNN raised a lot of concern,"
Westport-Weston Community Health Director Monica Wheeler said. "The
coincidence of that tragedy in Virginia just made everybody say, `What
is going on?'"
Parents' reactions have been mixed, said interim Superintendent of
Schools John Reed in Weston.
"There certainly are parents very comfortable with the steps taken, and
there certainly are parents concerned," he said. "Some have asked if
we're closing the school, and some have said we should close it."
But the state health department has not recommended such steps, Reed
said. The district is following the state's advice. School officials
have taken some actions, including wiping down surfaces and switching
the type of cleaning agents used at the school. Students also are being
encouraged to wash their hands and use antimicrobial hand gel that is
already available in classrooms, Reed said.
The origin of the Weston High School student's infection has not been
confirmed, but school and health officials believe the student was
infected off school grounds. Weston school officials would not say
whether the infected student had returned to class, citing privacy laws.
As documented in the JAMA article, the MRSA strain kills thousands of
people in the nation's hospitals every year, usually elderly and those
with severe underlying health issues. The strain is responsible for
more than 94,000 serious infections and nearly 19,000 deaths a year
nationwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
But experts also say that when acquired by healthy people in the
community - as opposed to those infected at hospitals - the bacterial
infection only rarely causes serious illness and is treatable by other
classes of antibiotics.
As many as 40 percent of people may carry staphylococcus aureus
bacteria at any one time, according to some estimates.
When staph does appear, it is usually as a skin infection,
characterized by reddish skin surrounding a boil topped by a black
scab. The infection is often mistaken for a spider bite. Occasionally,
the bacteria can enter the blood stream, where it can become
life-threatening.
Ever since the introduction of penicillin in the 1940s, staphylococcus
and other bacterial infections have developed resistance to several
forms of antibiotics. As the JAMA study illustrates, these strains
continue to raise havoc in hospitals.
But while rates of hospital-acquired MRSA infections have been
relatively stable in recent years, community acquired infections have
been rising steadily in the state and across the country.
Connecticut reported 952 cases of MRSA infections in 2005, but Hadler
said the actual number could be much higher because many cases are not
particularly serious.
In fact, MRSA infections are so common in the community now that most
doctors who see such infections don't bother treating patients with the
class of antibiotics that include methicillin, said Dr. Kevin
Dieckhaus, chief of infectious diseases at the University of
Connecticut Health Center.
The bacteria often spread through contact with pus-filled boils. In
schools, athletes are often susceptible to infection.
"The infection is usually spread by person-to-person contact, and
sometimes we see outbreaks in sporting teams, such as wrestlers or
football players," said Dr. Robert Lyons, chief of infectious diseases
at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford.
Simple hygiene, such as washing hands, can help stop the spread of the
infection, said Monica Wheeler, community health director at Westport
Weston Heath District.
THE FULL REPORT
Report: Program Underused; Suburban
Schools Could Absorb More Hartford Children, Say Sheff Supporters
By ROBERT A. FRAHM | Courant Staff Writer
September 28, 2007
A long-running program allowing Hartford schoolchildren to enroll in
nearby suburban schools has been underused but could be a crucial means
of promoting school desegregation, says a report being released today.
Fewer than 1,100 black and Latino children from Hartford are enrolled
in predominantly white schools in nearby suburbs under Project Choice,
but those suburban schools appear to have the capacity to enroll
thousands more, the report says. Despite slow growth in recent
years, the program has produced encouraging academic results and has
potential to help meet goals established in the Sheff v. O'Neill school
desegregation legal case, says a report sponsored by a group of Sheff
supporters known as the Sheff Movement Coalition.
The report, called the "Project Choice Campaign," calls on the state to
take a more aggressive role in expanding the program and prodding
suburban schools to enroll more Hartford students.
Efforts to place Hartford children in desegregated schools have fallen
far short of goals established in a 2003 court-approved settlement in
the Sheff case. With the state spending millions of dollars
creating and supporting magnet schools as the centerpiece of its racial
integration efforts, the suburban school choice program has been
largely overshadowed, today's report says.
Unlike magnet schools, which can take years to develop fully, the
city-to-suburb program "is the most efficient means of placing students
in integrated school placements," says the report written by Erica
Frankenberg, a graduate student at Harvard University's Graduate School
of Education.
"The slow growth and low suburban participation rates in Hartford's
Project Choice program stand in sharp contrast to similar programs in
Boston, Minneapolis, and St. Louis," Frankenberg wrote.
If the program were to expand, "I'm sure many parents would benefit,"
said Norma Richards, whose son Cedane, a second-grader, has been part
of the choice program at Noah Wallace School in Farmington since
kindergarten.
"In kindergarten, he was the only black child in the classroom," she
said. "If he had two or three more children from the choice program,
he'd probably feel more comfortable."
Of 27 suburban districts in the program, 10 provide less than one
percent of their seats to Hartford students, and no district provides
more than 3 percent, the report said. A review of state data suggests
"there is significant room available in many suburban districts" for
additional Project Choice students, the report said. However, the
capacity of districts to take Hartford students "is a moving target,"
said Robert M. Villanova, superintendent of schools in Farmington. He
agreed there appears to be room to expand the program throughout the
Hartford region, but said, "Capacity is determined to some extent by
the will and desire of people who live in the community."
In Farmington, there has been strong support for Project Choice, he
said. According to the report, Farmington schools enrolled 95 Hartford
students last year, just over 2 percent of the town's overall
enrollment.
Project Choice is an outgrowth of a student transfer program that began
more than 40 years ago and was then known as Project Concern.
Project Concern survived financial problems in the 1980s and '90s and
nearly closed down after being hailed as one of the nation's first
voluntary school integration programs. The program started with 266
Hartford children bused to schools in Farmington, Manchester, Simsbury,
South Windsor and West Hartford.
Along with magnet schools, the suburban choice program was part of a
court settlement four years ago to comply with a 1996 state Supreme
Court ruling ordering the state to desegregate Hartford's schools.
However, enrollment in the choice program stagnated, and many of the
magnet schools failed to attract enough white students, causing the
settlement to fall far short of its goals. After the settlement
expired earlier this year, the two sides agreed on a new settlement
that calls on the state to speed the pace of integration, but the
legislature has balked at approving the agreement.
Still, lawmakers did approve a budget that includes additional money
for integration programs related to the Sheff case, including Project
Choice.
"What has to happen is Project Choice has to be marketed more
effectively," said state Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Meriden, co-chairman of
the legislature's education committee.
Suburban participation in the program is voluntary, but Gaffey said the
state Department of Education should be given authority to require
suburban districts to set aside a specific number of seats for Hartford
children. Today's report calls on the state education department
to "play a lead role as the champion for expansion ... of Project
Choice" and says the department should establish goals for the number
of Hartford children each suburban district is expected to enroll.
Although state financial support for Project Choice has increased, the
report said the extra funding is not enough to provide teacher
training, academic support and other services to assist students, the
report said.
George A. Coleman, deputy commissioner in the state Department of
Education, had not seen the report but agreed that "in many ways
[Project Choice] is underutilized."
He said the state hopes to begin discussions with local districts about
their level of participation in Project Choice, magnet school programs
and other efforts to promote integration.
'Where did kids go?' schools ask -
Numbers down for 10 districts
By Eric Stevick
Everett, WA Herald
November 23, 2007
An enrollment drop in 10 of 14 Snohomish County districts has school
leaders wondering where the students have gone.
Enrollment declined across the county by more than 300 students,
slipping to 107,445, according to head counts taken by the districts
last month.
What's most perplexing is the dip is occurring while hundreds of new
homes across the county are being built and moved into.
"We are all sort of in the same arena of scratching our heads," said
Arlene Hulten, a Lake Stevens School District spokeswoman.
The districts expect enrollment will rebound as families with
school-age children move into the new homes.
For now, it may be that some families are passing up Snohomish County
on their way to cheaper housing in surrounding areas.
"The general trend is that there is small growth in Whatcom and parts
of Skagit counties and there is a reduction in San Juan and Snohomish
counties," said Jerry Jenkins, director of the Northwest Educational
Service District. "I would suppose that the likely cause would be
housing costs and that young people with families can stretch their
dollars further."
Other factors are also suspected, including a slower birth rate in the
county five years ago. Ten of 14 districts had a smaller kindergarten
classes than a year ago.
Statistics kept by the U.S. Census Bureau showed a drop of more than
1,500 school-aged children between the ages of 5 and 9 in Snohomish
County between the years 2000 and 2006.
More students also are choosing online schools instead of the
traditional classroom.
The Edmonds School District surveyed families earlier this year and
found more than 40 students who said they were planning to enroll in an
online school this fall. Edmonds is now considering starting its own
online program.
"That has happened a little bit," said Nathan Olson, a spokesman for
the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. "In terms of
a percentage, it's probably not much, but it is happening."
The state does not have statewide enrollment numbers for fall.
Projecting enrollment accurately is key for each district as more than
70 percent of its budget is based on the number of students in
classrooms. Districts receive more than $5,000 from the state for each
full-time student.
Housing, birth rates, population trends and job losses all figure into
projections.
The Monroe School District was one of two districts to see enrollment
growth in large part because of its new online school for freshmen and
sophomores. The school is called Washington Virtual Academy. October
enrollment was 264 for the virtual school and the plan is to add a
grade each year until it is a ninth- through 12th-grade school.
Students have enrolled from across the state with most from outside of
the county, said Rosemary O'Neil, a school district spokeswoman.
The Monroe district also added 95 more students to its home-school
program this fall, increasing enrollment there to 727.
The district grew from 6,795 in 2006 to 7,174 in 2007, an increase of
379 students.
"The only growth was in the alternative programs," O'Neil said.
Similarly, the Marysville School District saw a slight increase in
enrollment only because of a fast-growing online program that also
attracts most of its students from outside the county.
"It was done out of a concern for recapturing some of the students who
were dropping out," said Larry Nyland, the district's superintendent.
Everett School District, which opened a new elementary school in its
fast-growing south end, saw enrollment increase since 2006.
In most districts, enrollment was flat with slight losses.
In Lakewood, for instance, the October head count was exactly the same
as last year.
The Edmonds School District experienced the most dramatic loss, dipping
from 20,725 to 20,352.
The loss of students can be costly. Edmonds estimates it lost about $1
million in state revenues because of declining enrollment. It won't
fill some vacant positions but won't have to make layoffs either,
according to a district memo.
Charter Schools
without a building?
Virtual schooling growing at K-12
level
By BILL KACZOR, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 7, 8:03 AM ET
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - As a seventh-grader, Kelsey-Anne Hizer was getting
mostly D's and F's and felt the teachers at her Ocala middle school
were not giving her the help she needed. But after switching to a
virtual school for eighth grade, Kelsey-Anne is receiving more
individual attention and making A's and B's. She's also enthusiastic
about learning, even though she has never been in the same room as her
teachers.
Kelsey-Anne became part of a growing national trend when she
transferred to Orlando-based Florida Virtual School. Students get their
lessons online and communicate with their teachers and each other
through chat rooms, e-mail, telephone and instant messaging.
"It's more one-on-one than regular school," Kelsey-Anne said. "It's
more they're there; they're listening."
Virtual learning is becoming ubiquitous at colleges and universities
but remains in its infancy at the elementary and secondary level, where
skeptics have questioned its cost and effect on children's
socialization.
However, virtual schools are growing fast — at an annual rate of about
25 percent. There are 25 statewide or state-led programs and more than
170 virtual charter schools across the nation, according to the North
American Council for Online Learning.
Estimates of elementary and secondary students taking virtual classes
range from 500,000 to 1 million nationally compared to total public
school enrollment of about 50 million.
Online learning is used as an alternative for summer school and for
students who need remedial help, are disabled, being home schooled or
suspended for behavioral problems. It also can help avoid overcrowding
in traditional classrooms and provide courses that local schools, often
rural or inner-city, do not offer.
Advocates say those niche functions are fine, but that virtual learning
has almost unlimited potential. Many envision a blending of virtual and
traditional learning.
"We hope that it becomes just another piece of our public schools' day
rather than still this thing over here that we're all trying to figure
out," said Julie Young, Florida Virtual's president and CEO.
Florida Virtual is one of the nation's oldest and largest online
schools, with more than 55,000 students in Florida and around the
world, most of them part-time. Its motto is "Any Time, Any Place, Any
Path, Any Pace."
Struggling students such as Kelsey-Anne, who suffers from attention
deficit disorder, can take more time to finish courses while those who
are gifted can go at a faster speed.
Casey Hutcheson, 17, finished English and geometry online in the time
it would have taken to complete just one of those courses at his
regular high school in Tallahassee.
"I like working by myself because of no distractions, and I can go at
my own pace rather than going at the teacher's pace," he said.
For all its potential, virtual schooling has its critics and skeptics.
"There is something to be said for having kids in a social situation
learning how to interact in society," said state Rep. Shelley Vana. "I
don't think you get that if you're at home."
But virtual students get a different kind of social experience that is
just as valuable, said Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the North
American Council for Online Learning in Vienna, Va.
"We should socialize them for the world that they live in," she said,
suggesting that people spend much of their time interacting via
computer these days.
Many policymakers approach virtual learning with dollar signs in their
eyes, expecting big savings from schools that do not need buildings,
buses and other traditional infrastructure.
"We should not, as stewards of public money, be automatically paying
the same or even close to the same amount of money for a virtual school
day as we pay for a conventional school day," said Florida Senate
Education Committee Chairman Don Gaetz.
Florida Virtual this year is slated to get $6,682 for every full-time
equivalent student, just slightly less than the average of $7,306 for
all of the state's public schools. Young said her school has expenses
that traditional schools do not.
"Our data infrastructure is our building," she said.
Teacher unions have opposed spending public dollars on some virtual
schools, mainly those that are privately operated or function as
charter schools. Indiana lawmakers this year refused to fund
virtual charter schools. Opponents argued they are unproven and would
have siphoned millions of dollars from traditional public schools.
Florida Virtual's Young said she plans to recommend that her state
follow the example of Michigan, which passed a requirement that
students complete some type of online experience to earn a high school
diploma.
If "we do not give them an opportunity to take an online course, we're
doing them a tremendous disservice," she said. "It's become the way of
the world."
Weston High
may soon switch to solar power
Norwalk HOUR
Jeremy Soulliere
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Weston High School could be going solar in the near future.
The town's Building Committee, together with the Hartford-based law
firm Shipman and Goodwin, is investigating the possible grant funds the
town could receive if it were to place a photovoltaic array, or solar
panels, on the roof of the school, said committee member Don Gary.
"They're experts in writing RFP's (request for proposals) and
evaluating where you can get the grant money," he said about the
newly-hired firm.
The grant money evaluation, along with the creation of an RFP for the
proposed project, were approved by the Board of Selectmen two weeks
ago, Gary said. The board had appropriated up to $5,000 for the
assessment, he said.
"At the end of this $5,000 we'll know what we can design for that
roof," Gary said.
Gary, who approached the selectmen with the solar panel idea, said the
high school's flat roofing could hold anywhere from 800 to 1,000 solar
panels, a photovoltaic array that would likely cut the school's
electricity bills by 50 percent.
"We'd be able to cut the electricity probably in half," said Gary, who
noted the school has no shading.
An 800- to 1,000-panel arrangement could cost the town anywhere from $7
million to $8 million, Gary said, but up to 85 percent of that cost
would likely be covered by grants. The panels, he said, would pay for
themselves in about five years.
"It just makes sense from a financial point of view," Gary said.
Beyond the financial savings, the town would be helping to combat
global warming with the new "clean" energy option, he said, which would
be generating roughly 1.25 million of the 2.6 million kilowatt-hours of
electricity used at the school per year.
"It's the right thing to do because every kilowatt-hour in Connecticut
causes a little less than a pound of carbon dioxide to be put in the
atmosphere," Gary said. "That would save over a million pounds going
into the atmosphere per year."
First Selectman Woody Bliss said the proposed project would need
approvals by the Building Committee, the Board of Education, the Board
of Selectmen and the Board of Finance. But, given the estimated cost
savings and the environmental advantages of going solar, he said, it
"looks very, very promising" that the town boards would give the solar
panels the green light.
"I think we need to be leaders in trying to break the mold in how we
get our energy," Bliss said. "Right now it's all about burning oil."
Bliss said Weston, which has already committed to a campaign calling
for municipalities to acquire 20 percent of their electricity from
clean energy sources by 2010, is looking to assess its energy options
wherever it can.
"We are committed to that," he said.
Healthy discourse: Area parent group
hopes engage others in exploring
school lunch reform
Greenwich TIME
By Christina Hennessy, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/28/2008 01:00:00 AM EDT
Given the choice of a snack for their next day's lunch, Emma and Abby
Straight were not opposed to some cucumber slices.
"Can I peel it?" Emma, 7, asked her mother, Nicole, who was spooning
pineapple chunks into reusable containers.
"Just be careful," her mom said, as she helped her other daughter,
Abby, 6, roll up a sandwich wrap around grilled strips of chicken.
It was a typical night in the Straight's Westport home, since the girls
often opt to bring lunch from home, rather than eat the lunch offered
by their school.
Straight and other Westport mothers who are concerned about the kinds
of meals students are eating in school will gather at the Westport
Public Library's McManus Room from 9:30-11:30 a.m. today for a
screening of "Two Angry Moms." The documentary, produced and largely
financed by Weston resident Amy Kalafa and her husband, Alex, examines
the food offered to children in school and the changes being made
around the country to create more nutritious school lunch programs.
Kalafa, 50, who has a daughter in high school and another who is a
college graduate, is expected to attend the screening.
A holistic health and nutrition counselor who has produced films and
television programs for the past 15 years, Kalafa also directed the
film, which was released a year ago. She worked with Susan Rubin, the
founder of Westchester (N.Y.) County-based Better School Food, a
coalition of educators, health professionals and parents. The group has
worked for many years to increase awareness about the link between food
and children's health and learning.
"The whole reason I made the film was because there I was in Weston,
feeling like a freak, wondering if I was the only parent who was
worrying about this," Kalafa says of the food being served in the
schools. "This was all very fringe when I started. I felt very
isolated."
Since then, she and Rubin have been profiled by leading national
publications, as well as featured on television news and radio
programs.
Their hope is to get the schools to replace foods loaded with
artificial ingredients and additives, such as sugary drinks, chicken
nuggets, chips and other snacks, with healthier foods, including fresh
fruit and vegetables. Kalafa says she also hopes communities will push
school officials to work with local and area farms and farmers' markets
to create sustainable agricultural communities.
Straight, 35, who owns Time to Eat, which offers cooking classes to
busy moms, says while she sees positives on the school lunch menu, such
as grilled chicken on a whole wheat bun and tossed salads, she thinks
there can be further improvement.
"We are not the food police," Straight says of Parents for Change, the
group organizing the screening. "When people hear lunch reform, they
think nuts and twigs."
Instead, she says she'd like to see fewer mozzarella sticks and french
fries and more healthful options. Further, she and others are urging
schools to purchase locally grown products and create school gardens,
so children gain a better understanding of food, from seed to table.
"It's not about withholding delicious food," she says, adding that it
is more about making nutritious food delicious and appealing.
The film highlights some school systems that have not only eliminated
junk food and processed snack options, but also have worked to create
these links with area food producers.
Attempts to reach Westport schools' lunch provider, Chartwells, were
unsuccessful, though the districts' Web site lists the elementary,
middle and high school menus nutritional values for such foods - at the
elementary level - as chicken nuggets made with whole-grain flour,
turkey and cheese on whole wheat wrap, French toast sticks, pizza
dippers, and a bologna and cheese sandwich. The Web site also provides
a link to the student wellness policy. That policy calls upon the
district to provide students with nutritious and affordable food
choices in school.
In recent years, the work to improve children's culinary choices has
been linked to growing obesity rates among the youngest U.S. residents.
And before that, health officials were looking to the link between a
high-fat diet and cardiovascular disease.
Fifteen years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began working on
its School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. Although school
lunches were meeting the recommended dietary allowance, there was
concern that too many calories were coming from saturated fat. As a
result of that initiative, schools had to limit the amounts of fat and
saturated fat in their menus.
The initiative was considered the largest change in the National School
Lunch and School Breakfast programs since their inception in the late
1940s, according to the department.
Straight and Kalafa see this time in history as a moment to push ahead
even further with reform.
Straight says she would love to see some of the items that make it to
her dinner table - couscous, edamame and hearty soups, for example -
reflected in school lunch menus. She says she does not want to "buck
the system," but rather work with school officials to make changes.
"The idea of kid food is a made up concept," she says. "We are assuming
what kids will or will not eat before asking them."
Kalafa sees opportunities to raise better food consumers, students who
understand what is in their food, where it comes from, how it is being
prepared and how their diets affect their ability to learn and play in
school. She also hopes area schools work on coming together to increase
their purchasing power and support the local and area farmers and
businesses attempting to make thriving local food systems.
Rather than being "angry," Kalafa is hopeful that this movement is
spreading across the country, empowering parents to take a better look
at what their children are eating.
"How do you get kids to eat healthier foods?" she asks, "By them not
knowing that the food (they are eating) is actually good for them.
Instead, they see food that is beautiful, tastes great, has texture,
has beauty and it has flavor."
Filmmaker hopes
documentary spurs
action on school lunches
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer
Published August 20 2007
WESTON - In Amy Kalafa's ideal world, the processed pizzas and chicken
nuggets normally found in school cafeterias would be replaced with
meals made from scratch, and fruits and vegetables grown by local
farmers or students.
While working on a documentary, Kalafa, a Weston resident and veteran
independent filmmaker, learned it happens in some parts of the
country. But in most others, bags of chips, cookies and snack
cakes sit tantalizingly in bins at the end of the lunch line, and most
of the meals arrive frozen in the kitchens.
That's why she's angry.
Kalafa's recently completed film, "Two Angry Moms," chronicles how
school lunches became so unhealthy and what some districts are doing to
turn around their food programs. She hopes the film will mobilize
parents to take action this school year.
"We really want people to see the film in community groups, hold
discussions and formulate an action plan," said Kalafa, 48, who has two
daughters, including one who will enter Weston High School at the end
of the month.
The other "angry mom" is Susan Rubin, a nutritionist and mother of
three from Chappaqua, N.Y., who created the Westchester Coalition for
Better School Food, made up of parents, educators and health
professionals.
Kalafa decided to make the film and was introduced to Rubin. She
followed Rubin and the efforts of her coalition for more than a
year. The pair came up with the name "Two Angry Moms" one day
while tossing around ideas. It seemed to fit, especially when they
discovered that a former Texas secretary of agriculture once said it
would take 2 million angry moms to change school food programs
nationwide.
In the film, Kalafa visits five schools that have what she describes as
model food programs.
One of these, the Katonah-Lewisboro School District in New York,
employed a chef from the Culinary Institute of America, who had workers
creating some menu items from scratch. On one of the days that Kalafa
showed up, the cafeteria was serving baked chicken with olive oil and
herbs, cauliflower and roasted sweet potatoes.
"Kids were buying it and they were liking it," Kalafa said. "Surprise,
surprise."
Kalafa filmed at a school in California that began stocking its salad
bar with produce from local farmers. Another served kid-designed meals
with locally grown vegetables. Kalafa said she and Rubin have
heard criticism about the documentary from those in the food-service
industry.
"There's a perception the film is down on food service and that's
totally not true," Kalafa said. The idea is to "help them make it
better."
Holly Betts, the new food service director for Weston Public Schools,
said school food is becoming more nutritious. The district, which
contracts with Whitsons Culinary Group in Islandia, N.Y., is promoting
whole-wheat breads and pasta, and fresh vegetables, Betts said. They
limit most foods that are high in fat and offer fruit each day.
Betts recently attended a convention by the School Nutrition
Association in Alexandria, Va., where vendors showcased new products.
"Booth after booth after booth, it was trans fat-free and fat-free,"
Betts said. "Ultimately, we will see a whole-grain chocolate-chip
cookie."
But some low-fat and fat-free foods are far from nutritious, she said.
In one cafeteria she saw containers of low-fat yogurt sweetened with
high-fructose corn syrup and aspartame.
"I don't want my kid eating that," Kalafa said. "I don't think that's
healthy. Yogurt? Yes. Artificially sweetened yogurt? No."
Kalafa and Rubin are encouraging people to hold screenings of the film
to encourage discussion. They are selling screening kits with 10 DVDs
for $275, and single DVDs will be available for $25.
Rebecca Velasquez, a social worker at Springdale Elementary School in
Stamford, plans to show the film to the district's Wellness Committee,
of which she is a member. Velasquez saw the documentary last
spring and has been bringing up suggestions from it during meetings of
a nutrition subcommittee.
"I really feel the documentary has a lot of value," Velasquez said.
People may sign up to host a screening by visiting www.angrymoms.org.
Kalafa and Rubin are soliciting donations of "lunch money" to help fund
production of the film, which cost about $500,000 to make.
Kalafa said she hopes to get involved with the Weston School District's
Wellness Committee and make changes in her town. But so far the
committee has they have not asked the "angry mom" to join.
"I'm awaiting my invitation," Kalafa said.
A Ruling On Race: Court Rejects
Diversity Plans; Little Effect Seen In Hartford
By ROBERT A. FRAHM | Courant Staff Writer
June 29, 2007
A U.S. Supreme Court decision forbidding schools from enrolling
children strictly on the basis of race threatens many voluntary
desegregation plans throughout the nation, but experts believe that it
will have little effect on school desegregation efforts in Hartford.
That is because Hartford's court-approved desegregation plan in the
Sheff v. O'Neill case differs from the voluntary plans in Louisville
and Seattle that were overturned in Thursday's 5-4 Supreme Court ruling.
The key difference, legal experts said, is that the magnet schools and
school choice plans that are a central piece of the Sheff efforts do
not single out students by race. Rather, the plans attempt to achieve
racial balance by selecting students based on where they live.
That strategy "falls firmly within what is permitted" by the Supreme
Court, said Dennis D. Parker, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer
who is part of the legal team representing the plaintiffs in the
long-running Sheff case.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that Thursday's ruling
"should have no impact on state programs to reduce racial isolation in
Hartford public schools." Under the Sheff plan, "no student is forced
to attend a particular school based on race."
The Supreme Court rejected voluntary plans in Louisville, Ky., and
Seattle, saying that assigning children to schools by race violates
constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop
discriminating on the basis of race," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote
for the majority. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Antonin
Scalia joined the entirety of Roberts' 41-page opinion.
However, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted with the majority, left
open the door for schools to pursue racial balance as long as
individual students are not selected on the basis of race. He cited
alternatives such as strategic site selection of new schools or
attendance zones designed to tap into demographic patterns.
"A district may consider it a compelling interest to achieve a diverse
student population," Kennedy said. "Race may be one component of that
diversity."
Some civil rights leaders had feared that a ruling against the Seattle
and Louisville plans would mark the end of an era of school integration
efforts that began with the court's landmark Brown v. Board of
Education ruling in 1954 that outlawed deliberate school segregation.
However, Kennedy's opinion leaves open, with some restrictions,
opportunities for schools to pursue desegregation.
Although the ACLU's Parker called the decision "a significant step
backward," he said, "The bottom line is that five justices [counting
Kennedy] did agree that diversity and reduction of racial isolation is
a legitimate governmental interest."
Theodore M. Shaw, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, said, "We got rained on today, but there's a silver
lining." He said that Kennedy, who joined only part of Roberts' lead
opinion, didn't go "as far as many people thought he might go."
Kennedy's assertion that racial balance remains a legitimate goal was
seen as pivotal by legal experts.
"What Kennedy essentially is saying was, `I don't have any problem with
race-conscious policies as long as they don't classify individual
students by race,'" said Jack Balkin, a Yale University law professor
and constitutional law expert. Still, the ruling strips school
boards of a tool to offset the impact of racially divided housing
patterns. Both sides say that the practices used in Louisville and
Seattle are common throughout the nation.
Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and
Stephen Breyer dissented. Breyer said that the ruling would "threaten
the promise" of the 1954 Brown decision.
Some, however, hailed Thursday's ruling. "There can't be a dual system
of school assignments based on race or ethnicity," said Edward Blum, a
visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
"Racial quotas and preferences never produce diversity - they produce
animosity, bitterness and perpetuate the belief that minority students
just can't hack it."
The ruling reflects the influence on the high court of Alito and
Roberts, both of whom were appointed by President Bush. Three years
ago, before their appointments, the court ruled that universities could
consider race in making admissions decisions. Thursday's ruling
comes just as Connecticut has tentatively agreed to take aggressive new
measures to speed the pace of integration in Hartford's mostly black
and Hispanic public schools.
Under a proposed extension of a 2003 settlement in the Sheff case, the
state would spend millions of dollars more over the next five years to
subsidize magnet schools, charter schools and other programs designed
to bolster integration. The extension still must be approved by the
legislature. The original four-year settlement, due to expire
this week, fell far short of its goals, including targets to more fully
integrate magnet schools and to increase the number of Hartford
schoolchildren enrolled in predominantly white suburban schools.
Plaintiffs in the Sheff case in 1996 won a state Supreme Court ruling
ordering the state to desegregate Hartford's public schools, in which
more than nine of 10 students are black or Hispanic.
Because some towns have large minority or white populations, magnet
schools have tried to achieve racial balance by setting specific
enrollment quotas for individual towns. That approach has had mixed
success. Many recently established magnet schools in Hartford have had
difficulty attracting enough suburban white students but have been more
popular among minority students from both Hartford and its suburbs.
However, some older regional magnet schools - notably those operated by
the Capitol Region Education Council - have been able to attract
racially mixed student bodies.
"We've never had to use a lottery that was race-based," said Bruce
Douglas, the council's executive director. "We've been able to draw a
large number of suburban students to our schools. ... This court case
is not a significant concern to us."
In Seattle, the school system allows students to choose among high
schools and then relies on tiebreakers - including race - to decide who
gets into schools that have more applicants than openings.
In the Louisville case, a mother claimed that her son was denied
entrance to a neighborhood school because he is white. The metropolitan
district was under a court desegregation order until 2001, but since
then it has continued to use an assignment plan using racial guidelines.
In Connecticut, while most observers said that the ruling would have
little effect on the Sheff case, it was less clear what impact it would
have on schools under orders to comply with the state's long-standing
racial balance law. That law says that the racial makeup of any
public school must be within 25 percentage points of the overall racial
makeup of the local school district.
Since 1980, when the law's regulations took effect, the state has
required several towns to redistrict schools or adjust attendance
policies to comply with the law. Blumenthal, the attorney
general, said that Thursday's ruling raises questions about how the
state law might be applied, but that each case would have to be
evaluated individually.
"We know of no particular racial balance plan in the state that would
be invalid under the Supreme Court's ruling," he said.
Some towns, including Manchester and West Hartford, are under pressure
from the state to improve racial balance at some schools. In
light of Thursday's court ruling, "we will definitely re-examine the
entire racial balance plan we submitted to the state," said Margaret
Hackett, chairwoman of the board of education in Manchester, which was
cited two years ago because one of its 10 elementary schools was out of
compliance.
West Hartford officials said that plans to reduce the racial isolation
at two south end schools are based not on designating enrollment by
race, but by boosting achievement at the schools and drawing families
of all races from throughout West Hartford. The district will continue
to work on improving the schools with an eye on how the court ruling
will affect other integration efforts, said Jack Darcey, chairman of
West Hartford's board of education.
Note: the opinion expressed
below does not represent that of this website
We Keep
Succeeding At Failure
Hartford Courant
Rick Green
June 29, 2007
As we nod off again, give thanks to the Supreme Court for its 5-4
decision telling us not to bother with race when trying to create
equality in education.
No, this inequality isn't about "extreme" issues like race. It's not
about income either, since our cities are repositories of impoverished
minorities. So relax, there's no need to disrupt our antique
education
system, which preserves and enhances divisions based on race and class.
If you believe this hokum, then you probably think more money will
solve our education problems. These divided, inferior schools will be
our downfall, preventing us from having an educated, competitive
workforce.
Back in 1965, a team of Harvard researchers visited Hartford, warning
city officials that they "will have lost the ball game" if the region's
growing racial imbalance wasn't addressed. Now, it's the first-ring
suburbs that are up for grabs.
More recently, Trinity College researchers found that Connecticut's
efforts under the Sheff v. O'Neill decision to create racially mixed
magnet schools in the Hartford area have failed. In West
Hartford,
schools have grown more segregated. Neighboring Bloomfield, at 95
percent, has a higher percentage of minorities than Hartford. Windsor
and East Hartford will be there soon.
I heard Gov. M. Jodi Rell Thursday morning on the radio, touting a
budget that gives an additional $260 million for public schools. Sure,
let's just give Hartford - and what the heck, Greenwich and Avon, too -
more money. That might be useful, if most of it wasn't funding
preservation of the same old divide.
"Segregation is harmful," John C. Brittain said when I called. A lawyer
in the Sheff v. O'Neill lawsuit, Brittain was repeating - for the
zillionth, drowsy time - that racial and economic isolation are
destructive. Business leaders, worried about a nonexistent future
workforce, agree.
The problem is us, the way we run this ant farm of a state with all our
school boards, police departments, planning and zoning commissions and
accompanying political fiefdoms.
"Rather than continuing to try and make these separate schools for rich
and poor work well," Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The
Century Foundation in Washington, D.C., told me, "we might try instead
to give every kid the chance to go to a middle class school."
Dozens of school districts around the country already choose to balance
enrollment based on income. St. Joseph College Professor Carlota
Schecter told me her research proves the point we continue to ignore:
Poor kids do better when they go to school with middle class kids. This
is dangerous, sleep-disruptive thinking.
Schecter looked at the vocabulary of preschoolers in West Hartford,
comparing children from different backgrounds, and found "children in
economically integrated programs made significantly greater gains."
Yawn. We're still building new schools in Hartford and the suburbs,
reinforcing racial and economic divisions, even as we pour additional
millions into special programs, including the governor's new initiative
dramatically expanding preschool.
"Racial segregation, particularly in education, leads to other
segregation and disadvantages in the broader community," Brittain said,
before I drifted off. "Look at Hartford."
No, look at West Hartford, Bloomfield or Windsor: They're Hartford back
in 1965. Take your pick - race or income - the divide remains. Or
listen to the Supreme Court. Nighty night.
In Weston schools District's staff may
enroll their children
Weston FORUM
by TERRY CASTELLANO
Apr 21, 2007
Children of non-resident Weston Public School certified staff may once
again attend schools here if they satisfy tuition requirements. The
step is seen by school officials as one that would help the school
system recruit new teachers and other professionals and keep them on
staffs here.
At the April 9 school board meeting the board unanimously approved
reinstating a suspended policy permitting qualified children of
non-resident certified staff to enroll in established programs within
the school district.
This policy had been suspended before the new school buildings
construction projects because of the lack of classroom space.
According to the revised policy, presented by the assistant
superintendent, Jeremy Belair, admission is contingent on an assessment
of class size limitations and the availability of school resources, and
is based on the premise that additional staff will not be required.
Tuition will be determined at a rate established by the board before
the students are admitted.
This adopted policy states that the board will not be obligated to
provide special education programs or services to non-resident
students. However, should a non-resident student receive special or
additional services, the actual costs associated with providing these
services will be in addition to the tuition fee.
Tuition is to be paid in semi-annual installments, due Aug. 15, before
the beginning of the school year, and Jan. 15.
Parents or guardians will be responsible for transportation for the
non-resident students.
“This is very satisfying,” Ellen Uzenoff, board chair, said, after the
unanimous vote of approval. “We are very happy to see this in place.”
Last month, during the first reading of the draft of this policy, Ms.
Uzenoff told the board and the public that she believes this reinstated
policy will help with recruitment and retention of teachers.
Decision
on schools could impact home
sales
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw, Staff Writer
Published April 16 2007
Greenwich real estate agents will be listening carefully when the Board
of Education's task force gives its recommendations to fix racial
imbalance and declining enrollment in September. Prospective
buyers aren't showing signs of caution yet, agents say, but the housing
market will benefit once a decision is made on how to address the
problems.
"Any change, like a closure or redistricting, can definitely affect
people's decisions on purchasing real estate," said Russell Pruner, a
partner at Shore and Country Properties in Greenwich.
Real estate agents will be glad when a decision is made, he said,
because uncertainty doesn't help. "The perception is worse than what
the reality is, and perception can really drive the market."
George Crossman, a member of the task force as the Greenwich Board of
Realtors representative, said that when a family moves, they usually
are bound to sending children to the school closest to their home.
"That's your one time to choose where your kid goes to school," said
Crossman, a Riverside resident and father of two. But one option
expected to be examined by the task force -- making more schools
available to the entire town using a lottery admission process -- would
open up housing possibilities by no longer linking families to the
neighborhood school. "It's the first time in Greenwich they've really
given them a choice after they've moved into their property."
Real estate agent Doug Fainelli, a member of the task force, has
witnessed what the town's reaction was like the last time a school's
status was in flux. Before the International School at Dundee opened,
residents were anxious to find out its status, recalls Fainelli, a
retired Dundee principal. Once the decision was made, people came to
accept it.
Fainelli, who now also is with Shore and Country Properties, expects
much of the same with prospective owners as they await the board's
decision, expected at the end of the year.
The buyers aren't overly worried now because they believe Greenwich
will make a sound decision, he said, but it will help to have a clearer
picture of what the school system will look like.
"There's a high confidence level in the school system in town," said
Fainelli, a liaison with the selectmen's office. A decision will help
in easing uncertainty, he added.
Pruner believes changes to the housing market will be more of a blip
than a transformation, citing the example of the closing and reopening
of Cos Cob School after the fire in 1990. "All of this is short lived,"
Pruner said. "Once the decision has been made, people go forward. Going
through the process is the hard part."
Carolyn Anderson, president of the Greenwich Association of Realtors,
is optimistic that the recommendations will strengthen the district
and, as a result, make Greenwich more attractive for prospective owners.
"A committee examining this is a good thing. This could be a great
help," said Anderson, of Anderson Associates of Greenwich. Real estate
agents are aware of the task force's work, she said, because the
success of the school system reflects on the success of the housing
market. "We all really care about the schools."
School
enrollment hard to predict
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw, Staff Writer
Published April 9 2007
Three decades ago, the number of public school students in town
plummeted. Three schools were closed and those children distributed
among the remaining schools.
Over time, enrollment rose, though, and the three schools were
re-opened. Now, officials have projected a steady decline in
enrollment that they believe will continue for another decade. Since
2003, their projections have been correct. The projected decline
has parents worried their children's schools might be closed. The
importance of enrollment projections, therefore, is not lost on
assistant superintendent of curriculum, research and evaluation, John
Curtin, who calculates enrollment.
"The stakes are certainly higher now that we're in a period of
declining enrollment," Curtin said recently.
He has produced volumes of enrollment data for the Board of Education's
task force that is recommending options to fix declining enrollment and
space use issues, as well as racial imbalance. The district's
enrollment projections, he often reminds the committee, are best
guesses, not hard facts. For example, the projection for the
2012-2013 school year is 8,358 students, but, with a 6.2 percent margin
of error, that could still mean as many as 8,876 or as few as 7,840
will show up.
That's why, Curtin said, "the art of enrollment projections" will never
be an exact science. But in this case inexact science is still useful.
"It's not like the variation (on projections) has been so far above or
below that it's not a usable number," he said.
It would be better in the future to use a range for long-term
projections to show the margin of error better, Curtin said. Trends in
town can be unpredictable and add difficulty to projecting enrollment,
he added. Housing development, birth rates and economic changes that
could bring new families to town all have to be considered.
"Greenwich is changing. It's really hard to anticipate what those
changes are going to be," he said.
Even a one-year projection, with a margin of error at plus or minus 0.7
percent, can be off. The district's projection of 8,905 students for
this school year was under by 49 students, causing operating budget
constraints.
"That makes our budget a lot tighter," Curtin said. "There's no way to
adjust things once school starts."
Peter Prowda, an education consultant with the state Department of
Education who does projections for Greenwich, said the numbers will
never be entirely accurate. I don't expect to hit it on the number,"
Prowda said. "You make an assumption that the patterns we observe will
continue."
Prowda said that after gathering data, there still can be discrepancies
on what the calculations mean. "Numbers speak to us, but sometimes
we're not sure what they're saying," he said. "Now you have to figure
out what it is, whether it's a temporary phenomenon or not."
No experts are disputing the claim that Greenwich is in a state of
declining enrollment. The question is if the projected decline will
continue as predicted. By 2016-2017, Greenwich will have only 8,007
students, down from the 2003-2004 peak of 9,113, according to a chart
provided by the district.
As Curtin pointed out to the enrollment and space use task force,
there's always the chance enrollment could drop dramatically again, as
it did in the late 1970s and 1980s. Or it could do just the opposite.
Experts say Greenwich usually is a stable town with its economy and
housing, so the projections stay accurate. At least, that's how recent
history unfolded. If a major change happens in Greenwich, all bets are
off with projections, Prowda said.
"Most people can't adjust for future things," he said. "We're going to
guess based on past history."
Westporter
files suit vs. town, school
officials; cites racial bias
By JEREMY SOULLIERE, Hour Staff Writer
March 13, 2007
WESTPORT — A Westport woman has filed a civil suit against the town of
Westport and school officials, contending the town's school district
has fostered "a pattern of racial discrimination" that has caused her
family emotional distress.
Carla Karlen, a black Westport resident who has brought forward the
federal suit, claims school officials have tolerated and encouraged
race discrimination in Westport's "educational environment," neglected
her child's need for proper special education services, and failed to
protect the Karlen children from bullying.
The suit, which was filed with the town on March 8, names the town,
Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon, Director of Pupil Services
Cynthia Gilchrist, and Kay Maye, the former principal at Coleytown
Elementary School.
Neither Landon or Gilchrist returned calls concerning the suit Monday.
Karlen's spouse is white, the legal documents state, and her two
children are biracial.
When the couple's oldest child was in the first grade at Coleytown
Elementary School in the fall of 1998, the suit papers state, Karlen
noticed there were no "students of color" in her daughter's classroom
despite there being "children of color" in other classes. After parents
had been asked by school officials if they had any suggestions
concerning class placement in the next school year, Karlen had written
back to the school, stating "she would like to see other children of
color in the classroom with her daughter."
In September of 1999, she was "alarmed" to learn there were still no
students "of color" in her daughter's classroom at Coleytown
Elementary, the suit papers state. Karlen then approached the school's
assistant principal about the matter, who told her that "'because (your
daughter's) skin is so fair, we don't think of her as black.'" The
assistant principal also told Karlen that the minority students who
were bused in from Bridgeport to Coleytown Elementary were kept
separate "for obvious reasons," the documents state.
"Outraged at what she was hearing," she met with then-First Selectwoman
Diane Farrell "to discuss what the town was doing to promote racial
diversity," the suit papers state. Karlen quickly thereafter became
"persona non grata" at Coleytown Elementary and in town, with school
administrators suddenly being "antagonistic" towards her family, and
school personnel following her when she was at the school.
"(School) staff members would openly stare and whisper," the documents
state. "Parent Teacher Association ... members became hostile and
treated (Karlen) as if she were invisible, (and the Karlen children)
suddenly had difficulty getting play-dates."
When the Karlens' oldest child — whose learning disabilities include
Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Auditory Integration Disorder and Erlin Syndrome
— was in the second grade, she still could not read, the documents
state. The Karlens approached the school's educators about their
daughter possibly having a learning disability, but "their concerns
were met with hostility," the suit papers state.
"The administrators and educators insinuated that a dysfunctional home
life could be a factor in her inability to read," the documents state.
After an "outside evaluation" determined their daughter had Dyslexia,
the school decided to assess the child, the suit papers state,
resulting in a contradicting analysis that stated the child was not
Dyslexic.
"(The schools' tests determined she) was not Dyslexic or learning
disabled in any way — that her delays are 'developmental' and that,
while she does not qualify for special services, they do intend to give
her some support," the documents state.
The Karlen's oldest child was also "physically harmed by different
children throughout" her third grade year, the documents state, but the
school's administration failed to help her.
"The principal finds for the other child each time, regardless of the
circumstances," the suit papers state.
After the Karlens requested both their children be transferred to
another district school in 2001, their children were transferred to
Long Lots Elementary School, the documents state, where the older
Karlen child's Dyslexia and Dysgraphia was confirmed. But, despite
being classified as special needs at Long Lots, the Karlens' oldest
child still "had difficulty getting the special services she needed,"
the suit papers state.
Karlen, who is being represented by Middletown Attorney Dawne
Westbrook, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages the court
"shall consider to be just, reasonable and fair" in this case,
according to the suit papers.
The federal case, which has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge
Christopher F. Droney in Hartford, has no set court date as of yet,
according to the U.S. District court clerk in Hartford, and the
defendants named in the suit have to respond to the allegations within
20 days of when the notification had been received.
That's "Freund" not "Freud"
Budget woes, vacancies await Freund
Greenwich TIME
By Colin Gustafson, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/16/2009 09:11:31 PM EDT
From working with a tight budget and making critical hiring
choices, to restoring public confidence in the district and monitoring
a high-stakes construction project, Sidney Freund will have his work
cut out for him when he takes over as head of Greenwich Public Schools
on July 1.
One of the most immediate challenges, according to outgoing schools
chief Betty Sternberg, will be dealing with the district's budget
difficulties. Because of town revenue shortfalls, school
officials have shaved nearly $4 million out of next school year's
spending plan, which totals nearly $126 million and includes cuts to
more than two dozen staff positions. With more revenue shortfalls
forecast next year, Freund's administration could be forced to make
more cuts from the 2010-11 budget and seek more union concessions, she
said.
"When you have a budget that was already $4 million less than what you
started, there will be some tremendously difficult decisions to make,"
said Sternberg.
Freund is also expected to work closely with school officials to fill
top administrator spots, including the high school headmaster position
being vacated Al Capasso.
"I think that's the real challenge, because his decision will leave a
lasting imprint," said former school board member Bill Kelly. "The
budget is important, but you have to pick the right people to work
within a budget."
Additionally, officials said, Freund will have to jump into a
hodgepodge of different initiatives, programs and school projects,
including implementation of a new teacher-evaluation system and leading
the district's review of its secondary schools. He'll also have
to keep a close eye on the progress of Glenville School's
reconstruction this summer. Students and staff will move first into
temporary modular classrooms this fall and then into their new school
in January 2010, pending an on-time completion of work.
The Hamilton Avenue School rebuilding debacle could also re-emerge if
Freund's administrators are required to testify in the town's
anticipated legal action against the project's general contractor,
Sternberg said.
Another challenge will be boosting the public's confidence in the
school system, which has dwindled for many over the past two years,
according to survey results, said Board of Estimate and Taxation
Chairman Steve Walko. Between 2006-08, community satisfaction
with the district declined on the 2008 Harris poll, with teachers
saying they didn't feel they could influence policy and parents saying
their schools weren't doing enough to communicate with them.
"He needs to be able to communicate with constituents. He needs to be
transparent. He needs to understand the fabric of the community," Walko
said. "People will have confidence if he, in fact, recognizes and
addresses their issues with solutions that are consistent."
For Freund, the adjustment to a larger school district may also pose a
challenge. His first three superintendent posts were in small districts
-- Herricks schools in New Hyde Park, N.Y. (4,077 students); Oyster
Bay-East Norwich schools in Oyster Bay, N.Y. (1,628); and Valley
Stream, N.Y., schools (4,583).
And in Dobbs Ferry, he was responsible for a district totaling roughly
1,450 students in just three schools -- an elementary, middle and high
school -- with an operating budget of about $38 million budget this
year. By comparison, in Greenwich, he'll be managing a school system of
nearly 9,000 students in 11 elementary schools, three middle schools
and a high school, with a nearly $126 million operating budget.
"It's a larger community and a larger school district (in Greenwich),
and it takes some time to get to know all of the players, learn the
names, meet the parents," Sternberg said.
The school board will evaluate Freund's performance in an annual report
that considers a variety of factors, including community satisfaction
and his progress at boosting student achievement, among others, said
board Chairwoman Nancy Weissler. He will not be subject to a pay-based
critique of his efforts, however, since the school board eliminated a
performance pay component from his contract that had existed in
Sternberg's contract. However, under a new provision, board members
will be able to vote on whether to renew his contract at the end of his
second year.
Meantime, community members say they'll be watching his moves closely.
"I have trust in the (selection) process that got us this
superintendent," said Bob Brady, chairman of the Representative Town
Meeting Education Committee. "But whether or not we got the right
person, only time will tell -- as it always does."
Former Commissioner for Education in CT Betty Sternberg - link to other article here.
Ed Board races to replace Sternberg
Greenwich TIME
By Colin Gustafson, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/17/2008 07:19:10 AM EDT
School board members say they are intent on having a replacement for
departing Superintendent Betty Sternberg when she leaves in June.
With Sternberg's three-year contract expiring on June 30, 2009, the
Board of Education will have to complete the search in eight months or
appoint an interim superintendent - an outcome several members said
they were determined to avoid.
"I personally have no desire for that, because it just prolongs the
outcome," said board member Steven Anderson. "We really need to keep
our eye on the ball and make sure we find somebody who can hit the
ground running by next June."
Sternberg, the town's highest paid employee, will earn more than
$290,000 this year.
Sternberg announced Wednesday that she plans to step down in June. Her
decision comes amid mounting concerns from some parents, teachers and
board members that the initiatives implemented by Sternberg during the
first two years of her tenure have failed to produce satisfactory
improvements in student achievement.
Board Chairwoman Nancy Weissler said next week she plans to appoint a
four-person search committee, which will hire a consulting firm to
identify poetntial candidates; host focus groups of parents, school
staff and administrators to help develop a "profile" for the new
superintendent; and finally begin actively being recruiting and
interviewing candidates, she said.
"We'll very much be looking for public feedback when this gets started"
following the board's Oct. 23 meeting, said Weissler, who served on the
previous search committee that selected Sternberg for the position in
June 2006.
In choosing a successor, Democratic Selectman Lin Lavery said the board
should seek out someone likely to remain with the district for some
time. She said she was concerned that turnover in recent
administrations could raise red flags for candidates and deter some
from applying.
"We have had two different superintendents step down in three years,"
she said. "At some point, people are going to look at this and start
asking 'what are they stepping into? What is happening with our
community?' "
North Mianus parent Tom Pastore said the school board should focus its
search on candidates who have already amassed years of experience as
administrators in the school district and are more familiar with the
concerns of parents.
As a former state commissioner, "Sternberg was like this big-name free
agent that the board went out and decided it had to have," he said.
Next time, "we need somebody local and homegrown, who has already been
here a while, and knows the politics of what people like and dislike."
Sternberg
to step down
Greenwich TIME
By Colin Gustafson, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/16/2008 01:00:00 AM EDT
Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg will step down as chief
administrator of the town's public school system when her contract
expires next summer, she said, citing a desire to be "responsive to the
interests of the community."
With a Board of Education vote looming next week on whether to renew
her contract with the school system, Sternberg said she decided on
Monday night to not seek renewal of her employment agreement, which
expires June 30, 2009.
"I wanted the district to know sooner rather than later," she said of
her decision to announce her resignation prior to the board's vote on
Oct. 23.
Sternberg's decision comes nearly two weeks after the board voted to
give her a $3,500 salary bonus - out of a potential $15,000 for which
she was eligible - based on its evaluation of her management of the
district last school year. Over the past two months, the
superintendent has faced heavy criticism from some board members over
what they have called the lackluster progress of students since she
took over the schools two years ago.
She also came under fire last spring for blocking Boy Scouts from
recruiting during class time in Greenwich schools, and has endured
intense scrutiny from some parents over the district's handling of the
delay-mired Hamilton Avenue School project. In making the decision to
step down, Sternberg took into account "the context in the education
community and the community at large," she said. "My sense is that it
would be in everyone's interest for a new person to take this mantle
and continue with it."
Sternberg, who returned in August from a three-month medical leave of
absence, said health concerns had not played a role in her
decision. Several school board members described Sternberg's
decision Wednesday night as a surprise, and said the superintendent had
not faced internal pressure from individual members to step down.
"This was her own decision," said Board Chairwoman Nancy Weissler, who
was on the four-person search committee that recommended Sternberg for
the position in 2006. The others were current member Steven Anderson
and two former members, Ginny Gwynn and Bill Kelly.
Weissler said she will begin selecting members for a new search
committee to find Sternberg's successor following the body's Oct. 23
meeting. Sternberg will remain in the district through the end of
her contract. At a meeting Wednesday night on the Hamilton Avenue
School reconstruction project, parents reacted to the news of
Sternberg's future departure.
"PTA Council has a very good working relationship with Dr. Sternberg.
We wish her well in all of her future endeavors," said Julie Faryniarz,
the PTA Council president.
Alex Capozza, a vice president of the Hamilton Avenue School PTA
Executive Board, said Sternberg had big shoes to fill in and inherited
a number of complex issues.
"She came into very tough territory," Capozza said.
Sternberg's departure, Capozza said, creates an opening for the next
superintendent to improve academics across the school district.
Sternberg waiting for OK from
docs
Greenwich TIME
By Colin Gustafson
Staff writer
Article Launched: 08/05/2008 02:30:20 AM EDT
Her doctors will tell Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg this
Friday whether she can return full-time to being the town's chief
school administrator, a position that she temporarily vacated two
months due to an undisclosed illness. Sternberg said yesterday
that while she's eager to jump back into being superintendent of the
town's public school system by a target date of Aug. 11, it's up to the
doctors to give her a clean bill of health to go back to work.
"I cannot tell you with 100 percent certainty what will happen," she
noted. "But I do know I'm feeling better and can't wait to get back."
Sternberg, 58, started a leave of absence June 16 citing undisclosed
medical issues. Last year, she wrote an opinion editorial in which she
discussed living cancer-free since being diagnosed with breast cancer
in 2001. While declining to discuss her medical issues with
Greenwich Time Monday, Sternberg said she felt "more than ready" to
take on a full slate of responsibilities in the 2008-09 school year.
One goal Sternberg hopes to pursue upon her return, she said, is
expanding the teacher evaluation system she implemented last year at
several schools. Sternberg would like to turn her pilot program
into a district-wide program that uses a standardized set of criteria
to judge performance. Administrators under the program are also
encouraged to take a more active, hands-on role in observing how
teachers interact with students before completing their
evaluations. However, topping her list of priorities is finding a
resolution to the facility issues with Hamilton Avenue and Glenville
schools, Sternberg said.
The Board of Education last week agreed on a plan to delay the start of
Hamilton Avenue's year to give a contractor extra time to finish work
on its rebuilding project, while shifting Glenville students to modular
classrooms to allow restoration to begin on their own building.
Both projects have been mired in delays for years, and despite the
school board's recent approval of a plan to expedite work, another
projected delay in the Hamilton Avenue project has thrown the fate of
both schools next year into doubt.
If the Hamilton Avenue project isn't done by August 15, Glenville
students will be forced to attend class in as many as four different
schools across the district, while Hamilton Avenue students occupy the
modulars instead. While she hopes the situation won't come to
that, Sternberg said she'll be prepared to deal with such a dispersion
scenario by drawing on her experience of re-assigning Hamilton Avenue
students to other schools after mold was discovered in their modulars
last year.
"It was painful, but we've learned a lot from the decisions we made
with Hamilton Avenue," she said. "That was an emergency situation - so
not only having that prior experience, but being able to brace for it
as a possibility will make things go smoother next year with
Glenville."
Sternberg added that she's been closely watching the situation as it
unfolds, even while undergoing treatment for her illness. As such,
she's well aware of "all the nuances" of the situation and plans to be
able to approach the issues with a fresh perspective, she said.
"There is a positive aspect to having being removed from everything,"
she said, "because you come back and understand what's important in a
big picture - and what you need to do help children meet the vagaries
of life, when not everything goes as planned."
Sternberg
unveiling budget
proposal
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw, Staff Writer
Published November 8 2007
Communicating with native Spanish speakers, increasing technology and
improving specialty programs are focal points for Superintendent of
Schools Betty Sternberg's presentation tonight on her 2008-09 budget
proposal to the Board of Education.
Sternberg's budget proposal is for $125 million, a 5 percent increase
over the 2007-08 budget. That marks a slight drop compared with the 5.4
percent increase she sought for the 2007-08 budget over the 2006-07
budget. Sternberg will make her presentation at 7 p.m. at Cos Cob
School.
One of the highlights of the budget, Sternberg said, is the $300,000
marked for adding computerized whiteboards, known as Smartboards, to
more classrooms around the district as part of a multiyear plan to
eliminate the disparity in the number of Smartboards per school.
The western end of town, especially at the underperforming New Lebanon
School area, is a focus of the budget as well. Money is targeted to pay
for a part-time bilingual parent liaison to talk to Spanish-speaking
parents, and more brochures and letters will be translated.
"If you have a liaison who speaks the language and is able to connect
with people É that whole issue of (parent involvement) is
addressed," Sternberg said.
Western Middle School seeks money to offset field trip costs for
students in need, while Hamilton Avenue School seeks money to expand
its Suzuki violin program down to the second grade.
Consultant Ed Linehan, who was hired to help the board's task force in
its research of magnet schools addressing racial imbalance problems,
will be retained to help the review process of Hamilton Avenue School
and the other two magnet programs, as well as the development of New
Lebanon's magnet program.
Inside the classroom, after recent overhauls in math and literacy
curricula, Sternberg wants to spend money reviewing the effectiveness
of science curriculum to find improvements for instruction. Science is
under more scrutiny by the state because more students are tested now
in science on state exams.
Sternberg also wants funding for her new secondary education review
committee, set to begin meeting this January as they consider major
changes in how the middle schools and high school operate. For
teachers, Sternberg wants to pay for more training in using student
test scores and other data to drive their instruction, part of the
district's goal to give teachers more insight into their students'
academic performance history.
In last year's budget approval, the Board of Estimate and Taxation
lopped $500,000 off the Board of Education's final proposal and advised
school officials to look for ways to reduce costs where possible
instead of seeking more money than the BET believes is necessary.
Sternberg ended up evenly spreading the budget cut over all the
departments.
The BET sets a spending guideline based on how many students are in the
district. In 2008-09, the district predicts there will be 8,929
students, slightly less than the 8,974 this school year.
Sternberg said the district found ways to cut back elsewhere, such as
by not making any major textbook purchases for the district, which can
cost about $300,000. And, instead of giving departments a dollar amount
they can expect to receive each year, now all departments have to
explain every item they request. This year, Sternberg said the budget
should be more accurate and not leave money unspent at the end of the
year, as has happened in the past.
"There should not be an expectation we'll return money," Sternberg said.
After tonight's presentation, there will be a public hearing Nov. 20,
also at Cos Cob School. The board will vote on the budget on Dec. 20,
and then submit it to the town for approval.
Diversity
dilemma Parents, RISE
committee disagree over influence of race on options
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw, Staff Writer
Published September 23 2007
As Greenwich considers adding magnet programs they hope will scatter
children of different races across the district, some white parents
have spoken out against underperforming, non-English speaking students
coming to their child's school and taking attention away from their
child. They also have questioned school officials about why
students at
schools with many underachieving, minority students would get more
money for a magnet program compared to their child's school.
Supporters of the Board of Education's task force, which is examining
racial imbalance, say that the comments of those parents are actually
bigoted remarks veiled in the language of requests to preserve a
neighborhood school system the state says is racially segregated.
Natalie Queen, who is set to become the first black woman to be elected
to the Board of Education, said that when people oppose opening up
their neighborhood schools to other parts of town, it's akin to
"structural racism."
"All kids should be educated equally regardless of what they look like
and where they came from," said Queen, a mother of a middle school
student.
The state said New Lebanon and Hamilton Avenue Schools have too high a
percentage of minority students, and warned that Old Greenwich soon
will have too many white students. The law is intended to create a
diverse classroom so that students of all races have time
together. As of Oct. 1, 2006, 168 minority students attended
Hamilton Avenue and
119 attended New Lebanon, compared to Old Greenwich, which had 19
minority students last year, according to the most recent data
available.
Since the beginning of the task force on racial imbalance, space use
and declining enrollment, or RISE, in February, some parents have
worried that the district would close a school to create better racial
balance and maximize space. Now that that option is considered off the
table, the focus has been on magnet programs, which school officials
say will draw white students from other parts of town to a mostly
minority-populated school, and vice versa.
Other than redistricting, magnet schools are thought to be the only
option available to make the district more evenly diverse. In response,
opponents ask why the district is focusing on racial diversity, saying
they want the schools to focus solely on achievement. A few
parents have questioned whether the state's diversity mandate is
valid in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling that said Seattle and
Louisville schools can't assign students to schools based on race;
lawyers consulted by Greenwich officials believe the Connecticut law
will be upheld.
Supporters of the RISE task force's efforts say diversity is a measure
of achievement and it's not a "tangential issue," as described by one
parent at a task force public forum earlier this month.
The forum included comments from both sides of the issue -- those
supporting the task force's search for a solution for racial imbalance,
and those saying the district isn't looking at the bigger picture of
student achievement for all students, not just minority students at a
few schools.
Craig Bibb, who called the work of the task force a "social policy
experiment," said people would be wrong to think that those speaking
against the task force are narrow-minded parents who want to maintain a
system that sustains racial isolation.
"I didn't hear anyone speak against diversity. It's about reducing
(racial imbalance) at the cost of losing a school," said Bibb, a North
Street parent. On a list of options, North Street was listed as a
school that had the greatest projected cost savings if it was closed,
although school officials said school closure is not being seriously
considered. Some parents, however, see turning their neighborhood
school into a magnet school as a closure.
"What people are saying is that they love their neighborhood school and
they want their neighborhood school to become even better. I don't
think anyone's saying they don't want children from other ethnic
backgrounds in their schools. They just don't want their child bused to
another school," Bibb said.
But some supporters of the committee's work interpret recent public
comments of opponents as being close-minded and ignorant.
"It's hard for people to talk about racial imbalance when they are the
majority. They never had to deal with being the minority. But I can see
the imbalance," said Queen, a task force member.
Angelique Bell, a task force member who is Hispanic, said "some people
just don't want to see change," but on the other side, worries that too
much is being made of diversity for diversity's sake.
"I'm offended by the thought that just putting a Hispanic kid next to a
white kid is going to raise the Hispanic kid's scores," said Bell, a
Parkway School mother. "I don't care who sits next to my child, as long
as the education is stellar."
Administrators have touted increased diversity as a way to help
wealthy, white students be immersed with poor students and other
cultures. Sternberg said the cultural development of students, not the
mandate, is the driving reason behind the committee's work, which will
be reviewed by the board Sept. 27. Some parents who commented at
the public forum said Sternberg was just
performing a "social experiment" and trying to be a "social engineer"
by arbitrarily mixing races through an open choice school system.
Sternberg emphatically disagrees.
"It's about teaching children to work and play together with children
who may not necessarily look like them or represent cultures of their
own. I'm not the social engineer," Sternberg said.
Those who feel she is overemphasizing racial diversity at the cost of
achievement should think about the racially charged fight at the high
school in 2006, she said. Achievement is more than just test scores,
Sternberg believes, and people should not be satisfied with students
who do well in class but don't embrace diversity.
"I don't think anyone's achievement has been addressed," if there are
racially charged fights, Sternberg said.
Early on in the committee process, Sternberg said she was angered after
she received e-mails with "a hateful, bullying tone," by those opposing
the focus on racial imbalance. She wrote a letter in March to parents
and as an op-ed to newspapers chiding parents for being narrow-minded.
In her letter, Sternberg wrote, "I am distraught to read e-mails
written with a hateful, bullying tone from parent to parent and from
citizen to town official which say, among other things, 'The children
are exposed to racial diversity in middle school and high school and in
their extracurricular activities. We don't want our elementary
school-age children used to neutralize the makeup of another part of
town.' "
Since that time, Sternberg said there are parents she believes haven't
changed their minds.
"There will be some people who will never embrace this as an important
goal," she said.
Representative Town Meeting member Peter Sherr remembers the letter
well.
"She was implying that people who were not supportive of her point of
view of racial balance might be racist or bigoted. That's
Hartford-style politics," said Sherr, referring to Sternberg's former
job as state Commissioner of Education. "Greenwich is a much more
generous and open-minded place."
Sherr, a North Mianus parent, said that a lack of interest in diversity
is not the problem.
"I know there are lots of parents who want a diverse environment. But I
don't think they want it preached to or dictated to on that subject,"
Sherr said. "I don't believe people in Greenwich are bigots or that
they don't believe diversity in Greenwich is a good thing."
Instead, Sherr said that it may be the board and top administrators,
who are white, that are being racist by trying to come up with a
solution for increasing diversity. School officials believe "we
think we know what's best for them. If that isn't racism, I don't know
what is," Sherr said.
However, board chairwoman Colleen Giambo said the idea to address
racial imbalance is about embracing the fact that that Greenwich is
racially diverse.
"This is not a social experiment that's just out there for the world.
This is Greenwich. We're a diverse community," Giambo said.
While some parents told the district they believe adding magnet
programs and busing children to new schools for the purpose of
diversity will take away money from achievement measures, Giambo said
there won't be "huge, extra expenses" and that all children will get
the attention needed. A magnet program can cost about $75,000 in
start-up fees, plus $50,000 in recurring costs.
"This is not an exercise of taking from this one and giving to that
one," Giambo said.
She also addressed the concern that moving English as a Second Language
children to a mostly white school will hurt the achievement of students
already there, since the teacher may need to give extra attention to
the ESL child.
"They are always concerned there will be a remedial aspect and then
their kid won't get as much attention. But you have to have classrooms
that can manage differentiation," Giambo said. The International School
at Dundee, which is culturally diverse and has a magnet program,
handles different cultures and learning abilities well, Giambo said.
Parents should embrace the idea of a racially balanced district, Giambo
said.
"You can't really argue with the concept," Giambo said. "We need to do
it."
Parents
slam RISE options
Greenwich TIME
By Hoa Nguyen, Staff Writer
Published September 12 2007
Some parents blasted the effort to achieve racial balance in Greenwich
schools as a "social policy experiment" that puts their children's
education at risk.
"We want great neighborhood schools," parent Craig Bibb said to wide
applause last night at Greenwich High School during a public forum to
discuss seven options school administrators are proposing for next year
to address racial imbalance, declining enrollment and space utilization
identified at some Greenwich schools.
"Greenwich citizens do not want to put our community's great assets at
risk to conduct a social policy experiment," Bibb said to thunderous
applause. "The performance gap Greenwich parents are most concerned
with is the gap between public and private schools. The gap É
between students of different ethnic backgrounds is a tangential issue."
A few weeks ago, administrators gave seven options to a task force
called the RISE committee to consider. The group, which was organized
in February, is expected to issue its recommendations to the Board of
Education later this month.
With three of the options requiring the closing of a school -- an
unpopular choice among parents and administrators -- task force members
said last night that they will not recommend any of those options to
the education board. That leaves the other four options, which include
some variation of transforming one or more so-called neighborhood
schools into magnet schools. In all four cases, New Lebanon School
would be one of those schools.
Last night's forum attracted nearly 100 parents, some of whom directed
their attacks at Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg.
One parent said the superintendent and a consultant she hired to help
the district sort out the options send their own children to private or
charter schools rather than public ones.
"Apparently, magnet schools are not good enough for their children,"
Parkway School parent Anna Saras said.
Sternberg acknowledged that her children, who are in their 20s, did
attend private high school but up until eighth grade were enrolled in
public school.
Another parent, Peter Sherr, who is a Representative Town Meeting
member, also derided Sternberg's "overemphasis" on racial balance.
"It's the height of bigotry, actually, that white wealthy educated
people are thinking what's best for the African American and Latino
communities," he said. "I think what we need to do is not go further
with building a system of haves and have-nots. We should not be going
any further with figuring out racial balance until we have a clear
answer from the legal authority in the state."
Marianna Ponns Cohen, who is running for a spot on the education board,
said magnet schools are ineffective and costly.
"We should educate our children to the highest standards and spend
money on academic programs and not busing," she said. "Magnet schools
are just a fancier way to legitimate the busing of students under an
illusory promise of choice."
Some parents objected to the objections, saying they want schools such
as New Lebanon to become a magnet school so that it is not subject "to
the segregation that this country has been trying to fight for a long
time," Byram native Ted Flinn said.
"New Lebanon is a racially imbalanced school," he said. "I'm faced with
a decision of sending them to a racially imbalanced school or sending
them to a private school É Your ideas of trying to change the
system that currently exists and to improve it is very noteworthy."
Other parents said those who opposed magnet schools are too hung up on
details.
"It seems to me that you are more worried about driving or busing your
child than you are about your child's education," parent Claudia Velez
said.
Still other parents with children in existing magnet schools such as
the International School at Dundee and Julian Curtiss said they have
had success with those programs and would recommend it to other parents.
The task force is expected to hold its final meeting Tuesday at Cos Cob
School where the group will vote to prioritize the seven options. The
Board of Education will then review the choices during its Sept. 27
meeting at Old Greenwich School.
Sternberg grades her year
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw, Staff Writer
Published August 19 2007
As she sat in her office last week, Betty Sternberg, superintendent of
schools and amateur photographer, gestured toward three photographs she
took in Mexico that are now displayed beside her desk.
"These two got awards, but this is the one I like the best. Of course,
that's the one that didn't get an award," Sternberg said, pointing
toward the center photo that captures the image of a solitary stone
statue on a run-down street in San Miguel D'Allende. Sternberg, 57,
laughs about receiving honors for two photos, but not for the artwork
of which she is most proud.
The same may be said of Sternberg's first year on the job, which began
last August when she left her position as state commissioner of
education. Since she arrived, the Board of Education's task force on
racial imbalance, space use and declining enrollment, which Sternberg
serves on as a co-chair, has become the most recognizable and perhaps
most divisive work during Sternberg's tenure.
But Sternberg said the RISE task force often overshadows all of her
other projects aimed at raising the achievement of all students. It's a
topic she describes with emphatic hand gestures, such as when she
slants her hands upward as she discusses how "youngsters" who are
underperforming need to have accelerated growth.
"You can see we're making progress," said Sternberg, the district's
first permanent female superintendent.
The statistics illustrate that statement. The Connecticut Mastery Test
scores showed general improvement in math scores this past school year
compared to 2005-2006, although reading and writing scores slightly
dipped. Some of the schools with the most economically and racially
diverse students, New Lebanon and Hamilton Avenue, made strong gains in
all categories.
To accomplish this, Sternberg continued the work of her predecessor,
Larry Leverett, in implementing new math and literacy curricula. She
also brought in new cabinet members, including Kathy Greider, deputy
superintendent of teaching and learning, and Chris Winters, assistant
superintendent of curriculum, learning and staff development, and she
oversaw a push to coordinate the work of all the principals.
Sternberg said she's also proud of developing the Success System, which
gives the board tangible, defined benchmarks to evaluate how well the
district is doing in all areas, including student performance and
professional development.
Still, it has been the task force, which has been meeting since March
and has taken a considerable chunk of her staff's time doing research,
that garners much of the attention, good and bad.
Sternberg said the issues being addressed by the task force are "the
most difficult issues I've had to grapple with" in her 26 years as an
educator and policy maker.
In December, before the task force was assembled, Sternberg faced one
of her biggest challenges of the past year. First Selectman Jim Lash
said publicly in a speech to a community group in December that the
town either had to "lop off some schools" because of declining
enrollment or the cost of public education in town would go up
significantly. His comments set off a wave of worry among parents
concerned that the district already had their child's school
preselected for closure, and a short war of words between Parkway and
Glenville school parents over whether the scheduled renovation at the
latter would guarantee the closure of the former.
"Parents perceived (that Lash's comments) directly affected their kids,
and understandably so," Sternberg said.
Sternberg had to spend several months attending PTA meetings and
speaking individually to parents to reassure them that closing a school
was a last resort, not the first option.
"That took a lot of focus away from the instructional aspect," said
Colleen Giambo, chairwoman of the board, whose members have been
eye-to-eye with Sternberg throughout her tenure.
To address racial imbalance and declining enrollment in the schools,
the Board of Education created the RISE task force, which Sternberg
assembled. But the public relations work for Sternberg was only just
starting.
Once the task force began to meet, Sternberg was criticized by some in
the community who questioned the motives of the group. At a string of
public meetings in February and March, parents, including some from a
newly formed group that calls itself Friends of Parkway School, chided
the district for what they perceived to be a hidden agenda to push for
more magnet schools or close certain schools.
Parent Marianna Ponns Cohen, who is running for the board this year,
has been one of the most vocal critics of the process. Ponns Cohen made
a massive Freedom of Information Act request for e-mail correspondence
among Sternberg and some of her cabinet regarding Parkway School,
Glenville School and the task force. The request, which is still being
fulfilled, came after weeks of Ponns Cohen making comments in public
meetings against Sternberg's administration.
"You're cooking the outcome," Ponns Cohen said to Sternberg at a
January Parkway School PTA meeting with the superintendent and other
school officials.
Ponns Cohen declined to comment for this story.
Sternberg continued to appeal for calm, writing a letter to the public
in March in which she said her critics were using inaccurate facts in
their arguments and pitting schools against each other.
Public reaction to the task force's work has settled
during the summer, though when the group reports its findings to the
board next month things could heat up. Sternberg said the people who
have spoken out against the work of the task force aren't looking at
the big picture.
"It's important that the community understands that it's a great
educational system if it educates all children well, not just some
children well. It isn't just about 'my kid,' " Sternberg said. However,
she added, "I respect that not everyone agrees."
Beginning in April, Sternberg had to face another crisis when her staff
was informed by the Hamilton Avenue building committee that the
rebuilding project scheduled to be finished in time for the first day
of school was several months behind schedule. The committee first
became aware of potential delays around February but thought they could
make up for lost time.
Laura DiBella, the Hamilton Avenue PTA president during the past school
year, said she wished Sternberg had acted faster, but she was satisfied
with Sternberg's effort once she became aware of the delay.
"I think it would have been more helpful had she closely monitored the
situation earlier," DiBella said. "But it's difficult coming in
midproject."
The delay also pushed back Glenville School's plans for renovation,
angering parents who said the school was already overdue for an upgrade
and that their children have been receiving a substandard education
because of the antiquated building.
Celia Fernandez and Lisa Harkness, Glenville PTA co-presidents could
not be reached for comment about Sternberg's performance.
Giambo said Sternberg ably handled the delays.
"There's no fault to her on that. The whole point of a building
committee is to take away attention from the superintendent and the
board," Giambo said. The project is now scheduled to be finished in
December.
Sternberg said she wished she would have known earlier about the
delays, but she said the district has learned from the experience. In
the upcoming Glenville School renovation, a construction manager will
be used instead of a general contractor, which is used for the Hamilton
Avenue project. A construction manager gives the district more control
over subcontractors and the construction process, Sternberg said.
Despite the hurdles, Sternberg said she's already made progress in
accomplishing many of her goals as superintendent. She still would like
to make preschool more available to all children and she wants to
continue developing programs for parents who need to learn English.
Adding more technology in the classroom and reforming secondary
education are on her agenda as well.
Sternberg said she would like to be around to see her initiatives
through.
"I expect to be here," Sternberg said.
Giambo said the board has long-term hopes for Sternberg, too, after
only having Leverett around for about three years, and fairly quick
turnover before him.
"It's very disruptive when there's a change of leadership," Giambo
said. "We're really hoping we can get good years in so we can make a
lot of progress."
Sternberg
letter to
critics hits chord
Greenwich TIME
By Andrew Shaw, Staff Writer
Published March 10 2007
A letter to the public by Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg has
many in the school community saying they are glad to see a clear
message directed at critics of the Board of Education's task force:
Stop fighting with each other and join our cause to improve overall
student achievement.
Sternberg said she wrote the letter to make it clear what the mission
of the Board of Education's task force is -- to better the education of
all children, regardless of wealth or location, by fixing declining
enrollment, racial balance and space use problems in the district.
"She's doing the right thing by rallying the troops," said Nicki
Barret-Lennard, co-president of the Old Greenwich PTA. "We're all
better off together than fighting with each other."
In Sternberg's letter, available on the school Web site and printed as
an op-ed piece in Thursday's Greenwich Time, she writes about her anger
and disappointment at what she describes as bullying by some.
"I am so upset, so disappointed -- even angry -- about the nasty,
mean-spirited talk and e-mails that are coming from some sectors of
Greenwich É," she wrote. "I am distraught to read e-mails
written with a hateful, bullying tone from parent to parent and from
citizen to town official."
She says the e-mail she has seen expresses outrage over redistricting
to achieve racial balance, and the possibility of closing schools
because of declining enrollment. She refers obliquely to the perception
among some parents that if the Glenville School renovation project goes
forward, then the Parkway School will certainly be closed -- an idea
which she has repeatedly said is false.
Janice Richards, PTA Council president, said she thinks the letter
reiterates the PTA Council's mission to get all schools to work
together, especially as the district faces uncertainty.
"It serves no purpose to pit schools against each other," Richards said.
Some in Greenwich, including members of the newly formed group Friends
for Parkway School, have questioned the financial and statistical data
provided by the school administration, especially in regard to the
proposed $23 million Glenville School project. Sternberg writes that
there is "ill-informed, misinformation that pits one school against
another."
"There's a small group of people who present numbers as fact, and, in
fact, it is not fact," she said in an interview yesterday. "Everybody
is entitled to their opinion. But it's just a concern of
misrepresentation of data as if it were fact."
Sternberg also chides in her op-ed piece those who have written letters
of criticism without signing their names, going instead under the
moniker "Friends of Parkway School." The group also has put an ad in
the papers under that name. Sternberg's words also may be directed at
members of the Concerned Citizens of Greenwich group, which asked for
the postponement of the Glenville project until the task force made
recommendations. The group members have remained anonymous.
"When people hold important views, you'd hope they'd be willing to
stand up and put their name to the view of others," Sternberg said. She
added she is upset with the way people are presenting their case, not
the fact that they disagree. "It is done in a very mean-spirited
fashion."
Anna Saras, a member of the Friends for Parkway School group, said that
she and those around Greenwich who share her views are similarly
frustrated.
"We're trying to get facts out. We're trying to keep emotion out of it,
but, yes, you do get emotion into it when you're trying to get out a
logical message but people aren't listening," Saras said. Friends for
Parkway School's main goal is to keep Parkway open and keep town
officials fiscally responsible.
"We represent at least half the school," Saras said, adding that their
passion has been misconstrued. "We're not bullies."
Sternberg and the Parkway PTA dispute this. Abby Pillari, Parkway PTA
secretary, said there has been a false view that there is a Glenville
School versus Parkway School attitude.
"I hope they see we are not pinning a school against a school," Pillari
said of the community opinion. "We are one school system. We need to
work together."
Sternberg concludes the letter by reminding the community that the
point of the task force is to create opportunities for all of its
children.
"We should operate as if each child in Greenwich is our own child ..."
she writes. "Let's get to it. Our children are watching. And waiting."
Celia Fernandez, co-president of Glenville PTA, said Sternberg drove
home an important point with that message, and that she's glad the
superintendent took a public stance.
"This kind of clears the air," she said. "She's on the money. At the
end of the day, it's about the kids."
Did you know that Yale's colors are pale blue, baby blue, or in this
case, just blue?
Steamy
Shower Has Yale Students In A Bit Of Hot Water
DAY
By John Christoffersen , Associated Press Writer
Published on 2/3/2007
New Haven — Sex is not a taboo subject at Yale, home to Sex Week, a
biennial celebration that's one of the most provocative campus events
in the nation.
But a randy couple's frolic in a shower at one of Yale's undergraduate
residential colleges prompted a professor to issue an e-mail of
protest, which in turn has sparked debate on the Internet.
With the subject line “Shower Stalls are for Showering,” the e-mail
begins “OK, well THIS is the most awkward college-wide e-mail I've ever
had to send.”
Yale officials told The Associated Press on Friday that the e-mail was
sent Jan. 30 by Professor Jonathan Holloway, master of Calhoun College,
one of 12 residential colleges at the Ivy League university.
About 330 students received the e-mail from Holloway, who runs Calhoun
as master. He referred comment to Yale's public affairs department.
His e-mail warns against “intimate activity” in the showers,
“especially that kind of activity that leaves the showers in a
decidedly less hygienic state.
“Several times since the start of the spring term some Hounies have
come across a couple having the time of their lives in a shower stall,”
the e-mail stated, referring to the nickname for college residents.
“Last night, the shower flooded and the bathroom could not be used for
over 90 minutes. To the as yet unidentified couple, this may be
pleasurable and exciting for you, but it is a violation of community
standards. Please stop.”
The note, first reported Friday by the New Haven Register, ended with a
warning to the frolicking couple: “I really don't want to explore this
matter any further, as I respect your individual privacy. But such
continued brazen public displays of affection will only invite public
embarrassment. I beg of you, let's not go there.”
One Calhoun resident made his views clear on another blog,
criticalmassblog.com. Dan Gelernter, class of 2009, is co-editor of
Critical Mass, aimed at “collegiate conservatives,” and called the
episode “a new chapter in the story of Yale's continuing descent into
the depths of moral degradation.”
“It is not merely unfortunate, but pathetic and disgusting that the
Master needed to send such a note to us but in the moral vacuum that
has been created by Yale intellectuals, students seem to be left
without even the most basic guidelines for proper and decent behavior,”
Gelernter wrote.
Soda
ban hitting some schools in
pocketbook
DAY
Posted on Dec 23, 1:46 PM EST
EAST LYME, Conn. (AP) -- Four soda machines at East Lyme High School
generated more than $20,000 in revenues last year. Much of that
money was used to buy new athletic equipment and send students to
athletic banquets and awards dinners. But those machines are now
stocked with juice and water because of a new law banning soda and
sugary drinks from schools. Since the beginning of this school year,
the machines have pulled in only $500.
"It's affecting us big-time," Scott Mahon, the school's athletic
director said of the legislation.
"That (revenue) really has been part of the (athletic department's)
budget," Mahon told The Day of New London in Saturday's edition. "As
budgets get tougher and tougher, we kind of rely on other things. If we
can't get sponsorships and other things, we have to rely on soda."
Earlier this year, state lawmakers voted to ban all public schools from
selling regular or diet soda and sports drinks in vending machines or
school stores in hopes of combatting childhood obesity in Connecticut
and sending a message about good nutrition. The bill, which Gov. M.
Jodi Rell signed into law, includes a narrow exception for sales at
concession stands at school-sponsored events on weekends or after
school.
Only milk, soy and rice milk, water and 100 percent fruit and vegetable
drinks can be stocked in the machines. Students are still allowed to
bring their own sodas and sports drinks to school.
The new law does not ban junk food, but does provide extra money for
school lunch programs at schools that offer healthy snacks.
Groton Public Schools signed up for the reimbursement program. It pays
schools an extra 10 cents per meal served that complies both with the
federal school lunch program and state nutritional standards. Contents
of school vending machines in Groton have changed to healthier items,
such as baked rather than fried potato chips.
"It's the only thing that has saved us from total decimation," said
Fitch Senior High School Principal Robert Bacewicz of the state
reimbursement program.
Cliff Still, the school's food services director, estimates revenue at
Fitch is down $150 to $200 a day on the beverage machines.
"We used to have a student council machine in the cafeteria, with all
sodas, on a timer that didn't kick in until 2:30," he said. "That
machine is gone, and they're hurting."
In Waterford, the cost of yearbooks and some school events are expected
to rise because of the drop in revenues from the machines. But student
groups are making the most of the situation.
Waterford High School Principal Donald Macrino said the school store
switched to selling water and school spirit items, such as logo sweat
shirts and jackets. With higher student dues and more car wash
fundraisers, he said students are now close to generating the same
amount of money raised by the soda machines last year.
School-Aid
Boost Recommended
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
December 21, 2006
Connecticut's heavy reliance on local property taxes to pay for schools
fuels a well-documented array of stark inequities. But what to do?
On Wednesday, a state commission on education finance made a bold
recommendation: boost the state's major school-aid grant 75 percent by
pumping an extra $1.2 billion a year into the public schools. The
hefty price tag will be a daunting political challenge
to Gov. M. Jodi Rell and state lawmakers as they consider how to revise
a 17-year-old school finance formula that critics say is underfunded
and unfair.
After nearly a year of work, a study commission created by Rell
outlined a proposal that would simplify some aspects of the complex
formula and - over a period of years - increase state school aid
dramatically, affecting virtually every school district in the state.
"This proposal is financially a very, very large undertaking," said
Robert Genuario, Rell's budget director and the chairman of the
25-member commission. But the recommendations would go a long way
toward making the formula more equitable, he said.
Other school funding reports in the past have produced mixed results.
The most recent one, in 1999, made similar recommendations that would
have produced big increases in state funding, but those recommendations
were largely ignored. The first signs of how the new report will
fare
should occur in February, when Rell outlines her state budget proposal,
which then will go to the legislature. Lawmakers will have to weigh
educational needs against a host of other budget demands.
"I think the governor is going to take [these] recommendations very
seriously," Genuario said. "She's the one who called for the
commission. She, however, is fully aware the state has limited
resources, and this needs to be adopted in a fashion consistent with
taxpayers' ability to pay for it."
Still, some are hopeful that Wednesday's recommendations, along with
another report to Rell earlier this month calling for a major expansion
of preschool programs, will provide a welcome boost to public schools
across the state.
"This could be the year of education all around," said Patrice
McCarthy, deputy director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of
Education. "We've never [fully] funded any formula in the past, so
there is a bit of skepticism, but I do think the governor will support
these recommendations in her budget."
Along with the proposals to phase in more state school aid, the panel
recommended broad authority for the state Department of Education to
order changes in curriculum, staffing and management in school
districts that consistently fail to show progress in students'
performance. The panel also called for significant increases in
funding for charter schools, magnet schools and a voluntary school
choice program that allows students to transfer to schools outside
their home districts.
Critics say the existing method of funding schools has strained school
budgets and placed too much of the burden of school costs on local
property taxpayers, leading in some cases to tax revolts.
In the small, rural town of Canterbury in eastern Connecticut, for
example, voters have rejected school budgets each of the past two
years, prompting officials to cut foreign language classes and reading
programs and reduce custodial help at the town's middle school. Sandra
Suplicki, the school superintendent, is hopeful the state will provide
more help. "We'd also like to provide additional math and reading
assistance to our students," she said, "but at this point we can't
afford to do that."
The state's school funding formula underwent a major change after the
state Supreme Court in 1977 ordered the state, in a case known as
Horton vs. Meskill, to close a large funding gap between the state's
wealthiest and poorest communities. As a result, lawmakers
redistributed money, sending millions of dollars to the state's poorest
cities.
In 1989, the legislature revised the school aid formula again,
introducing the Education Cost Sharing grant, but lawmakers have
imposed limits on the formula under the strain of tight state
budgets.
This year, that grant will distribute more than $1.6 billion to cities
and towns, but it is only part of a complex series of programs and
grants adding up to about $3.5 billion in annual state spending on
education.
Whatever Rell recommends in her budget, the issue is certain to be
intensely debated by lawmakers. At stake are billions of dollars and
the way those dollars are distributed to the state's school
districts.
The debate will be watched closely by a coalition of municipal
officials and educators that filed a lawsuit a year ago seeking to
force the state to dramatically increase spending on education and
revamp its education funding formula.
Dianne Kaplan deVries, a consultant working with the coalition, said
Wednesday's report does not fully address what she called funding
inadequacies among school districts, but if all the recommendations
were adopted, "I think it would be a tremendous step forward."
Although there is support in the legislature for increased spending on
education, the challenge will be to satisfy taxpayers that their towns
are getting their fair share of state money, said state Sen. Thomas J.
Herlihy, R-Avon.
Herlihy, whose district consists mainly of suburban and rural areas,
said, "The cities tend to get ... two or three dollars back on every
dollar they send, whereas many suburban and rural communities get only
pennies back on that dollar."
However, state Sen. Thomas P. Gaffey, D-Meriden, said, "What you hear a
lot about are complaints from towns that feel they're entitled to get
more." Despite those complaints, the legislature must focus on helping
the neediest school districts, including major cities, first, as
required under the Horton vs. Meskill court ruling, said Gaffey,
co-chairman of the legislature's education committee.
"It's going to be a difficult chore, as it always is, trying to
allocate education funds under any formula and make everybody happy,"
he said.
School
Residency Cases Tracked
By ANN MARIE SOMMA, Courant Staff Writer
December
2, 2006
WETHERSFIELD -- The school district is cracking down on parents from
bordering towns who illegally enroll their children in district schools
by providing a false address.
Since March 2005, 49 students have been removed from district schools
because they did not live in town, and 50 more cases are under
investigation.
"They are just trying to make a better life for their children, but
we have a state statute that is reasonably clear on what constitutes
residency," said schools Superintendent Patrick Proctor.
To deal with the problem, the district last year instituted a central
registration process to replace on-site enrollment at schools. Parents
must now provide a mortgage or rental lease as well as a long-form
birth certificate for students entering grades 1 through 12.
Students who are suspected of being illegally enrolled are investigated
by John Ryan, the district's security officer. Ryan, a retired
probation officer, said he uses every investigative tool available -
including staking out homes - to weed out the nonresidents. He said his
investigations usually begin with a hunch or a tip.
Ryan said the problem is serious. Wethersfield residents get stuck with
the cost of educating the nonresident students - $10,000 a year for
each one - because their parents don't pay local taxes.
"It's not fair to taxpayers," Ryan said.
It's a common problem for suburban school districts bordered by poorer
urban cities where test scores and graduation rates are low. West
Hartford has hired an additional investigator and is investing in
high-tech software to keep track of where families live. Bloomfield is
dealing with illegally enrolled students from East Hartford,
Manchester, South Windsor and Windsor.
Ryan said many of the cases involve parents giving a false address.
Some cases involve students living with a friend or relative in
Wethersfield. The students come from Hartford, West Hartford, New
Britain, Rocky Hill, Manchester, and as far as way as Ledyard.
Ryan said the 49 students removed from the district since March 2005
had been in school for as little as a few months to a couple of years.
Proctor said the central registration process has been effective in
deterring out-of-district parents from trying to enroll their students
in Wethersfield schools.
From July 2005 to June 2006, 51 out of 412 parents who requested
registration materials chose not register their children after learning
of residency requirements, according to a school district report.
Another report states that from July to Oct. 20 this year, 18 out of
209 parents chose not to complete the registration process after being
advised of the residency requirements.
"This isn't an attempt to be punitive," Proctor said.
"It's not our decision. It's a statutory requirement."
Former
Norwich Superintendent To Lead
Hartford School District; Adamowski is credited with major
changes here
Norwich Bulletin
By Associated Press
Published on 11/27/2006
Hartford (AP) — A new superintendent of schools starts work
today in Hartford, one of Connecticut's largest and most challenging
school districts.
Steven Adamowski, 55, a former superintendent of the Norwich school
system, and an education consultant with the American Institutes for
Research in Washington, will head the 24,000-student district with a
mandate from city leaders to boost achievement.
He worked in Norwich from 1983 to 1987 before leaving to head a newly
formed school district in New Jersey. While in Norwich he developed a
new curriculum, made sweeping staff and administrative changes,
retrained teachers and started new programs. Test scores rose, and the
number of remedial students declined. School officials at the time said
that he had broken the network of nepotism and cronyism in the district.
Hartford and Bridgeport are the state's two largest school districts,
and both have struggled to reach the standards set by the federal No
Child Left Behind Act.
In Hartford, more than two-thirds of the city's elementary and middle
schools fell short last year of benchmarks set in the law.
A native of Ansonia, Adamowski has said his experience in reforming
Cincinnati's public schools as that city's school superintendent will
be helpful as he takes on Hartford's challenges.
Adamowski attended Trinity College and Southern Connecticut State
University, was the associate secretary of education for the state of
Delaware, and also worked in the New Haven and Farmington school
districts. His annual salary in Hartford will be $205,000
New
York's Highest Court Cuts Aid
Sought By
City Schools In Landmark Decision
By David Herszenhorn, New York Times News Service
Published on 11/21/2006
New York state's highest court ended a landmark legal fight over
education financing on Monday, ruling that at least $1.93 billion more
must be spent each year on New York City's public schools — far less
than the $4.7 billion that a lower court called the minimum needed to
give city children the chance for a sound basic education.
In its 4-2 ruling, the Court of Appeals noted that a commission
appointed by Gov. George E. Pataki in 2004 had contemplated a range of
spending options for the state to fulfill its constitutional obligation
to New York City's nearly 1.1 million schoolchildren, with $1.93
billion at the low end of the scale. The court endorsed the $1.93
billion as “reasonable.”
The amount is to be updated for inflation and other factors, which will
bring the total to more than $2 billion a year.
The judges said that lower courts had erred by proposing their own
sums, treading on the turf of the governor and the state Legislature.
“In fashioning specific remedies for constitutional violations, we must
avoid intrusion on the primary domain of another branch of government,”
Judge Eugene F. Pigott Jr. wrote for the majority.
The New York case, brought by a coalition of education groups called
the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, has been among the most closely watched
of dozens of lawsuits over school financing filed across the country
that seek to direct more money to needy school districts. The ruling
cannot be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court because it is based on the
state constitution.
The financing issue has divided Albany for years. But for all of the
predictions over 13 years of litigation that the suit would reshape
education financing in the state, the ruling did not do so. The court
did not touch New York's arcane formulas for education financing and
refused to impose new oversight mechanisms.
The decision came as an immense blow to New York City, which, based on
prior court rulings, had anticipated up to $5.63 billion a year in
additional education aid. New York state now pays about $7.1 billion,
or roughly 45 percent, of the city's total education budget of $15.4
billion, the largest local school budget in the country. The
court-ordered increase would be on top of this, but the ruling left
open the possibility that the state would press the city to contribute
to the added financing.
The decision on Monday also vacated lower courts' rulings mandating
more than $9 billion in capital aid for new schools, libraries and
other amenities, saying that the state had met its obligation last
spring by authorizing $11.1 billion for the city's schools.
School
enrollment projections: Estimate is off by just nine kids
WESTON FORUM
by TERRY CASTELLANO
Oct 25, 2006
With 2,575 students attending the Weston Public Schools this year, the
New England School Development Council (NESDEC) underestimated the
total actual enrollment by nine students. This is a less than a
half-percent variance, noted Arvid Anderson, the school district’s
human resources director, during his presentation to the school board
this past Monday.
“This is the third consecutive year that NESDEC’s projections have been
at or under 1% of actual (enrollment), which is helpful in relying on
future enrollment forecasts,” Mr. Anderson said.
Nineteen students more than were projected entered Hurlbutt Elementary
School this year, for a total enrollment of 604 children.
The major increase occurred in kindergarten, with the district
enrolling 17 students more than projected, necessitating the addition
of one section of kindergarten. Hurlbutt is a pre-kindergarten through
grade two school; however, the enrollment figures do not include the
pre-kindergarten program.
The pre-kindergarten program has an enrollment of 36 students, seven
more children than projected. Of these, 17 students are non-special
education tuition paying students.
The intermediate school saw a drop in enrollment versus projection with
570 students, grades three through five, compared to NESDEC’s
projection of 584 students.
At the middle school, which houses grades six through eight, 600
students are enrolled. NESDEC had projected 603.
Seven students more than the projection are now attending Weston High
School for a total of 801 students. NESDEC had projected 794.
Enrollment projections, which are developed annually, provide the
school district with data for program and budget planning as well as
future staffing.
NESDEC takes the following factors into consideration when making
enrollment projections: migration, in or out of the schools; retention
in the same grade; drop outs and transfers; births and deaths; new
house construction; and economic conditions.
Projections for 2007-08
NESDEC projects a decrease in student enrollment for the 2007-08 year.
NESDEC’s forecast is for 2,527 students to attend Weston schools next
fall, which would be a decrease of 48 students when compared to this
year’s enrollment.
Much of this expected decrease can be attributed to a projected drop in
the kindergarten population.
Mr. Anderson noted in his report that the “in-migration/growth rate”
between the year of birth and kindergarten eligibility five years later
has been on a general decline for the past 10 years with the exception
of this present school year.
Hurlbutt is projected to have a decrease in enrollment by 61 students.
The middle school also expects to see a decrease in enrollment when
compared to the present school year; 21 fewer students are expected to
pass through the doors of the middle school in the fall of 2007.
However, NESDEC projects an increase of 17 students at the intermediate
school and 17 more at the high school.
Monitoring kindergarten
Cautioning the board that the kindergarten enrollment must be carefully
monitored, particularly in light of low birth rate reports for the
years 2002 and 2003, Mr. Anderson said the district will be undertaking
the following steps to help ensure as accurate a kindergarten
projection as possible:
• Conduct a district survey of parents of
kindergarten students to determine factors that played a role in the
large increase in the 2006-07 kindergarten enrollment
• Launch an earlier pre-registration for kindergarten
to help with planning the number of sections needed for the fall of 2007
• Continue to work closely with NESDEC to identify
strategies and methods to identify more accurately three- to
five-year-old children who may have moved into the community
• Schedule the process of contacting all area
pre-school programs to obtain an earlier update on the number and ages
of children enrolled in these programs
Board member Dick Bochinski asked if the decrease in birth rate during
2002 and 2003 is seen nationally or an anomaly to Weston.
“Weston seems to be the only area town to be showing a depressed birth
rate,” Mr. Anderson said.
“It is a challenge when trying to determine how many families are
moving to Weston between the birth of a child and (the child’s)
entrance into school,” Lynne Pierson, superintendent of schools, said
as she reflected on the difficulty of accurately projecting
kindergarten enrollment.
Mr. Anderson will present an updated enrollment report, reflecting
additional data and information, at the Nov. 20 school board meeting.
Vouchers
coming around again?
On another subject...
New Leb to adjust racial balance
Greenwich TIME
By Keach Hagey, Staff Writer
Published October 17 2006
New Lebanon's School's minority population has increased so much that
the school will be cited for racial imbalance by the state Department
of Education, according to a school district report.
"There has been a gradual shift in the demographics and enrollment of
the students here, so it's not a surprise," Principal Gene Nyitray
said. "We have a significantly larger Spanish-speaking population, but
we take that as a given, and we make our best efforts to involve
parents, educate parents."
State law prohibits any school from having a minority population that
is 25 percentage points above or below the district average. A recent
report of enrollment figures measured on Oct. 1 revealed the district
had several schools either out of compliance or approaching imbalance
and said the district expected a citation from the state.
According to enrollment figures measured Oct. 1, New Lebanon School's
population is 43 percent Hispanic, 6 percent Asian and 4 percent black.
Its 53 percent minority population is 29 percentage points above the
district's average of 24 percent.
Hamilton Avenue Magnet School, which is 59 percent minority, according
to the Oct. 1 data, also will be cited by the state, as it has been in
previous years. Old Greenwich and Julian Curtiss Schools will be cited
for having impending racial imbalances, meaning they have minority
populations that are 15 percentage points off the district average,
according to the report.
If a school violates the state statute, the district is required to
file plans with the state that explain how the district plans to come
into compliance. In Hamilton Avenue school's case, those plans involved
the development of a magnet program to attract students from throughout
the district.
After it was cited by the state in 2001, the district filed plans with
the state stating its intention to turn the school into a magnet
school. During the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years, some progress was
made toward reducing its racial imbalance, but it never reached the
state's goals for racial balance.
Facilities issues at the school have temporarily curtailed the magnet
program, but committees are now working on developing a revamped magnet
program that will attract students from around the district with
special programs when the school opens its renovated doors in the fall
of 2007.
Now officials are beginning to consider a similar solution for New
Lebanon School, although they say it is too early to say just how they
plan to solve the racial imbalance problem.
"In order to get people to move around, you need some draw," Board of
Education Chairman Colleen Giambo said. "We would like to address it in
that way, as we did at Hamilton Avenue School."
However, New Lebanon School may present some unique challenges, she
said, because the school building, which now holds 225 students, may be
too small to accommodate enough extra students to bring the school into
balance.
"It's possible that we need to attract both ways," she said, meaning
attracting minority students out of Hamilton Avenue to other Greenwich
public schools and draw non-minority students into the school.
While New Lebanon, Hamilton Avenue and Julian Curtiss appeared on lists
because they had more minority students than the district average, Old
Greenwich appeared on the list because it had too few.
The school is 95 percent white, making it 19 percentage points below
the district average.
Father
Gets Probation In Coach Assault Case
Courant Staff Reports
5:20 PM EDT, September 20, 2006
MERIDEN -- A 16-month ordeal came to an end Wednesday when Mark Picard,
48, of North Branford avoided jail time when he was given a five-year
suspended sentence and five years probation for the May 2005 attack of
his daughter's softball coach with a bat.
Picard received his sentence from Judge Nicola Rubinow as the victim,
John Crovo, watched. Crovo had asked, through his attorney, that Picard
not receive jail time.
Picard assaulted Crovo, then softball coach at Sacred Heart Academy in
Hamden, after Crovo had suspended Picard's daughter for three games
after she missed a game to attend a prom.
Picard, a former art teacher at Notre Dame High School in West Haven,
attacked Crovo at a May 17, 2005 practice, hitting him several times
with a bat. He then called police and admitted he had attacked the
coach.
Over the next five years Picard must serve 750 hours of community
service and adhere to a number of conditions, including not attending
any sporting event for the next five years.
Weston experience here...
Panel looks at sports
complex idea
TONY SPINELLI tspinelli@ctpost.com
Article created: 09/05/2006 04:43:56 AM EDT
REDDING — The Region 9 Board of Education is impaneling a special
committee to scrutinize the concept for a sports stadium complex at
Joel Barlow High School.The ad hoc committee will include a member of
Falcon Pride, the private nonprofit group proposing to raise the $3
million to build the twin-field complex. A member of Barlow Neighbors,
the opposition group that presented a petition with 260 signatures at a
board meeting last week, will also participate.
The group will include board members and representatives from Redding
and Easton as well. Region 9 serves students of Redding and Easton.
The objective is to finish the study within six weeks, said Region 9
Supt. of Schools Allen Fossbender.
The study is needed because there are impassioned arguments for and
against building a new athletic facility at Barlow.
The group wants to build the facility because the school board has
financial constraints that would delay such improvements for years, if
the board were to try to pay for the project itself. But some Barlow
parents want students to have an updated facility as soon as possible.
Julia Pemberton, the Region 9 board chairwoman, could not be reached
for comment Friday, but had said earlier in the week the board needs
more time to discuss the proposal.
The board owns the land so it must agree to be the applicant for the
project when reviewed by land-use boards.
Opponents view the study as an opportunity to have their views heard,
and perhaps achieve a compromise.
"Instead of the single vision Falcon Pride had proposed, we are hoping
that using the needs of the school as a basis that we can emerge from
the committee after a few weeks with a new plan that is amenable to all
of us," said Susanne Krivit, co-founder of the neighbors' group, in a
prepared statement.
The neighbors hope to offer a compromise before the issue reaches the
zoning, planning and conservation board levels, Krivit said.
"We want to get this done in six weeks," said Jay Contessa, president
of Falcon Pride. "We don't want it to stall."
The group proposes a lighted competition field for football and soccer
with bleachers to accommodate 1,600 people and a press box, plus an
adjoining all-purpose field.
There would be no cost to taxpayers, according to the project's
boosters.
Barlow athletic officials support the concept because they say the high
school's fields are aging and in disrepair.
WESTON HIGH SCHOOL
HAS ONE OF 9 IN CT...238 IN THE USA!
A Few Students Get The SAT Just Right
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
August 30, 2006
A new writing test on the SAT college entrance exam made the exam
longer and, some believe, more difficult, but that didn't stop
Connecticut high school graduates from posting strong writing scores in
results released Tuesday.
An elite few, such as Tiffany Yuh, were letter-perfect.
The New Milford High School graduate was one of only nine students in
Connecticut and 238 throughout the nation to score 2400 on the SAT,
getting perfect 800s on the math and reading portions of the test and
on the newly added writing section, which includes an essay.
Nationwide, there were less than one-fourth the number of perfect
scores this year, compared with a year ago, when the SAT included only
the reading and math sections, and 1600 constituted a perfect mark.
Nearly 1.5 million students took the test this year, and overall they
recorded the sharpest one-year scoring decline in three decades, making
Yuh's accomplishment even more notable.
"I just couldn't believe it," Yuh, 17, said Tuesday from the campus of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is a freshman. The
test "wasn't too hard, but I didn't expect to get a 2400, that's for
sure."
Yuh got the perfect score after compiling a sparkling record at New
Milford High, where educators described her as a soft-spoken,
hardworking student with an exceptional talent in mathematics. After
taking her high school's most advanced mathematics course, she enrolled
in a graduate level statistics class at Western Connecticut State
University.
"I used to grade her paper first to find any mistakes in my answer
key," said David Shaffer, Yuh's calculus teacher and head of the math
department at New Milford High.
"Her work ethic is unbelievable," he said. But, he added, she was
involved in much more than just academics.
Yuh, who was her class valedictorian, also tutored others in Chinese,
played in various musical groups and volunteered at a local hospital,
Shaffer said.
Yuh chose MIT but also was accepted by colleges such as Dartmouth,
Cornell and Brandeis. She has not decided on a career but is thinking
about medical school. "Since I was young, my parents have encouraged me
to do well in school," she said. "That really instilled the motivation
in me to really work hard."
Throughout the nation, 8,862 students got perfect scores on the reading
portion of the SAT and 8,057 were perfect on the math portion, but a
much smaller number, 4,102, got perfect scores on the new writing
portion, according to the College Board, which produces the test.
The writing test - which includes a series of multiple-choice questions
on standard English usage, structure and organization - is the first
major change in the SAT in more than a decade.
Among states in which more than half of graduating seniors took the
test, Connecticut had the highest writing score, averaging 511, 14
points higher than the national average. In part, that might be the
result of students' familiarity with timed writing exams, which have
been part of the annual Connecticut Mastery Test for many years.
"We have had long and consistent experience teaching high-quality
writing. ... It's one of the national areas we're leading in," said
acting state Education Commissioner George A. Coleman.
Connecticut students, however, posted a 1-point decline in mathematics
and a 5-point drop in critical reading since last year. State averages
were 512 in reading and 516 in math. U.S. students had a similar
5-point decline in reading, dropping to 503, and fell 2 points in math
to 518.
Connecticut had the third-highest participation rate in the nation,
with 84 percent of high school seniors taking the SAT, compared with a
48 percent average nationwide. Generally, higher participation rates
result in lower scores.
Although Connecticut's scores have risen in the past decade, Coleman
said, "I'm particularly concerned when I see the curve going the wrong
way, even if it's just for one year."
He said he is frustrated by the chronic gaps that show black and
Hispanic students trailing white and Asian students by large margins.
Coleman praised the handful of students with perfect scores, including
six from public schools. In addition to Yuh, the other public school
top scorers came from Cheshire, East Lyme, Granby, Weston and Wilton,
Coleman said. "I'm very impressed with them," he said.
The latest SAT results come several months after numerous colleges
reported surprisingly low scores on the exam for this year's incoming
freshmen.
The College Board said that the scores declined partly because some
students took the new, longer test only once instead of twice.
Although Yuh had no trouble with the SAT, she described it as "really
long" and said it is possible that the length of the test had something
to do with the overall decline in scores.
"It's easy to get kind of tired and lose your concentration," she said.
College Board officials, however, insisted that fatigue did not
contribute to the lower scores even though the new test runs about
three hours and 45 minutes. Others, however, said that the test's
length was a factor.
"The kids found the test such an excruciating marathon that they didn't
want to take it again," said Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, a
Massachusetts-based watchdog organization that is critical of
standardized tests such as the SAT.
"Everything we've heard anecdotally ... has students reporting they are
drained by the test," he said.
Education Chief
Greenwich-Bound; After Spotlighting Needs Of Poorest
Students, Sternberg Expected To Take Post In One Of State's Wealthiest
Towns
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
June 13, 2006
State Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg, who has made the
state's poorest schoolchildren a priority in her administration, is
expected to be named today as superintendent of one of Connecticut's
wealthiest school systems.
The Greenwich Board of Education is scheduled to vote this morning to
pick a new superintendent, and Sternberg told members of the State
Board of Education in a closed meeting last week that she will take the
job.
Her resignation after less than three years as commissioner comes as a
surprise. Sternberg is a veteran administrator who rose through the
ranks of the state bureaucracy to become the first woman to hold
Connecticut's top education job.
Sternberg did not return repeated phone calls Monday.
Virginia Gwynn, a member of the Greenwich Board of Education and head
of a search committee for a new superintendent, would not comment
Monday, saying only that the board is scheduled to vote and make an
announcement today.
Sternberg would replace Larry Leverett, who has announced he will step
down June 30.
Among Sternberg's biggest challenges as commissioner has been the
chronic achievement gap for low-income and minority children, a problem
far more acute in urban centers such as Hartford or Bridgeport than in
Greenwich.
According to state figures, slightly less than 8 percent of Greenwich's
student body qualifies as low-income. The largest minority groups
include Hispanics, accounting for 12 percent of the 9,100-student
district; Asian Americans, 8 percent; and blacks, 3 percent.
Of Connecticut's 166 school districts, Greenwich ranked fourth in
financing its schools, spending $14,431 per pupil last year, compared
with the state average of $10,677. Its test results on annual state
tests are well above the state average but not as high as those in
several other affluent school systems. About three-fourths of the
town's fourth-graders, for example, met the state goal in reading last
year on the Connecticut Mastery Test, ranking behind 18 other districts.
Sternberg, 56, became education commissioner in 2003 after working for
more than two decades in the state education department as a key player
in some of the state's major school reforms.
She was a controversial choice for the job when the State Board of
Education, in an unusual split vote, appointed her even though she had
no experience as a principal or superintendent. At the time, some board
members openly questioned whether the soft-spoken, behind-the-scenes
bureaucrat could handle the politics and high visibility of the
commissioner's job.
Sternberg, however, soon gained attention in a standoff with the U.S.
Department of Education over the federal school reform law known as the
No Child Left Behind Act.
She emerged as one of the nation's most outspoken critics of the law,
taking issue with its heavy emphasis on testing and questioning its
methods for measuring groups such as special education students and
non-English-speaking children.
Frustrated by a failure to get waivers from the federal government on
the law's requirements for a broad expansion of testing, she supported
a lawsuit filed last year by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
challenging the federal act.
She engaged in a high-profile spat last year with U.S. Education
Secretary Margaret Spellings over No Child Left Behind. When Spellings
suggested Connecticut doesn't expect success from urban black
schoolchildren and characterized that attitude as "un-American" and the
"soft bigotry of low expectations," Sternberg demanded an apology.
She never got the apology, but she did wind up in the spotlight,
appearing in television interviews, newspaper commentaries and other
public appearances to criticize the federal law.
Aside from taking on the No Child Left Behind controversy, Sternberg
has called for efforts to bolster preschool education, reform high
schools, revamp the state's technical high schools and close an
achievement gap between poor and middle-class children that remains
among the largest in the nation. She has also had to confront a decline
in fourth-grade reading results on state and national tests.
Easton votes down budget hike.
Officials to cut proposal after narrow defeat
VIN MORAN vmoran@ctpost.com
Article created: 05/03/2006 04:30:24 AM EDT
EASTON — Town officials must begin the budget process anew after voters
rejected a proposed $35.5 million spending plan in a referendum Tuesday
that failed by 19 votes. The low, 30 percent voter turnout and
razor-thin margin of defeat, 960-941, frustrated town officials, who
have to go back and find reductions without cutting too deeply.
"We are going to have to put an adjusted package together," Board of
Finance Chairman Andy Kachele said.
If approved, the $35.5 million budget would have raised property taxes
6.61 percent, from 25.12 mills to 26.75 mills. A mill is equal to $1
for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value. Bud Jennings said he
voted against the spending proposal because property taxes are already
too high and the town could stand additional cuts.
"I really think they have a lot of room to play with," he said.
Jennings added that further mill rate increases could force longtime
residents to move. "We're being driven out by taxes," he said.
On the other side of the fiscal divide, Parent-Teacher Association
member Robin Pantalena disagreed with Jenning's financial forecast,
saying Easton couldn't afford to skimp on education. "I don't believe
there is a lot of fat in this budget," she said, adding that Easton
residents would feel the loss of services to the schools and town if
the proposal gets cut further.
In a separate ballot question, Easton taxpayers voted 955-876 to reject
the $17.7 million budget requested by the Region 9 Board of Education
to run Joel Barlow High School, which it shares with Redding. However,
the Region 9 budget was approved Tuesday when Redding residents
supported it overwhelmingly, 927-689, helping to pass the proposal by a
vote of 1,803-1,644.
Despite Tuesday's victory for the Region 9 budget, the troubled school
district is not out of danger.
Region 9 officials are seeking another $1.3 million from district
voters in a May 23 referendum to pay construction and legal bills
pending from the problems that plagued the project over five years.
The project has gone through four referendums, and the cost has
skyrocketed to nearly $39 million with the latest request.
With the Region 9 budget passing Tuesday, education officials think the
district may be willing to move on and approve the $1.3 million funding
request.
"I think all residents in both towns are ready to put this project
behind us," Region 9 Board of Education Vice Chairman Paul Coppinger
said. "And we are close."
The Board of Finance will discuss further cuts to the budget when it
meets tonight at 7:30 at Helen Keller Middle School. The finance
board's recommendations will then be forwarded to the Board of
Selectman, which is scheduled to meet Thursday at a time and place to
be determined.
The selectmen are required to set up a town meeting for residents'
input before setting a new referendum date.
State tries new school measure; Performance check to be removed
from economic considerations
LINDA CONNER LAMBECK lclambeck@ctpost.com
Article created: 04/08/2006 4:42 AM EDT
HARTFORD — Four months after the state Board of Education dropped ERGs
from its vocabulary, it has a new way to compare school districts: DRGs.
The state's 166 school districts are being reshuffled into district
reference groups based on demographic information, similar to the way
economic reference groups were categorized under the discarded
system. However, the state will no longer measure districts'
performance directly against others in their reference groups; instead,
the benchmarks will be the state average and the best- and
worst-performing districts.
The move comes after officials in some districts complained that the
basis for determining ERGs was flawed, and the system forced them to
pit their schools' performance against other districts within their
groups. Supt. Allen Fossbender, in charge of the Easton, Redding
and Region 9 school districts, said the state's decision this week to
create district reference groups that disassociate themselves with
academic performance comparisons is a positive step.
"I'm delighted," he said.
Under the new system, Redding and Region 9 will remain with Easton in
the top reference group. Reference groups were introduced 16
years ago as a way to compare districts of similar economic
composition. They are grouped based on income, education, occupations,
poverty, single-parent families and non-English-speaking families. The
state and others use the categories in doling out grant money and
comparing everything from preschool slots to school computers.
Under the ERG system, there were nine groups. ERG A represented the
wealthiest; ERG I the poorest.
Last year, state officials set about reshuffling ERGs based on the 2000
census. Officials in 23 districts weren't happy with the proposed
realignment — especially districts that would have slipped in the
rankings. They blamed inflated housing prices —
particularly in lower Fairfield County — for skewing the formula.
So the board decided in January to scrap ERGs.
Commissioner of Education Betty J. Sternberg agreed the groupings
shouldn't be used to limit expectations of students. It should be
expected that all students do well, not just as well as students in the
same economic group, she added. Yet Sternberg returned to the
board this month with a list of other reasons why grouping like
districts was important.
"It really has permeated our state as a way of reporting information
about the education, health and well-being of children," she said. "As
district reference groups, it will not be about performance."
As such, Connecticut Mastery Test scores and Strategic School Profiles
will no longer compare scores to the reference group average. Instead,
Sternberg said they would be compared to the state average and a high
and low score range. Fossbender said that's a good thing. "Nine
ERG's meant nine expectations. Student performance was related to
relative affluence. That, in my opinion, was poor public policy," he
said.
He is also happy that under DRGs, Redding and Region 9 will remain in
the top category. With data provided to the state in February, the
district successfully argued that DRG A was the appropriate
classification for the two districts, Sternberg said.
Man pleads not guilty to assaulting girl he met on Internet
Norwalk HOUR
Associated Press
April 9, 2006
BRIDGEPORT — A Pennsylvania man has pleaded not guilty to traveling
across state lines to have sexual contact with a 14-year-old
Connecticut girl he met through the social networking site
MySpace.com. Stephen Letavec, 39, of Elrama, Pa., entered the
tearful plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, the
Connecticut Post reported.
His wife and two children traveled nine hours from Pennsylvania, but
Magistrate Judge William Garfinkel granted a prosecution request to
delay a bond hearing.
"This is a very, very difficult case for release," Garfinkel said.
Letavec has been held without bond since he was arrested in
Pennsylvania in February. He's accused of molesting an Oxford
girl in his car. The FBI said Letavec made several visits to see the
girl between last summer and January.
"I showed you what love is and how it feels," Letavec wrote in an
e-mail found in the girl's school locker, according to the FBI report.
"I want to show you how making love feels too, not just sex because
there is a difference."
The girl signed onto MySpace as an 18-year-old, but told Letavec she
was 14 before he visited, the FBI said. He is charged with one
count of using the Internet to persuade a minor to engage in sexual
activity and three counts of traveling in interstate commerce for the
purpose of attempting to have and having illicit sexual contact with a
minor.
MySpace, a division of NewsCorp., offers a free way for users to meet
any of more than 60 million members. Searching by hometown, alma mater
or interest, old friends can reconnect, musicians and filmmakers can
find audiences and donors can find causes.
But authorities nationwide have expressed concern that the searching
options that make the site popular also put children at risk for abuse.
Police in Middletown are investigating recent reports that as many as
seven local girls were sexually assaulted by men in their 20s who
contacted them through MySpace pretending to be teenagers.
Teens at Risk on Web
Sites, Experts Say
By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
Sun Feb 19, 11:20 PM ET
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - On
MySpace.com, teenagers can find kindred spirits who share their love of
sports, their passion for photography or their crush on a Hollywood
star. They can also find out where their online friends live, where
they attend school, even what they look like.
And so can adults.
Parents, school administrators and police are increasingly worried that
teens are finding trouble online at sites like MySpace, the leader of
the social-networking sites that encourage users to build larger and
larger circles of friends. Police in Middletown, Conn., are
investigating recent reports that as many as seven local girls were
sexually assaulted by men in their 20s who contacted them through
MySpace pretending to be teenagers.
One girl allowed a man into her room while her parents were home,
police said, underscoring just how in the dark parents often are about
one of the most popular Web activities for teens today.
There are other reports like these scattered around the country,
prompting some parents and schools to equate the likes of MySpace with
the Internet's red-light district, even as many experts believe that
the worries are greater than the actual dangers.
Joseph Dooley is among those who has heard it all before. A retired FBI
agent who supervised the agency's first undercover Internet task force
in New England, Dooley remembers when America Online chat rooms were
the rage. Teens posted detailed profiles of themselves and chatted with
any of AOL's subscribers.
Chat rooms soon gave way to services like MySpace, but Dooley said the
rules haven't changed and parents need to become more engaged.
"Let the kids know, on the Internet, you don't know who you're talking
to," Dooley said. "Parents aren't the friends of their kids. Parents
needs to know and observe what their kids are doing."
That can be daunting for working parents. Keeping tabs on the kids used
to mean knowing where they went after school, not whom they talked to
in their bedrooms.
So when they hear of a new fad among teens, their instinct is to
worry. And the horror stories are indeed terrifying.
Last month, for example, 14-year-old Judy Cajuste was found strangled
and naked in a Newark, N.J., garbage bin. Police seized a computer from
her bedroom after friends said she told them of a man in his 20s she
met on MySpace. The death remains unsolved. Beyond the threat of
abduction, bullies who once made the rounds on playgrounds are using
Web logs and home pages to spread rumors and lies faster than the
schoolyard grapevine ever could.
MySpace profiles have been used to threaten classmates and in at least
one case, to mock a school principal.
Many schools have responded by restricting Internet access from school
computers. One private school in Newark, N.J., ordered students to
remove all personal blogs from the Internet, even if accessed from
home, to protect them from online predators. Some parents, like
Ululani Stauffacher of Eureka, Calif., forbid their children from using
MySpace. Stauffacher said her 17-year-old daughter ran off for two days
with a 19-year-old man she met online.
"I was going crazy," Stauffacher said. "I was just hearing things about
MySpace and incidents of girls missing and some don't get returned to
their families. All that I was thinking about was that my daughter was
going to be another statistic."
The concerns aren't limited to MySpace, but the News Corp. unit gets
the attention because of its sheer size — 54 million users, a quarter
of them registered as teens.
MySpace forbids minors 13 and under from joining and provides special
protections for those 14 and 15 — only those on their friends' list can
view their profiles. Nonetheless, kids lie when they sign up, and many
of their profiles carry photos of themselves in suggestive poses, along
with personal information against the site's recommendations.
"They're licking their lips and arching their back for the camera
because they can, and they have no idea of the consequences," said
Parry Aftab, an Internet safety expert. But Aftab said most
MySpace users aren't getting themselves in trouble. Experts say
that banning children from using social-networking sites is akin to
forbidding them from going to the mall or the movie theater for fear
they'll be abducted.
"I wish I could hover over my children 24-7, but the best I can do is
teach them that there are ways to keep themselves safe," said Steve
Jones, a communications professor who studies new media at the
University of Illinois at Chicago.
In a statement, MySpace said it has developed safety tips for parents
and children and devotes scores of employees to monitoring the site
around the clock. The site also has ways for users to report
inappropriate behavior. The company says it removes inappropriate
images and closes accounts that violate its rules. Chris DeWolfe,
MySpace's chief executive, encourages parents to talk to their kids
about Internet safety, but Aftab said many parents ignore advice until
it is too late.
Connecticut Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano, who has strictly
limited the information his 10- and 12-year-old children put on the
Internet, said he was surprised to learn that they had been contacted
by strangers they believed were pedophiles. His kids ignored it, Morano
said, but parents need to closely monitor Internet activity.
"You wouldn't leave your kid on the side of the highway without
supervision," Morano said. "You shouldn't put them on the Internet
highway without the same type of supervision."
Blunder by test's contractor hits 15 students
Greenwich TIME
By Keach Hagey
Published February 18, 2006
Because of a processing error, about 15 Greenwich High School students
received incorrect scores on the state test they must pass to graduate,
the state's education commissioner announced yesterday.
They were among 355 students across the state affected by a processing
error in the reading portion of the 2005 Connecticut Academic
Performance Test, administered to sophomores each spring.
Harcourt, the Orlando, Fla.-based contractor that administers the CAPT
for the state, reported that members of its staff used incorrect data
files to generate reports and thus reported incorrect scores for the
students.
"This situation is inexcusable," State Education Commis-sioner Betty
Sternberg said. "I have directed that Harcourt be fined the maximum
amount allowable under our contract."
State education officials are imposing an $80,000 fine on Harcourt. The
fine is the maximum allowed under the state's contract with Harcourt
Assess-ment Inc., which will be replaced after administering the 2006
CAPT starting March 1.
Terry Turner, a Harcourt senior vice president, said in a letter to
Sternberg that the company takes full responsibility for the errors and
has added safeguards to prevent similar problems with the 2006
tests. The company also assured Connecticut officials that it has
verified the scores for all students in the math, science and writing
portions of the test, state officials said yesterday.
Of the 355 students whose reading scores were reported incorrectly, 130
will see their proficiency levels changed, with 110 moving into higher
performance brackets. Twenty students dropped into lower proficiency
brackets, and the remaining 225 students were unaffected.
There are five performance levels reported for CAPT: Below basic,
proficient, goal and advanced. Of the GHS students affected, only three
changed from one level to another, going from proficient to goal,
according to John Curtin, assistant superintendent for curriculum,
research and evaluation. None of the errors affected the student's
graduation qualifications, he said.
"We will go back and amend our record and make corrections in our
database," he said.
CAPT scores were first reported last summer. Harcourt has taken full
responsibility for the error, according to state officials. The company
is the contractor for the state through 2006.
The mistakes caused some worry among education officials, because they
occurred during a normal testing cycle. Next month, the state will
significantly increase its volume of standardized testing, as it begins
to follow federal No Child Left Behind requirements that students be
tested every year, rather than every other year.
"The concern is, with the extension of that program, a lot of the
vendors that are designing and scoring these tests are dealing with
volumes of tests that they have not experienced before, as the testing
program in essence doubles this spring across the country," Curtin
said. "It's a high-stakes test, and accuracy is so important."
CAPT scores are one component used to determine whether schools and
districts have made adequate yearly progress under NCLB. The
Connecticut Mastery Test is another component, used for elementary and
middle school students. The state's vendor for that test is the Durham,
N.C.-based Measurement Incorporated , which will be the state's vendor
for the CAPT beginning in 2007.
This is the second major testing problem in Connecticut in two years.
Last year, delays and scoring problems on the Connecticut Mastery Test
prompted state officials to cancel a contract with
CTB/McGraw-Hill. Measurement Inc., a North Carolina company hired
to replace CTB/McGraw-Hill in scoring the Mastery Tests, also will
start administering and scoring the CAPT test in 2007. That decision
was made before Harcourt's recent errors were discovered.
About 41,400 students in Connecticut took the CAPT in 2005, and the
scores on about 800 reading tests were changed after a standard
post-scoring review, Harcourt company officials said in a letter to
state education officials. State education officials said the
errors will not affect the districts' annual progress reports for the
federal No Child Left Behind law.
Sternberg said some districts may have to retest some of the 20
students whose scores dropped, if the lower proficiency bracket
jeopardizes their chance to graduate. She also said she is
concerned about the federal government's stepped-up focus on annual
mandatory testing, and whether errors will result from the increased
load on the small number of national academic-testing companies.
"There are a finite number of vendors who are now having to issue and
score exams for every single state in the nation," she said. "In this
coming year, I would not be surprised if many other states see the same
situations arising with their tests."
The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law mandates that, by next
year, public school children in grades three to eight nationwide must
be tested annually, and high school students must be tested at least
once.
The Connecticut Academic Performance Test already is administered each
year to all high school sophomores in the state's public schools. A
small number of juniors also take the test, usually if they need to
improve their scores to meet their district's graduation requirements.
School districts use the results to track the progress of individual
students and also to assess whether the schools are meeting state and
federal performance goals, including compliance with the federal No
Child Left Behind Act.
The test is separate from the Connecticut Mastery Test, exams given
each year to students in 4th, 6th and 8th grades to test their
proficiency in reading, writing and math.
CHECK OUT LWV OF WESTON "SPEAK UP 2006" HERE...
Perez
May Step Into Sheff Case; Says Neighborhood Schools Key To
Equality
By EDMUND H. MAHONY, Courant Staff Writer
January 29, 2006
Mayor Eddie A. Perez said Saturday he might expand the city's role in
trying to reduce inequalities between Hartford's school system and
those in the suburbs, perhaps by intervening in the landmark Sheff vs.
O'Neill school desegregation case.
"It may have been a mistake for the city to sit on the sideline while
the state and the plaintiffs worked out an agreement," Perez said. "I
certainly am not someone who will sit on the sideline."
In an interview after a three-hour meeting of the Sheff Movement at
city hall, Perez said he was considering an attempt to become a party
in the case.
The Sheff Movement is committed to ameliorating racial, financial and
learning inequalities between urban school systems such as Hartford's
and those in wealthier suburban and rural towns.
Although there was discussion about school reform in New Haven and
Bridgeport, the movement's meeting Saturday focused on Hartford, ground
zero in the landmark 1989 lawsuit. Hartford City Councilwoman Elizabeth
Horton Sheff - mother of Milo Sheff, the lead plaintiff in the
desegregation suit - was one of the organizers of the meeting, which
she said was called to keep educational reformers focused on the suit's
goals.
Horton Sheff said the United States is becoming a nation "of color,"
and unless there is an equalization of educational opportunity "we will
become in effect the new old South Africa."
"What is at stake is the future of our nation," Horton Sheff said.
Martha Stone of the Center for Children's Advocacy and one of the
plaintiff's lawyers in the suit, told the gathering that a legal
milestone in the Sheff litigation is approaching in 2007 and the
plaintiffs will have to think about the improvements they hope to force
the state to finance in coming years.
She said the plaintiffs are now in the third year of a four-year
agreement with the state to improve educational opportunities for
Hartford public school students. Stone and other speakers said many of
those new opportunities negotiated in the agreement with the state
involve the establishment of themed magnet schools. Stone called
progress on the agreement "frustrating."
The Sheff agreement calls for Hartford to open two new magnet schools a
year, each with a racially integrated student body of about 600
students. Under the agreement, the city is supposed to have eight new
magnet schools and enroll at least 30 percent of its schoolchildren in
integrated magnet schools or in suburban schools under a parental
choice program by 2007.
But Stone said that in year three of the agreement, Hartford's magnet
schools have achieved slightly less than half the target student body
figure. What's more, comments by other speakers - supported by research
- show that Hartford magnet schools are not meeting goals in attracting
white students.
Stone said the Sheff plaintiffs are now talking with state educators
about how to pursue the suit's educational goals when the four-year
legal agreement expires.
Perez said he wants to focus on "quality" at existing city neighborhood
schools as well as continuing to augment the school system with magnet
schools. Parents of school-aged Hartford children, as well as
educators, said there is intense competition among minority children in
Hartford for places at integrated magnet schools. Lotteries typically
determine who gets to enroll.
"There is no way that we ought to continue to promote magnet schools
when you are walking by a neighborhood school," Perez said.
Horton Sheff said negotiations between Sheff plaintiffs and the state
have moved the city toward magnet schools. But she said the goal of the
suit has always been to provide equitable educational opportunities -
not solely through magnet schools - to the children of poor Hartford
families.
After the meeting, Perez, who recently orchestrated his appointment as
chairman of the Hartford Board of Education, said he will become more
aggressive in trying to make Hartford children's education as good as
their suburban counterparts'.
He said he is considering another attack on the state's educational
funding formula, as well as efforts to regionalize school funding.
"I'm not going to wait for the state and the Sheff plaintiffs to come
up with a solution and then say, `OK, Mr. Mayor. Now you go and figure
it out,'" Perez said.
Other speakers sounded as frustrated.
Sam Saylor, a member of the president's council of the Hartford Parent
Teacher Organization, said Hartford parents should be allowed to enroll
their children in wealthy and predominantly white suburban towns such
as Avon and West Hartford. He compared his experience with black
families in Little Rock, Ark., who tried to enroll children in
cross-city white schools in the period leading to the U.S. Supreme
Court's desegregation decision in Brown vs. Board of Education.
"Our children, like children of 50 years ago, have a right to cross the
boundary, to cross the color line," Saylor said.
Lawsuit Seeks More State Funds For
Schools; Coalition
calls for change in current funding system
By DAN PEARSON
Day Staff
Writer, Education Reporter
Published on 11/23/2005
Hartford - A broad coalition of Connecticut towns and
cities sued the state Tuesday, claiming it violates its constitution by
failing to provide adequate educational resources.
The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding
wants to force the state to replace its current education funding
system with one that would make schools less dependent on local
property taxes.
If successful, the suit could cost the state an additional
$2.1 billion a year, more than doubling its current annual contribution
of $1.6 billion to public education.
"This is a response to the annual season of diatribe and
division, when municipal budgets are crafted, which is too often a time
of negativity and mean-spirited finger-waving when it comes to the
well-being of children," said New London Superintendent Christopher
Clouet, a coalition member.
"Too often, folds with legitmate grievances regarding the
burden of local property taxes on their family, or business, or
budgets, take aim at schools and children,” Clouet said. “Maligning
schools and bad-mouthing kids does not solve the problem of inadequate
funding.”
Joining a growing number of groups nationwide that are filing
“adequacy” suits, the coalition filed CCJEF V. Rell in Hartford
Superior Court. The suit names as plaintiffs 15 students and their
families from diverse communities. The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services
Organization at Yale University Law School will represent the
plaintiffs.
Adequacy lawsuits date back to the 1977 Connecticut State
Supreme Court ruling in Horton v. Meskill, which found that public
education is a state responsibility; children have an equal right to
education; and a system that relies on local property tax without
regard to varying municipal wealth is unconstitutional. Twenty-three
adequacy suits have been filed nationwide.
The state's current system, the Education Cost Sharing Grant
(ECS), grew out of this ruling. The suit claims ECS fails to enable
students to meet the state's and federal government's learning
standards and sets children up for “economic, social and intellectual
failure.” The suit also claims a disproportionate impact on minority
students.
The state's contribution to school funding through ECS has
decreased from 46 percent in 1989 to 38 percent in 2003-04, forcing
towns' increasingly to rely on property taxes to fund education.
This year ECS will total $1.6 billion, with a base rate, or
“foundation” amount, per student of $6,068. If funded as originally
devised, the ECS foundation level would be $9,560. The difference
between that and what it does provide is about $780 million a year.
The coalition wants to replace ECS with a system based on
calculating what it costs to ensure that any student under any
circumstances could meet state and federal performance levels,
particularly those required by the No Child Left Behind law.
Maria Santiago of New London is a plaintiff in the case along
with her daughter, Carimarie Colon, 6, a student at Edgerton Elementary
School. Santiago, who formerly taught in Pueto Rico, now teaches at
Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School. She said she has seen how annual
budget cuts have reduced art, music and technology offerings, increased
class sizes, and eliminated or threatened programs essential to
teaching English.
Santiage said she was compelled to advocate for the growing
immigrant population, particularly in cities. She noted that the
federal No Child Left Behind law subjects new arrivals, just learning
English, to take standardized tests in English. At the same time, the
under-funding of state and federal mandates forces districts to cut
language programs.
As an example, she cited Edgerton's dual-language preschool
program, which introduces 3- and 4-year-olds to English. The program
was cut earlier this year, but restored after parents and educators
said it was integral in preparing students for testing under NCLB.
"(NCLB) requires increasing proficiency on exams, so they are
demanding more and more, but every year they are cutting more and more
from the budget," she said. "It's crazy. What are they going to do?
Close the district? It just doesn't make sense. We have to do
something."
Coalition members called on Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Tuesday to
acknowledge that ECS is unconstitutional, refuse to fight the lawsuit
and agree to work with them on a new system.
Rell said the "best approach" to study school funding resides
in the bipartisan Commission on Education Finance she recently formed.
"I hope this lawsuit does not become a distraction to the
important work of this commission. The governor and General Assembly
are in the best position to address ECS issues, not judges," she said.
"It's premature to talk about an absolute dollar amount for funding,
and the best way to distribute those funds to cities and towns. That is
precisely what the commission will examine."
Rober Solomon, director of the Education Adequacy Clinic at
Yale Law School and CCJEF legal counsel, said Tuesday the coalition can
show legislators how to craft a new system because of the coalition's
recent "adequacy studies." Released this spring and summer, the studies
established new foundation figures for adequately educating all
students."
Looking at a district of 4,970 students, for example, the
study established a base cost of $10,037 per pupil, then set standards
for special situations, such as $44,776 for a student who has severe
learning disabilities, such as autism, and $7,005 for a student
requiring English instruction.
The studies found the state would need to pay up to $2.1
billion more annually for 95 percent of students to achieve performance
standards by 2013, a target required by NCLB.
Connecticut has a suit pending against the federal government
over NCLB. The suit says state law makes it illegal for the state to be
required to pay to comply with the unfunded mandates of NCLB.
Hamden Mayor Carl Amento, a coalition member, said the
coalition would not expect the legislature to immediately grant the
entire increase, but would seek it in increments.
"We know we can afford this. It's a question of political
will," said Solomon.
Nekita Carroll-Hall, aparent of two elementary school
stduents in Bridgeport, and a plaintiff in the suit, said legislators
must understand that an increased investment in education is the "key
to a healthy community" with less crime and more economic activity.
State
Education Funding Challenged In Court
Hartford Courant
Associated Press
12:47 PM EST, November 22, 2005
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Connecticut Coalition for Justice
in Education Funding planned to file a lawsuit today charging that
Connecticut has failed to meet its obligations to provide students with
a good public school education. Fifteen students and families
from eight communities are also part of the lawsuit. The
plaintiffs said they want to show state legislators that the suit is
being brought on behalf of students who attend all types of schools,
including large urban, suburban and rural schools.
"There's a huge discrepancy between the idea of a decent education and
the everyday realities that students, parents and teachers face in
Connecticut classrooms," said Rosemary Coyle, president of the state's
largest teachers union, the Connecticut Education Association.
CEA is supporting the lawsuit. The union argues that Connecticut needs
a new school financing system that better matches the amount of state
education funding to the actual cost of educating students.
Plaintiffs in the case planned a noon news conference to discuss the
lawsuit.
The complaint alleges that the state has failed to adequately and
equitably fund public schools, and that has irreparably harmed
schoolchildren. Also, the complaint alleges that inadequate school
funding has disproportionately affected minority students.
Public schools rely on funding from both local property taxes and state
grants, namely the Education Cost Sharing grant. ECS funds are doled
out to cities and towns using a complicated equation that takes into
account poverty, tax bases and other factors.
The formula was created in 1988 after a judge ruled that Connecticut
has a a constitutional obligation to adequately fund public schools.
But the state has been unable to fully fund the grant, forcing school
districts to rely more heavily on local revenues.
ERGs may be obsolete: State school board will
discuss the idea at November meeting
Oct
20, 2005
REDDING PILOT:
Redding, Region 9 and all the other school districts in the state may
all be in the same boat, so to speak, in that none of them would have
an Education Reference Group (ERG) classification.
In a turn of events, the discussion of the proposed reclassification of
school districts in ERGs has been eliminated from the state Board of
Education’s November meeting. Instead, a discussion about whether or
not the concept of ERGs are a practice worth continuing is on the
agenda, said Schools Superintendent Allen Fossbender. The state
education department is working on reclassifying school
districts in ERGs for the first time in 10 years. Among the proposed
changes is moving Redding and Region 9 (Joel Barlow High School, which
serves students from Redding and Easton) from ERG A, the top
classification in the state, to ERG B.
However, Easton is not being considered for reclassification. Redding
and Easton’s K-8 schools are in separate districts, but they, along
with Region 9, share administrators, including the
superintendent.
The state department’s proposed changes in ERG A, which also include
moving Avon, Simsbury and Woodbridge out of ERG A and into ERG B, also
remain. If the changes were adopted, it would leave seven schools in
ERG A — Darien, Easton, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and
Wilton.
Building a case
When Dr. Fossbender learned of the possible reclassification of the
Redding and Region 9 school districts from ERG A to ERG B, he built his
case for the districts to remain in ERG A. At last week’s Redding
school board meeting, Dr. Fossbender announced the districts’ appeal
had been denied by the state, and the recommendation of moving both
Redding and Region 9 to ERG B is moving forward.
First Selectman Natalie Ketcham said she is in the process of asking
state legislators to intervene in this issue. The driving force
for the possible change may be based on the
socioeconomic component of the formula, which takes into account the
median family income of parents of students enrolled in the school
districts, not the income of all people in Redding.
According to the state education department, the median family income
for parents of students enrolled in the Redding school district is
$110,376, and $120,375 for parents of students enrolled in the Region 9
district. For Easton, it is $163,072, and neighboring towns in ERG A in
Fairfield County, such as Ridgefield ($139,772), Wilton ($169,201), and
Weston ($186,915) have a higher median family income of parents of
students enrolled in the districts, according to the state education
department’s numbers.
Although the income level sets Redding and Region 9 districts apart
from other ERG A school districts, Dr. Fossbender has said he believes
the difference among high median income, $110,000 and above, doesn’t
warrant different expectations for student performance, especially on
state-mandated criterion reference tests.
“I believe that parents of Redding and Region 9 students can afford,
and do provide, the same education, opportunities and enrichment that
parents even in the wealthiest districts in proposed ERG A provide
their children with,” Dr. Fossbender has previously said.
Besides building a case for not changing Redding’s and Region 9’s ERG
status, he also proposed that the whole concept of ERGs be abolished or
at least reviewed. “I believe it’s an artifact of outdated thinking.
When one considers that in 2013 that all school districts in the nation
must meet the universal standards of performance mandated by the
federal government, the explicit perpetuation of the different
levels of student performance, is, in my opinion, illogical,” Dr.
Fossbender, told The Pilot last week.
Components of an ERG
ERGs were created by the state education department in order to compare
school district data. They were designed to compare groups of districts
that have similar characteristics, and are used in reports to place
district resources and district-level student achievement into
perspective, according to the education department. Because both the
socioeconomic status and needs of people in neighborhoods or schools
within a district may vary significantly, ERGs are used only to compare
data that are aggregated to the district level, according to the
education department.
The formula behind an ERG includes three measures — socioeconomic
status, indicators of need and enrollment. There are nine ERGs, ERG A
being the highest and including the most affluent towns in the state,
through ERG H, which includes the large cities in the state.
There are seven components in the formula to come up with rankings for
towns in ERGs.
The measures of socioeconomic status are median family income,
percentage of children with at least one parent with a bachelor’s
degree or higher, and percentage of children’s parents holding jobs in
executive, managerial or professional occupations.
Indicator of need is another component, which includes three parts;
percentage of children living in families with a single parent or
non-family household, poverty level, and percentage of children
whose families speak a language other than English at home.
Lastly, there is also the size of the district, or student enrollment
to consider.
Using these criteria and weighting each component produces a ranking
that determines which ERG classification a school district will fall
under, said Mr. Goranson.
The current ERG classifications were updated in 1996 when the 1990
Census data was available and analyzed. The department will be using
information from the latest Census in 2000 and additional information
from the school districts.
School Districts Feel Sting Of
B-Status: Soaring Gold Coast Incomes Lower
Some Towns' Rankings
By ROBERT A. FRAHM,
Courant Staff Writer
October 18, 2005
In the upscale suburbs of Avon and
Simsbury,
where public education is a matter of civic pride, schools soon could
lose their status among the state's elite. They were once
mentioned in the same breath with some of the nation's
wealthiest school systems - such as Darien, Westport and New Canaan
along Connecticut's Gold Coast - but schools in Avon, Simsbury and
three other districts are tentatively slated to be dropped one notch in
a state classification.
At issue is a state Department of Education proposal
to reclassify all 169 of Connecticut's public school districts based on
new census and demographic data - placing school districts in nine
separate categories known among educators as Education Reference
Groups, or ERGs. Aside from bragging rights, does it really make
a difference?
Not everyone agrees, but some educators think it does - contending the
standards schools set can be influenced by the company they keep.
The reclassification, the first in nine years, has prompted so many
questions that officials are debating whether to scrap the system
altogether.
"It has raised a lot of angst," said Frances Rabinowitz, an associate
commissioner in the education department.
A draft plan for reshuffling the districts drew appeals from some,
including the five - Avon, Simsbury, Woodbridge, Redding and the Joel
Barlow High School district in Easton - that were removed from the
A-list of the state's most affluent school systems. The chief reason
they were placed on the B-list was that their median family income had
not kept pace with that of the A-list towns.
"It's a hot issue here right now," said James A. Connelly, interim
superintendent in Woodbridge, where the median family income of
$106,506 was well below the median of $175,479 for towns in ERG
A. Though the classification carries no official weight, it
matters,
Connelly said, because educators use it as a gauge to set standards for
everything from school budgets to teacher salaries to student
achievement. Even some real estate agents pay attention to it, he said.
"If we go to [a new classification], the bar is going to be lowered,"
he said. Some believe the debate is largely confined to the
education bureaucracy.
"I hadn't heard of ERG A and ERG B" until recently, said Pam Callahan,
the PTO president and mother of a second-grader at Simsbury's Latimer
Lane School. Callahan's family moved to the area a year ago and "did a
lot of research through our Realtor" but did not discuss the ERG
ratings of various school districts. "We basically compared test scores
and the percentage [of graduates] that went on to college," she said.
The classification system was first used by state officials in 1989 as
a means of comparing student performance on the Connecticut Mastery
Test by placing school systems in categories with other districts of
roughly similar demographic characteristics. At the time,
educators complained it was unfair to compare test scores
of a wealthy district such as Westport with those of high poverty
districts such as Hartford or Bridgeport. Research has shown a strong
link between socioeconomic status and school achievement.
The ERG classifications are based on seven characteristics, including
family income, parents' occupation and education levels, and percentage
of single-parent households. Although the classifications are
used as a guide in interpreting
performance on the Mastery Test, the SAT college entrance exam and
other exams, they also appear to be viewed in some cases as a measure
of status, said
Peter Prowda, a state education department researcher
who is reworking the classification system.
"It has become a substitute for excellence - and it's not," he said.
"It's just a composite measure of the background of kids. ... It's a
good way to put data into perspective."
The numbers are plugged into a formula, but there is room for
subjective judgments in assigning districts to a specific
category. Towns such as West Hartford, Mansfield and Windsor, for
example, defy
easy categorization because they include wide ranges of family income
and structure - from wealthy, two-parent households to poor,
single-parent homes.
Connelly, the Woodbridge superintendent, said his town received a lower
classification even though it is comparable to those on the A-list in
every way except for family income - a factor he says is misleading
because of the high cost of housing in A-list towns, which are part of
the New York housing market.
"Most of the [income] differential is eaten up in housing costs," he
said.
In Simsbury, Superintendent Diane Ullman lost her appeal to remain in
category A but said the district's test scores remain among the highest
in the state. "I don't care what letter is next to our name," she said.
"We know who we're going to compare ourselves to."
Avon officials, too, had appealed to stay on the A-list, but
Superintendent Richard W. Kisiel said he has had a change of heart
about the entire system and that districts can draw conclusions without
it. "I think we should eliminate [it]. I think it's a useless
classification."
Officials at the state education department have postponed a
decision on the new classifications and are debating whether to keep
the system. "The thought bothers me," said Rabinowitz, the
associate commissioner,
"that we could put out anything that could lead to different
[performance] expectations for different kids."
Oxford school over budget;
$2m pool may be removed to bring numbers in line
ANTHONY SPINELLI tspinelli@ctpost.com
Article created: 07/12/2005 04:25:14
AM
OXFORD
— The swimming pool that voters
approved for Oxford High School appears to be pushing the project's
budget
into the deep end.
It would cost roughly $2 million
to build the pool, and that could be better used to help bring the
overgrown
budget back into line, according to Brian Holmes of O&G Industries.
Holmes,
the project's construction
manager, addressed members of the High School Building Committee Monday
night at Town Hall.
"Right
now, cutting out the pool
is the only way to get this project within its budget without going
back
to the voters for more money," Holmes said. He estimated that the
total cost of the project as envisioned more than a year ago is now
$7.9
million higher, including $2 million for the pool and $5.9 million in
amenities
that have already been placed on an alternates list.
The
alternates, such as an industrial
arts class and athletic field fixtures, would only be built if it is
affordable
after construction bids are received. The Board of Education must
prioritize
the running list of alternates by Sept. 12.
The
total $43.9 million project off
Quaker Farms Road — scheduled to break ground in November and open in
September
2007 with features including a 670-seat auditorium — has been hit by
rapidly
rising steel and petroleum-based building materials costs.
Numerous
school projects around the country face the same problem, and some have
gone back to the voters for more money.
Before
that could happen in Oxford,
the school board and building committee must work together to trim the
project as much as possible, said First Selectman August Palmer
III.
It would ultimately be up to the voters in a referendum early next
year,
if need be, to deduct the pool or spend more money.
"We
have to work together," Palmer
said. The prospect of a high school without a swimming pool was
scary
to some committee members and observers at the Town Hall meeting.
"We'd
like to have the pool," Samuelson
said. "We need a high school. If we don't get the pool, we'll still
have
a high school."
Voters
approved a 145,000-square-foot
academic space, with a 10,000-square-foot pool building.
CT DEP Commissioner Gina
McCarthy
New program - "no child left inside" (and if the kids are in
good shape, they won't be left behind, either).
The
great outdoors
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Mark Ginocchio, Staff Writer
Published November 30 2006
STAMFORD - Gina McCarthy believes one way a child may be left behind is
if they're left inside.
Since March, McCarthy, 52, commissioner of the state Department of
Environmental Protection, has spearheaded an initiative called "No
Child Left Inside," geared toward encouraging Connecticut families and
visitors to enjoy the state's outdoor resources like its parks and
forests.
The effort has garnered national attention, especially from neighboring
states looking to start similar programs. It will be the featured
topic when McCarthy addresses SoundWaters members today at their annual
meeting in Stamford.
"Getting children outside again will make them happier and healthier,"
McCarthy said during a telephone interview. "We can try and teach them
about the outdoors."
The meeting is open to the public and will run from 6 to 8 p.m. at the
SoundWaters center in Cove Island Park. Finishing her second year
at the DEP, McCarthy called the effort to get children and families
outdoors an "international challenge." With indoor diversions such as
television, computers and video games on the rise, and state park
attendance on the decline, the need for "No Child Left Inside," has
never been more prevalent, she said.
"Families are not outside as much as they used to be," she said. "There
are a lot of cultural differences . . . and not everyone knows about
our state parks and forests."
McCarthy said she is thrilled to talk about the initiative with
SoundWaters, an organization that educates children about Long Island
Sound, including taking them aboard the SoundWaters schooner.
"SoundWaters is a great organization that does a lot of environmental
education," she said. "It appeals to me because they fit in with our
initiative."
McCarthy also has been active working with other projects that
coordinate with "No Child Left Inside." Earlier this year, the state
launched the "Great Park Pursuit," an eight-week game that took
families to eight state parks. At each location, teams were asked
to complete various activities such as scavenger hunts, hikes and
fishing contests. At the end of each task, families received a clue to
the following week's park or forest.
More than 400 teams and 1,000 people signed up for the event.
The activities help create a society that cares more about the
environment and their health, McCarthy said.
"If we really want people to care about the environment, they have to
be outside to make that connection," she said.
Election
Outcome Leaves Education Officials Optimistic
DAY
By Karin Crompton
Published on 11/12/2006
A day after the election, amid talk of Iraq and future presidential
candidates and congressional change, another buzz was also emerging.
“Dems' victory could be good for schools,” proclaimed a midweek article
from eSchool News online.
The conversation and articles focused on potential changes to the
federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for reauthorization next
year.
But publications like eSchool News also pointed to interest rates on
college loans, work-force preparedness and funding for educational
technology.
Others hoped the federal education department took personally the
so-called message sent to Congress in Tuesday's election.
“I think for public education, it's a positive that this shift has
taken place, and we're certainly hopeful,” said David Larson, executive
director of the Connecticut Association of Public School
Superintendents. “And we hope that the people in the (federal)
education department take note of this, because, frankly, I haven't
seen much coming out of that department that has been helpful to
schools in Connecticut.”
With a new House and Senate, many hope for changes in the No Child Left
Behind law — first in funding and eventually in its
punishment-as-incentive approach.
“President Bush has indicated that he would like to see it reauthorized
before the end of his administration,” said John Yrchik, executive
director of the Connecticut Education Association. “Whether that
happens or not, there will be active discussion and dialogue about how
to properly fix the law right now. So this is a very critical moment
for the shift in power to have occurred.”
Democrats will take over as chairmen of all committees, meaning that
the Education and the Workforce panel, the Subcommittee on 21st Century
Competitiveness, and the Appropriations Committee will have new
leadership.
Many in education feel Democrats will be more responsive to educational
issues.
“I think it was no secret that, as a body, the Republicans were very
conservative,” said David Larson, executive director of the Connecticut
Association of Public School Superintendents. “As a body, the
Republicans felt that they were looking toward vouchers and
privatization of public schools. And consequently, they were not giving
public schools the resources they needed to do the job.
“As a body, a Democratic Congress is going to be much more amenable and
socially conscious with what should be done with education and
providing the funding necessary for funding public education.”
That could be good news, Larson and others said, for Connecticut's
schools — and, by extension, for property tax reform.
Larson offered some figures:
• By law, the federal government is supposed to fund approximately 40
percent of the cost of special education but has never paid for more
than 18 percent. Connecticut alone is entitled to $365 million more per
year, he said.
•Connecticut spent $500 million on special education in 1989-90; by
2003-04, that figure had climbed to $1.2 billion.
• Even with that increase, the state had dropped its own contribution
toward special education funding to 30 percent — and then also closed
the Mansfield and Salisbury training schools, which meant those
students instead went to public schools, with the cost shouldered by
municipalities.
•Connecticut has also lost $13 million in federal Title I funds, Larson
said.
“The administration has reduced the amount it was going to fund
education, and Congress went along with it,” he said.
Those in higher education were also mulling the shift in power this
week.
Their issues include the renewal of the Higher Education Act,
legislation that authorizes the federal government's major student-aid
programs; and how Democratic control would influence the 19-member
Commission on the Future of Higher Education, created in September by
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
An article in InsideHigherEducation.com also questioned what will
happen to a Democratic plan that calls for cutting in half the interest
rates for many student loans; making permanent a tax deduction for
college costs borne by middle-income families; and significant
increases in the maximum amount that can be awarded through the federal
Pell Grants to students.
“The changes would be hugely expensive, estimated as much as $100
billion in total over five years,” the article read, “and it is not at
all clear that the Democratically controlled Congress would be able to
find the discretionary funds to pay for them.”
----------------------------
Potential Impact
- Rep George Miller, D-Calif., a senior member of the House
Committee on
Education and the Workforce, is likely to become chairman of the
Education and the Workforce panel
- Rep Robert Andrews, D-New Jersey, is considered in line to
head the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness
- Rep David Obey, D-Wis., is in line to become chairman of
the
Appropriations Committee. According to InsideHigherEd.com, Obey is “a
staunch advocate for the Pell Grant and other need-based aid”
- Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is expected to lead the
Senate's Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — though Kennedy's effect is
said to be less apparent on this committee, which has already seen
Democrats and Republicans working together
- Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is expected to become chairman of
the Senate
Appropriations subcommittee, which sets funding for the Education
Department and the National Institutes of Health — a move that Inside
Higher Education considers a “wash” because Harkin and Republican Arlen
Specter, whom Harkin would replace, each “strongly support student aid
and biomedical research.”
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expected to become the House
speaker,
pledged to introduce legislation to reduce interest rates on college
loans.
Sources: “Inside Higher Ed”; “eSchool News online”; “Education Week”
State Test Scores
Decline
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, The Hartford Courant
3:03 PM EST, March 2, 2006
Connecticut's opposition to a federal school reform law may be one
reason it is among the only states to report recent declines in reading
and math scores, according to sponsors of a national study released
today.
Most states reported gains between 2003 and 2005 on statewide
elementary and middle school tests under the demands of the federal No
Child Left Behind Act, but Connecticut did not, said a study by
Education Trust. Connecticut was the only state to report a
decline in performance in mathematics at both the elementary and middle
school levels and one of only a handful of states showing declines in
reading.
"They're trying to get out from under the federal law," said Kati
Haycock, director of Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy
group. "That kind of public opposition … is often interpreted by local
educators as permission not to try."
Last summer, Connecticut officials filed a lawsuit against the federal
government, contending that the expansion of testing required under No
Child Left Behind is an unfunded mandate that will cost state and local
taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The case is pending.
The claim that the lawsuit may be linked to a decline in test scores
"is just incorrect," state Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg
said.
"We've had a downhill trend," she said. "We've been concerned about it
and are probing more deeply to try to understand what's happening," she
said. But, she added, "I don't think it's for lack of anybody trying to
work very hard for these kids."
Connecticut lost ground between 2003 and 2005 in the proportion of
fourth-graders deemed proficient in reading and mathematics on the
annual Connecticut Mastery Test. In reading, 79 percent were
judged as proficient or better, and in math 67 percent -- a 2
percentage point decline in each subject. Similar declines
occurred in eighth grade, where 76 percent met the state's proficiency
standard in reading, a 1 percentage point drop, and 75 percent met the
math standard, a 3 point drop.
Several states were excluded from the Education Trust's analysis
because of incomplete or unavailable data.
In states where data could be analyzed, nearly all showed progress, and
several states posted large gains. In elementary school reading, for
example, the proportion of students meeting proficiency standards grew
by 10 percentage points or more in Florida, Hawaii and Idaho. In
elementary math, seven states posted double-digit gains.
"The news in elementary schools is very good," Haycock said.
"Achievement is up in almost every state." Middle schools generally
reported encouraging improvement, but the results at high schools were
mixed, she said. In Connecticut, high schools reported modest
overall improvement, including gains by black and Latino students that
helped them close the performance gap with white students.
Across the nation, however, high schools generally made little progress
in closing the achievement gap that finds many minority and low-income
students lagging behind white or more well-to-do classmates, Haycock
said.
Closing those gaps is a key goal of the No Child Left Behind Act, the
centerpiece of President Bush's school reform agenda. The law calls for
a broad expansion of testing and a shake-up of schools that fail to
make adequate progress with all students, including low-income
children, special education students and members of minority
groups. At the elementary level, 22 of the 29 states in the
Education Trust analysis narrowed the reading achievement gap between
white and black children. Connecticut was among the states where the
gap narrowed even though the test scores of both white and black
students declined.
"It's just that white students fell faster than black students," said
Daria Hall, one of the authors of the report. "This is absolutely the
wrong kind of gap closing."
The study also found that many states, including Connecticut, set a
much lower proficiency standard than the standard on the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, a nationwide test given in all
states. For example, 67 percent of Connecticut's fourth-graders
met the state's reading proficiency standard but only 38 percent met
the national proficiency mark on the most recent tests.
In states where many fewer students reach the national standard than
are able to reach the state standard, "It's a sign that something is
wrong," Haycock said. "It's a reason for people to ask questions
whether their state standards are rigorous enough."
8 Schools Given
Lowest Grades; Persistent Problems Cited In State's Three Largest
Cities
December 8, 2005
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant
Staff Writer
Despite extensive reforms, eight of the
state's most troubled public schools still have too many ineffective
teachers, weak academic standards and low expectations of students, a
new state report says. The
eight schools - three each in Hartford and New Haven and two in
Bridgeport - were the first in the state to be identified as needing
improvement under the federal school reform law known as the No Child
Left Behind Act.
The independent review was conducted last spring, when
all eight were in their fourth consecutive year on the government's
warning list, meaning they were required to develop plans for a
complete overhaul. The reviews were unusually blunt, with some of
the sharpest criticism directed at teachers and curriculum.
"There
is a significant number of teachers who lack the skills necessary to
provide quality instruction to the degree necessary. ... Further, many
teachers are unable to manage student behavior appropriately," said a
review of Hartford's Milner School. Details of the review were
issued Wednesday to the State Board of Education, but local school
officials questioned the report's timing, saying many of the schools,
including Milner, have made significant changes since the review was
conducted in May.
The No Child Left Behind Act, the centerpiece
of President Bush's school reform agenda, calls for a broad expansion
of testing and a shake-up of schools that fail to make sufficient
progress with all students, including low-income children, special
education students and members of minority groups.
The eight schools under review all have large numbers of low-income,
minority and special education students.
In
addition to Milner, the other schools were Roberto Clemente Leadership
Academy, Jackie Robinson School and Hill Central Music Academy in New
Haven; Moylan and Kinsella schools in Hartford; and Beardsley and
Columbus schools in Bridgeport. Six of the eight were required to begin
a major overhaul this fall under the No Child Left Behind law while the
other two - Moylan and Clemente - made sufficient academic progress to
avoid a full overhaul, at least temporarily.
All eight schools,
including Moylan and Clemente, have made major changes. At some, that
includes the replacement of principals and significant numbers of
teachers.
"I think [the report is] so untimely in terms of what
has taken place since then," said Reginald Mayo, superintendent of
schools in New Haven. "There were some things we didn't agree with, and
many of the [recommendations] we had in place to do anyway over the
summer." Robinson School, for example, replaced its entire
administration, and Clemente replaced two assistant principals, Mayo
said. In Bridgeport and Hartford, too, schools have adopted many
of the report's recommendations, officials said.
"We've
got a new administrative team," said Sheryle Jackson, the new principal
at Hartford's Milner School, where 19 of the 33 teachers also are new
to the school this fall. The report cited serious discipline
problems at Milner, but Jackson said the administration is not
overwhelmed, as the report suggests. "We do have discipline problems,
but it's not all-consuming," she said.
Some of the schools drew
praise for their decorum. At Kinsella School in Hartford, for example,
"Students and staff were quite polite, respectful and accommodating,"
the review said. Nevertheless, students at the eight schools, on
average, still score well below state averages on reading and
mathematics tests, and the reviews suggested that part of the problem
is the ineffective use of curriculum.
"The key features
underlying the poor overall quality of teaching lie in the
inappropriate way in which the curriculum is used," said the review of
New Haven's Clemente Academy. "Too often, teachers slavishly follow the
written curriculum with little or no regard as to the way it is matched
to students' needs." State officials have made efforts to help
the eight schools, including a new series of online computer quizzes,
based on the state Mastery Test, which will be available in January and
can be used to take frequent measures of student progress.
"There
needs to be a more directed focus on curriculum and instruction" in
those schools, said state Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg.
"We need assurance the curriculum is actually being used."
Standards
under the No Child Left Behind law will gradually become more rigorous
until 2014, when all students are expected to reach a level of
proficiency on state tests. As the standards become more rigorous, more
schools will be required to undergo restructuring. The report to the
state board projects that another 110 schools in Connecticut could
require restructuring within three years.
U.S. Acts To Dismiss School Funding Suit; Response Says
State Took Money But Wants To Forsake Obligations
By
ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
December 3, 2005
The U.S. Department of Education filed a motion in federal court late
Friday to dismiss Connecticut's lawsuit against President Bush's school
reform law, contending the state has no grounds to sue for additional
money to pay for the reforms. The
motion comes a week after another court in Michigan dismissed a similar
lawsuit by the nation's largest teachers' union, the National Education
Association, which had sought to block the federal No Child Left Behind
Act on the argument that the law was insufficiently funded.
Although
many states have raised objections to portions of the federal law,
Connecticut is the only state to challenge the law in court. Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal filed a lawsuit in August against U.S.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, contending the law's
requirement for additional testing of students will unfairly cost state
and local taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
In their motion for dismissal, U.S.
officials said Connecticut has already accepted more than $750 million
since 2002 based on its pledge to comply with the law but now is
seeking "to keep the funds while jettisoning the accompanying
obligations."
According to the motion, the state
seeks "not a mutual release from the federal state partnership ... but
a one-sided release wherein the federal government continues to provide
the same level of federal assistance to Connecticut regardless of
whether the state meets the [law's] conditions."
Because the motion to dismiss was
filed shortly before Friday's midnight deadline, Blumenthal said he had
not had a chance to review it and would withhold comment until Monday.
Educators and politicians across the
nation are watching the case closely to gauge its impact on the most
sweeping federal education law in 30 years. The law calls for a broad
expansion of testing and a shake-up of schools that fail to make
sufficient progress with all students, including low-income children,
special education students and members of minority groups.
Blumenthal based the lawsuit on
legal provisions, including a clause in the No Child Left Behind law
itself, that prohibit the government from ordering new programs without
providing enough money to support them. However,
the U.S. Department of Education's motion Friday said Blumenthal's
argument amounts to "a fundamental misreading of the statute," which,
the motion says, was not intended "to excuse states from their
voluntary decision to comply with Congress's conditions in exchange for
federal funds."
For 20 years, Connecticut has tested
children in grades four, six and eight, but No Child Left Behind also
requires testing in grades three, five and seven - an expansion that
state Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg contends will cost
millions of dollars more with little additional benefit.
The federal government, however,
says the additional expenses incurred by Connecticut are the result of
the state's own decision to reject a less expensive form of testing.
Friday's motion says, for example, that some of the expenses stem from
the state's decision to modify tests for disabled students and to
translate tests for non-English speaking children into other languages.
State officials also plan to include
a section on writing in the new tests as well as other questions
requiring written answers even though the federal government only
requires tests of reading and mathematics. Like
other states, Connecticut has seen a sharp increase in federal
education funding under the Bush administration, but state officials
contend the extra money does not cover the full cost of improvements
required by the No Child Left Behind Act.
The state will get about $178
million this school year in federal grants related to No Child Left
Behind, about one-fourth more than the $142 million it received in
2002, the year the federal law was signed. Still,
even with the increased funding, a study by the state education
department estimates that the additional testing alone will cost
Connecticut taxpayers another $8 million over the next two years.
In addition, local school districts
will have to spend millions of dollars more to restructure schools,
train teachers and provide required extra help for students, another
state study says.
"I don't question that they gave us
more money," Sternberg said. "They just didn't give us enough."
In Michigan last week, a judge threw
out a lawsuit by the National Education Association after the union,
along with several of its state affiliates and local school districts,
had argued that the law cost more than schools received in federal
funds. Judge Bernard
A. Friedman said Congress appropriated significant funding and has the
power to require states to set educational standards in exchange for
federal money. The union said it will appeal.
Blumenthal last week called the
decision wrong and said it is not binding on the Connecticut case.
Federal Judge
Tosses Out No-Child Suit; Blumenthal Says State Will Pursue
Its Own School-Accountability Action `Vigorously'
COURANT Staff And Wire Report
November 24, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A judge threw out a lawsuit Wednesday that sought to
block the No Child Left Behind law, President Bush's signature
education policy. The National Education Association said it would
appeal. The NEA and school districts in three states had argued
that
schools should not have to comply with requirements that were not paid
for by the federal government.
Chief U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman, based in eastern
Michigan, said, "Congress has appropriated significant funding" and has
the power to require states to set educational standards in exchange
for federal money. The NEA, a union of 2.7 million members and
often a
political adversary of the administration, had filed the suit along
with districts in Michigan, Vermont and Bush's home state of Texas,
plus 10 NEA chapters in those states and Connecticut, Illinois,
Indiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah.
The school districts had argued that the law is costing them more than
they are receiving in federal funding. The law requires states to
revise academic standards and develop tests to measure students'
progress annually. If students fail to make progress, the law requires
states to take action against school districts.
"Parents in communities where school districts are financially strained
were promised that this law would close the achievement gaps," said NEA
President Reg Weaver. "Instead, their tax dollars are being used to
cover unpaid bills sent from Washington for costly regulations that do
not help improve education."
In August, the state of Connecticut filed its own lawsuit against the
U.S. Department of Education, claiming that the 2001 No Child Left
Behind law is illegal because the Bush administration has not provided
enough money to pay for the testing and programs the law
requires.
State Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg has argued that
Connecticut already tests students in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10 and that
adding tests in grades 3, 5 and 7 would provide little new information
about student performance in the state while costing an additional $8
million to administer. The state applied for a waiver but was rebuffed.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday that the
decision by the federal district judge in Michigan is "wrong and in no
way legally binding on our lawsuit in Connecticut." Blumenthal
also
said Wednesday's ruling "creates a preposterous loophole, holding that
federal officials purportedly do not impose unfunded mandates, but
Congress does."
Blumenthal said Connecticut will continue to pursue its own claims
"vigorously. We await a response to our complaint by the government,
which has already sought two extensions of time and now is due Dec. 2."
The lawsuit in Michigan alleged that there was a gap between federal
funding and the cost of complying with the law. Illinois, for example,
will spend $15.4 million annually to meet the law's requirements on
curriculum and testing but will receive $13 million a year, the lawsuit
said. Friedman said the law "cannot reasonably be interpreted to
prohibit Congress itself from offering federal funds on the condition
that states and school districts comply with the many statutory
requirements."
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said, "This is a victory for
children and parents all across the country. Chief Judge Friedman's
decision validates our partnership with states to close the achievement
gap, hold schools accountable and to ensure all students are reading
and doing math at grade-level by 2014."
State's Lawsuit Called `Red Herring' - Education Secretary
Criticizes Challenge To No Child Left Behind Act
By DOUG GROSS, Associated
Press
August 25, 2005
ATLANTA
-- U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on Wednesday called
complaints that the federal No Child Left Behind Act isn't fully funded
a "red herring" contrived by states such as Connecticut, which filed a
lawsuit this week challenging the program.
Connecticut's lawsuit, filed Monday
in U.S. District Court, claims the law is illegal because the Bush
administration has not provided enough money to pay for the testing and
programs associated with the 2001 law. Spellings,
speaking to the Atlanta Press Club, said the lawsuit "does trouble me a
little bit" and, afterward, suggested states balking at the law simply
fear the results of its accountability measures.
"I just see that as a red herring,"
she said of Connecticut's claim this year's federal funds will fall
$41.6 million short of paying for staffing, training and testing for No
Child Left Behind.
"What are they afraid of knowing, I
guess, is one of the things I'd like to know." Connecticut
was the first state to challenge the law. But lawmakers in other states
have complained about its funding and expect that other states could
join Connecticut's lawsuit or file their own. Connecticut
tests students in grades four, six, eight and 10. State officials say
they don't believe there is added benefit in expanding testing to
grades three, five and seven. Education Commissioner Betty Sternberg
said the state already knows where its problem areas are, and it is
working aggressively to fix them. Spellings
said annual testing is a cornerstone of the federal program and needed
to assess student achievement and help struggling students catch up
with their peers.
"Parents want to know where their
children stand," she said. "That's a reasonable expectation for
Connecticut and Georgia and Texas and every other state in the land."
Sternberg disputed that.
"I'm a parent myself," she said.
"And in fact, in my whole career here in Connecticut in 25 years, I
have never heard nor been asked by any parent to provide more of that
kind of testing information." Wednesday's comments renewed months of
sometimes-bitter dialogue between Spellings and Connecticut
officials. In
April, Spellings called the state's attitude toward its minority
students "un-American" and repeated a Bush line, accusing the state of
"soft bigotry of low expectations" for not supporting the plan.
Sternberg called the comments outrageous and cited her Jewish heritage
when demanding an apology.
Connecticut estimates it will have
to spend $41.6 million of its own money to comply with the law through
2008. Spellings said the federal government has already sent $750
million, but the state says the costs of implementing the law are much
higher. Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal said the law itself says that the government
must pay for extra expenses.
"Three words for federal officials:
Read the law," he said. "Under the law, the federal government must pay
for any additional testing. They have not done so." Spellings
toured an Atlanta elementary school before the speech. She plans to
visit several cities promoting national test results she said have
improved since the inception of No Child Left Behind.
No Child Lawsuit Disputed
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
August 23, 2005
As some of
the state's leading educators and politicians hailed
Connecticut's filing of a lawsuit against a controversial federal
education law Monday, two national civil rights leaders called the
action ill-advised.
The criticism from civil rights advocates, including former Connecticut
lawyer John C. Brittain, came as Connecticut became the first state to
go to court challenging the No Child Left Behind Act, the centerpiece
of President Bush's education agenda.
The disagreement reflects a national debate over the
most sweeping federal education law in 30 years. The law calls for a
broad expansion of testing and a shake-up of schools that fail to make
sufficient progress with all students, including low-income children,
special education students and members of minority groups.
The state filed suit in federal district court in Hartford against U.S.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, contending the law will
unfairly cost state and local taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Our message today is: Give up the unfunded mandates or give us the
money," said state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, flanked by
about a dozen politicians and representatives of the state's education
establishment.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education said the lawsuit
"sends the wrong message to students, educators and parents."
"The funds have been provided for testing," said Susan Aspey, "but
Connecticut apparently wants to keep those funds without using them as
intended."
A key goal of No Child Left Behind is to close the achievement gap that
finds many low-income and minority students lagging academically behind
white, middle-class children.
Although educators across the nation have complained that the law does
not provide enough money for schools to make the necessary
improvements, some observers, such as Brittain, believe it has focused
long overdue attention on low-income and minority children, whose
academic performance generally has lagged behind that of other students.
"We believe poor children will suffer if the state of Connecticut
wins" its lawsuit, said Brittain, who for years was a central figure in
the Sheff vs. O'Neill school desegregation case that sought to improve
racial balance in Hartford's public schools.
"No Child Left Behind keeps the accountability on the states, where it
belongs," said Brittain, chief counsel and senior deputy director of
the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C.
In a letter to Blumenthal, Brittain and noted civil rights lawyer
William Taylor took no position on whether No Child Left Behind has
been funded properly but alleged that Connecticut has failed to comply
with the law's requirements to help local school districts meet
academic standards.
That failure, the letter said, cannot be excused by the state's claims
that the law is under-funded.
Taylor, chairman of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights,
questioned the strategy of basing a lawsuit on claims of unfunded
mandates. "There is no basis for thinking those lawsuits have been
successful," he said. "I'm afraid lawsuits of this kind ... may
encourage other states to resist. That cannot help this major effort to
help poor kids."
Blumenthal said the state doesn't object to the goals of No Child Left
Behind, but "with the failed implementation."
The federal government has repeatedly rejected Connecticut's requests
for flexibility in interpreting the law, including waiving a
requirement to add three grades to Connecticut's annual testing program
at a cost to the state of nearly $8 million over the next two years.
The state - which for years has tested children in fourth, sixth,
eighth and 10th grades - will add tests in third, fifth and seventh
grades in the spring to meet federal requirements even though the
additional tests "have questionable merit," said state Education
Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg. She rejected the contention by
Brittain and Taylor that the state had failed to help local school
districts comply with the law.
Sternberg also has disagreed with the federal government over how to
test special education students and children who speak little or no
English.
Connecticut is one of many states that have clashed with the U.S.
Department of Education over No Child Left Behind. Nevertheless,
Blumenthal, despite months of effort, was unable to persuade other
states to join the lawsuit.
"That's because almost every other state is in the process of asking
the U.S. Department of Education for changes" in the interpretation of
the law, said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education
Policy in Washington, D.C., a private nonprofit group that monitors
education policy. "I think they're afraid that if they file suit they
won't get the changes they're asking for."
As for Connecticut officials, "I think they're fed up," he said. The
lawsuit "is a clear signal there is a great deal of discontent with the
law."
That discontent was evident at Blumenthal's press conference, where
educators and politicians blasted the federal law.
State Rep. Andrew Fleischmann, D-West Hartford, compared the federal
education department to a playground bully.
"While there are not other states that are currently joining us in this
litigation, they are cheering us on because we are taking on the
bully," he said.
One official noticeably absent from the press conference was Gov. M.
Jodi Rell. The Republican governor has expressed reservations about
challenging Bush's chief education program in court, but she did
recently sign a bill authorizing Blumenthal to file the lawsuit.
Judd Everhart, a spokesman for the governor, said Rell was not invited
to attend Monday's press conference.
The governor, however, issued a statement supporting Connecticut's
existing school testing program.
"We need accountability. Our children deserve it," she said, "but we in
Connecticut do a lot of testing already, far more than most other
states. Our taxpayers are sagging under the crushing costs of local
education. What we don't need is a new laundry list of things to do -
with no new money to do them."
Rell Backs Lawsuit By State;
Agrees To Challenge Federal School Law
July
26, 2005
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff
Writer
Despite
some reservations, Gov. M.
Jodi Rell has signed a law authorizing a legal challenge to a
controversial
federal school reform law that is the centerpiece of President Bush's
education
agenda. Until now, Rell, a Republican, had been noncommittal
about
signing a bill challenging the President's No Child Left Behind Act,
saying
that she prefers negotiating with federal officials instead of suing
them.
"I
know this was difficult for her
to do because, after all, she's a Republican governor, and the
President
believes [No Child Left Behind] is the right thing," said state
Education
Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg. Rell's decision to sign a bill
passed
by the legislature in a special session last month gives added weight
to
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's threat to sue the U.S. Department
of Education.
Blumenthal
said Monday he plans to
file the suit by the time schools open next month. Even though
the
proposed lawsuit has not won the endorsement of the State Board of
Education,
the governor took into account Blumenthal's assessment "that it was
extremely
and profoundly important that this bill be passed in special session,"
according to a statement from Rell's press office.
"While
the Governor feels fighting
the Act is better left in the hands of the state's congressional
delegation,
she fully understands the attorney general's motivation and is
interested
in the outcome," said spokesman Adam Liegeot. A spokesman at the
U.S. Department of Education said Monday the department would not
comment
on the matter. Blumenthal continues to seek support from other
states
after pledging three months ago to make Connecticut the first state to
file a lawsuit challenging the federal law, contending it will unfairly
cost state and local taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
"I
am enormously pleased and thankful
to the governor and the legislature for this measure strengthening our
planned lawsuit against the illegal unfunded federal mandates," said
Blumenthal,
a Democrat. "The stakes for Connecticut are huge."
The
State Board of Education, however,
last month refused to support the planned lawsuit, postponing a vote on
the matter after some members said they were opposed to legal
action.
Connecticut is one of many states that have clashed with the U.S.
Department
of Education over No Child Left Behind. The law calls for a broad
expansion
of testing and a shake-up of schools that fail to make sufficient
progress,
including low-income children, special education students and members
of
minority groups.
The
federal government has repeatedly
rejected Connecticut's requests for flexibility in interpreting the
law,
including Commissioner Sternberg's appeal for a waiver of a requirement
to test three additional grades in the state's annual testing program
next
spring. She said the additional testing will cost millions of dollars
but
will produce little benefit.
Sternberg
praised Rell's decision
to sign the law authorizing a lawsuit. "Rather than taking a
political
stance, I think she considers what's right for the citizens," Sternberg
said.
"I,
too, shared her concern about
jumping in too quickly, but ... I think we have no recourse. We're
really
being asked to spend a tremendous amount of money on programs that ...
I don't think are in the best interest of students."
Blumenthal
said he plans to file
the suit "before the first day of school." About half the state's
public
schools start on Aug. 31, according to the state Department of
Education.
The earliest starting date is Aug. 24 in Groton. Blumenthal said
he remains hopeful that other states will join a lawsuit and expects to
get final answers from them within weeks but added, "We will stand
alone,
if necessary, in this fight." One of the states contemplating
similar
legal action is Maine.
"I
have spoken with Attorney General
Blumenthal a number of times on the potential for litigation," Maine
Attorney
General Steven Rowe said Monday.
"We
in Maine are still evaluating
the extent of the unfunded mandates contained in the federal law," he
said.
"We hope to be in a position to file suit within the next few weeks."
Saturday,
May 7, 2005 Hartford Courant:
`No Child' Law Backed;
Cabinet Member Says It Works
By ROBERT A. FRAHM
While a handful of states, including
Connecticut, challenge a federal school reform act, others are making
promising
gains under the law, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
said
Friday.
From
Massachusetts to Wyoming, schools
are showing progress in helping low-performing students catch up as a
result
of the No Child Left Behind Act, Spellings said.
Connecticut
has threatened to sue
the federal government over the cost of expanding student testing under
the law. The National Education Association, the teachers' union, has
already
filed such a suit. Utah and Texas also have fought some of the law's
provisions.
"For
every one of these states in
the news, there are dozens of others that are quietly going about their
business, implementing the law and getting results. ...The contrary
actions
of a couple of states and one union do not constitute a grass-roots
rebellion,"
Spellings said.
Spellings'
remarks to reporters at
the national Education Writers Association's annual seminar came two
days
after she rejected Connecticut's request to waive a requirement to test
thousands more children under the state's annual Mastery Test.
For
20 years, that test of reading,
writing and mathematics has been given to fourth-, sixth- and
eighth-graders,
but No Child Left Behind requires that the state also test children in
grades 3, 5 and 7. State officials contend such an expansion will cost
state taxpayers millions of dollars more.
A
key reason for the extra cost is
that the mastery test asks students to submit writing samples, which
cannot
be scored by machine and are more expensive to grade. No Child Left
Behind
requires states to test children in reading and mathematics, but not
writing.
Connecticut's
inclusion of writing
on the exam "is certainly instructionally sound and well within their
prerogative,"
Spellings said Friday in response to a question. "But the issue is: Who
should pay for that?"
If
Connecticut does not want to drop
the writing exam, one possibility would be to test for writing only in
alternate grades as long as the state measures all children every year
on the law's required tests, including reading and mathematics,
Spellings
said.
Allan
B. Taylor, chairman of the
State Board of Education, said the idea of using a scaled-down test in
alternate grades is something that can be considered, but "we want to
understand
what that would mean." Even the reading and mathematics portions of the
mastery test include some open-ended questions requiring students to
write
their answers, and Taylor said the state does not intend to use tests
that
are strictly limited to multiple-choice questions.
"We
don't think Congress intended
for all states to adopt lowest common denominator testing," he said.
The
No Child Left Behind Act was
signed by President Bush three years ago as a means of improving
achievement
for all groups of students, including low-income and minority children,
who generally have lagged behind white children in standardized test
scores.
Spellings
cited the large achievement
gap in Connecticut between white and minority children, but mentioned
one
school, the Amistad Academy charter school in New Haven, as a success
story.
Nearly all Amistad's students are black or Hispanic, and most are poor
- yet the school consistently scores above state averages on the
mastery
test. The school includes a longer school day, a strict code of conduct
and rigorous curriculum.
"The
hard work and long hours they
put in are proving that it can be done," Spellings said.
No Apologies At `No Child'
Meeting
April
19, 2005
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff
Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings
and state Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg had what was called
a cordial meeting Monday, but Sternberg left without an apology or a
concession
on annual student testing.
The
two have had sharp disagreements
over the interpretation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the
centerpiece
of President Bush's school reform agenda. Last week, Sternberg asked
for
an apology from Spellings, who had accused Connecticut of trying to
find
a loophole in the law and implied that the state's attitude toward
black
children is "un-American."
After
meeting for about an hour,
Sternberg said "there wasn't an explicit apology" though she said both
she and Spellings agreed "we are on the same playing field ...
understanding
that we embrace the goals of No Child Left Behind."
Many
states have been watching the
dispute to see if Spellings would grant Connecticut - and ultimately
them
- more flexibility in implementing the law. Although Sternberg
expressed
hope for a waiver on expanded statewide student testing - something she
says will cost the state millions of dollars without any additional
benefit
- Spellings appeared unlikely to budge.
"The
secretary hasn't changed her
position on that," said Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education Raymond
Simon,
one of the several top-level department officials who sat in on the
meeting.
"Annual testing is in the law. That's the bottom line."
The
meeting, held at the request
of Gov. M. Jodi Rell, apparently was free of the rancor that has marked
the dispute.
Spellings
made what many considered
an insulting characterization of Connecticut during a recent TV
interview.
Sternberg wrote to Spellings that she was outraged by Spellings'
comments
in a television interview, especially her use of the phrase "soft
bigotry
of low expectations" in discussing the state's approach to educating
black
children in cities.
While
Sternberg's description of
the meeting was positive, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal gave a
more
blunt assessment in a statement he released after talking to Sternberg.
"Better
manners, same message," said
Blumenthal, who did not attend the meeting. "This meeting yielded
vague,
soothing happy talk, but no specific commitment to end unfunded
mandates."
Connecticut's
20-year-old mastery
test of fourth-, sixth- and eighth-graders is regarded as among the
most
rigorous in the nation, but Spellings has said it is not sufficient to
meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind. Last month, Spellings
rejected
the state's request for a waiver of the law's requirement to expand
testing
to also include grades 3, 5 and 7.
Monday's
meeting follows a pledge
by Blumenthal last week to make Connecticut the first state in the
nation
to file a lawsuit challenging the federal law, contending that it will
unfairly cost state and local taxpayers hundreds of millions of
dollars.
As long as the federal government insists on imposing unfunded mandates
under No Child Left Behind, Connecticut will continue to pursue legal
action,
Blumenthal said.
No
Child Left Behind calls for a
broad expansion of testing and a shake-up of schools that fail to make
sufficient progress with all students, including groups such as
low-income
children, special education students and members of minority groups.
The
law is designed to close the academic gap that finds many low-income
minority
children lagging behind middle-class white students.
Monday's
meeting lasted about an
hour as education officials from Spellings' office and Sternberg's
staff
sat around a large conference table.
Participants
briefly acknowledged
some of the recent public rhetoric surrounding the dispute but then
exchanged
views on issues such as annual testing requirements and the approach to
testing
special education students and non-English speaking children, according
to those at the meeting.
"I
do think the tenor of the conversation
changed, but I don't think anything else was conclusive," said Allan B.
Taylor, chairman of the State Board of Education.
Sternberg
said, "We had a cordial
conversation. ... We both understood each other's perspective."
One
key issue, Sternberg said, is
the cost of testing. She said her department will have to ask the state
for nearly $8 million more over the next two years to cover the cost of
new tests under No Child Left Behind - despite a state law that says
any
additional testing costs that result from the federal act must be
covered
by federal funds.
"We're
in a Catch-22 situation,"
she said, contending that federal funds do not cover the additional
cost.
Sternberg
also said she told Spellings
that the large achievement gap in Connecticut is partly the result of
exceptionally
high performance by white students and that black students perform at
about
the same level as in several other states, where the achievement gap is
smaller.
Education
observers around the nation
say they do not expect that Spellings will bend on annual testing
requirement
in grades 3-8 - a bedrock principle of the federal law.
"The
law is pretty clear here. This
is not an area where the secretary has much discretion," said Kati
Haycock
of Education Trust, an advocacy group working to close the achievement
gap.
Haycock
disagrees with Connecticut's
request to continue testing children only in alternate grades. "If I
were
the parent of a fourth-grade child who got below basic [scores], I'd be
very worried about my child's future and would not want to wait another
two years to see if my child is making appropriate progress."
Other
states, too, are seeking changes
in how the law is applied, but none so far has joined Connecticut's
legal
challenge.
"From
our perspective, school boards
across the nation are following this closely," said Reggie Felton, a
lobbyist
for the National School Boards Association. "I think you'll see more
and
more requests for these changes. The concern is there simply aren't
sufficient
funds to fully implement the law."
In
addition, he said, the law's method
of singling out schools even if only one group, such as special
education
students, falls below standards "suggests to the community that a
school's
performance might be worse than it actually is."
Connecticut
is also one of many states
that have lodged complaints about other provisions of the law,
including
its requirements for testing special education students, but Spellings
announced this month that the U.S. Department of Education will allow
more
flexibility in testing those students in states that are committed to
the
No Child Left Behind Act and that show academic progress.
On
Monday, Donald E. Williams, Connecticut's
senate president pro tempore, called on other states that have
effective
testing systems to join forces to fight for reforms in the law.
Sternberg
will remain in Washington
for a few days to meet with Connecticut's congressional delegation
about
education issues, including No Child Left Behind.
Defining, Disciplining Bullies: A Dilemma
For Schools
By KATE FARRISH,
The Hartford Courant
November 23, 2008
In many ways, Joél Olmeda is a typical 11-year-old boy. He likes
social studies, plays shortstop on his baseball team and serves as an
altar boy at his church. He's also a bully, according to East
Hartford school officials.
Nine months ago, the school system officially labeled Joél, who
was 10 at the time, as a bully after documenting a string of four
incidents, including throwing food, name-calling and shoving. When
Joél told a classmate that his sneakers were "ugly," he was
suspended for three days, and a "bullying" letter was placed in his
file. Officials initially said the letter would stay there until
Joél graduates from high school. They've now agreed to take it
out next June if he behaves.
But the boy's parents, José Olmeda and Nancy Ortiz, have been
fighting ever since to get the letter removed. The letter is "making
Joél sound like a convict, instead of a typical 10-year-old that
just made poor choices," José Olmeda said.
Joél's case — documented down to handwritten statements from
fifth-grade witnesses — highlights the increasing pressures school
districts face in combating and proving bullying. Experts say the
definition of bullying in the state's 2002 law was hazy — one reason
the state legislature toughened the law this year. Previously, the law
defined bullying as overt acts of harassment repeated against the same
student "over time." Now a student can be labeled a bully after only
two incidents against any student.
When it comes to interpreting the state law, schools districts are
often confused about what constitutes bullying and how to discipline
students for bullying, experts say. Is a student who retaliates after
being provoked by another student a bully? When is a child too young to
be labeled a bully? What is the appropriate discipline and how long
should a bullying charge follow a student?
All these questions were raised in Joél Olmeda's story.
Joél's Story
Olmeda and
Ortiz say hardly anyone has listened to them.
They insist that Joél retaliated only because the classmate
whose sneakers he called ugly had bullied him for months and nothing
was done. They were so frustrated last spring that Olmeda filed a
complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities,
contending that Joél was labeled a bully because he is Hispanic.
The complaint was dismissed in September, but documents provided to The
Courant by Olmeda detail the East Hartford district's case against
Joél.
In response to the CHRO complaint, school officials said Joél
"has refused to participate in classroom assignments, thrown food in
the lunchroom, called other students names and shoved other students."
In September 2007, Joél threw a bag of chips at another student.
His father says Joél threw the bag because the other student had
thrown it at him. Trouble started again a month later, when a new
student moved into Joél's fifth-grade class at Thomas S.
O'Connell Elementary School. By November, Joél was clearly
having problems with the new kid.
"Every day was a struggle to get him to go to school," Ortiz said.
Olmeda said Joél told him the other boy was "screaming in his
ear, poking and pushing him." Joél moved his classroom desk
behind a bookcase to get away from the boy, Olmeda said. In
January, Olmeda said he asked Principal Scott Nozik to do something
about the boy's bullying, but nothing was done. The district,
however, presents a different view.
The new student's behavior "could be described as an annoyance.
…However, unlike Joél, the new student never exhibited
aggressive behavior," officials wrote. "Joél singled the new
student out and began to tease him."
School officials and the Olmedas declined to identify the boy.
Superintendent of Schools Marion H. Martinez said she and other
officials could not comment on Joél's case. In their
written response to the CHRO complaint, school officials denied
treating Joél unfairly because he is Hispanic, and pointed out
that the new student also is Hispanic. They also denied that the boy
had poked, pushed or bullied Joél. But Olmeda said
Joél became fed up and retaliated, pushing the boy on Jan. 9. On
Feb. 5, Joél and a different student were given detention for
shoving each other.
Then on Feb. 11, the confrontation that came to be labeled the "sneaker
incident" occurred. A library aide and other students "overheard
Joél harassing the new student by calling the new student's
sneakers ugly," according to school records.
Nozik interviewed Joél, the aide, the new student and five other
students. The students provided handwritten statements that they heard
Joél teasing the boy. Nozik determined that "Joél's
behavior was squarely within the definition of bullying" — defined in the
district's policy as "any overt acts by a student … directed against
another student with the intent to ridicule, harass, humiliate or
intimidate the other student … which acts are repeated against the same
student over time." The wording reflected the state law in place at the
time.
Nozik suspended Joél and put the "bullying" letter in his
file. Joél's parents said they were stunned because no one
had warned them that he was suspected of being a bully. They admit
Joél pushed the boy and teased him about his sneakers, but say
that didn't meet the state's bullying definition of harassment repeated
over time.
"If we had any indication he was bullying kids, we wouldn't be so
worried about this letter," Ortiz said. "I don't think what he did and
the punishment fit."Domingo Delgado, a deacon at St. Lawrence O'Toole
Church in Hartford, where Joél is an altar boy, said he was
shocked that the boy had been labeled a bully.
"He's polite. He's obedient," Delgado said. "I'd believe this about
anybody else, but not Joél."
The Experts Say
Connecticut
was one of the first states to pass a school anti-bullying law; now at
least 36 states have them.
But confusion
over the definition of bullying led Connecticut legislators to change
the law this year so that a student can be labeled a bully after two
incidents, instead of bullying behavior "over time."
The change — which took effect in July, months after Joél was
labeled — makes it easier to intervene quickly and counsel both bullies
and their victims, experts say. They say bullying can lead to lower
grades, isolation, depression and even suicide among victims. But
the bullies also need help so their behavior doesn't escalate to
criminal acts, experts say.
"The bullies are crying out for help just as much as those being
bullied," said Marji Lipshez-Shapiro, who runs an anti-bullying program
for the Anti-Defamation League in Connecticut.
In a 2005 Connecticut survey, 40 percent of the state's ninth-graders
reported having been bullied on school property in the past year,
according to the Connecticut Commission on Children. Though some
experts said they thought Joél was young to be labeled a bully,
William Howe, a consultant with the state Department of Education, said
educators are starting to get complaints about bullying in the second
grade. Experts who heard a summary of Joél's story suspect
he retaliated after being bullied, since that is so common.
"My hunch is he probably was provoked and nobody saw it," said Jo Ann
Freiberg, a state Department of Education consultant on bullying.
Lipshez-Shapiro said school officials have a tough job proving bullying.
"The school's job is really hard when it comes to deciphering these
situations," she said.
The experts disagreed on East Hartford's use of the bullying letter and
whether it will taint Joél in the long run. Freiberg said
Joél's case is "very upsetting on both ends." But she praised
the East Hartford school system for giving Joél an incentive to
behave.
"I credit the district for putting the letter in and leaving it there
for a while. It's a good move," she said.
"Practically speaking, it won't hurt him too much," Freiberg said. "I
really believe that teachers want to do what is best for kids. They
don't comb through files searching for labels."
But Faith Vos Winkel, an assistant child advocate for the state, said
she wasn't sure why the letter was used.
"Putting a letter in a file for such a little kid — what does it
serve?" Vos Winkel asked. "This is not about dogging kids."
The state's law may place too much emphasis on zero tolerance for
bullying, Lipshez-Shapiro said.
"We have to be nuanced in our approach," she said. "We need to help the
schools deal with bullying."
'My Son Is Not A Bully'
At home in
East Hartford, Joél was polite during an interview in his living
room, which was decorated with photos of him with Santa. The
other boy probably bullied him to be popular, Joél said, adding
that he was "sad" school officials didn't help him.
"It felt weird," he said. "It felt like the principal didn't like me."
Joél has had no behavior problems in sixth grade this fall, but
when a slot opened at an out-of-town magnet school in late October, his
parents decided to transfer him there because it was a good
opportunity. It is unclear what East Hartford school officials
will do with the bullying letter now that Joél has left the
district, but his parents are still fighting for its removal.
"My son is not a bully," Olmeda said. "This haunts me."
School System Hit With Bullying
Lawsuit
By Ivan H.
Golden
Greenwich
TIME, Monday, Dec. 27, 2004:
In a case that
is among the first of its kind in Connecticut, an Old Greenwich couple
has filed a lawsuit against the Greenwich Public Schools and several
school
administrators for failing to protect their daughter from excessive
bullying
over a period of several years.
The lawsuit,
filed earlier this month in state Superior Court in Stamford by
Theodore
and Patrice Anibal on behalf of their daughter, accuses school
officials
of several counts of negligent and intentional infliction of emotional
distress. The lawsuit also cites Connecti-cut's anti-bullying statute,
a 2002 law that requires all public schools to establish plans to
address
bullying.
According to
the couple's lawsuit, their daughter, a student at Old Green-wich
School,
suffered severe emotional distress and her ability to obtain an
education
was compromised by relentless bullying that school officials failed to
stop.
The girl is
named as a plaintiff in the Anibals' lawsuit, but Greenwich Time chose
not to identify her because of her age. The girl's mother, Patrice
Anibal,
said the family filed a lawsuit only after exhausting all other means
of
resolving the issue.
"We did not
want to do this," she said. "But the administration has just refused to
address the problem. It was absolutely our last resort."
Superintendent
of Schools Larry Leverett, who is one of the defendants named in the
lawsuit,
said he was familiar with the case but could not comment on any of the
incidents or accusations.
"Those are
the issues before the court, and they will be determined by the
appropriate
judiciary authority," he said.
The Anibals'
lawyer, Alyce Alfano, of the West Hartford law firm Klebanoff and
Alfano,
said bullying lawsuits are somewhat unusual, though not unheard of, in
Connecticut.
"It's certainly
not something that we do a lot of, and our firm does solely education
law,"
she said. "I think what brought this one to the stage of filing a
lawsuit
was that, with this particular situation, it went on and on for years,
and the parents continually tried to address it and were blown off and
rebuffed."
Ann-Marie DeGraffenreidt,
an attorney at the Center for Children's Advo-cacy at the University of
Connecticut School of Law, said bullying-related lawsuits are rare in
Connecticut.
But with the state's anti-bullying statute, she said such complaints
may
become more common.
"It's still
a developing area of the law," she said. "And that's partly because of
the impact . . . bullying can have on children and young adults and
adolescents
has only recently been recognized."
A growing body
of evidence suggests bullying is bad for victims and victimizers alike,
DeGraffenreidt said. Studies also show schools can reduce and even
eliminate
bullying, she said.
"It is possible
to have schools where this does not occur," she said, "(but) it
requires
the school to create an environment where bullying is not tolerated and
children are taught to respect one another."
According to
the lawsuit, the Anibals complained repeatedly between 1999 and 2004
that
their daughter was being bullied, but school officials did nothing to
remedy
the situation. Before filing the lawsuit, Alfano said she tried to
intervene
with school officials on the Anibals' behalf.
"I just got
nowhere," she said. "I just got no complete or respectful response."
The Anibals'
lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as
reimbursement
of medical and other costs. But Alfano said money is not motivating her
clients.
"This was not
about retribution or about money," she said. "This was about having
Greenwich
acknowledge what happened and apologize for it."
Alfano said
she did not file suit against the students who she said teased and
bullied
the Anibals' daughter because the family felt it was school officials,
not students, who should address the problem.
"We really
didn't feel that that was the appropriate place to go because they're
all
young children," Alfano said.
In addition
to the Board of Education and Leverett, the lawsuit names Assistant
Superin-tendent
Maria Melendez, Board of Education Chairwoman Sandy Waters and Old
Green-wich
School Principal Marge Sherman as defendants.
Sherman said
she would not comment on the case. Valerie Maze, the assistant town
attorney
who is handling the lawsuit, was out of the office yesterday and could
not be reached for comment.
According to
their complaint, the Anibals' daughter, who still attends Old Greenwich
School, has been taunted, teased and bullied almost daily since 1999,
both
in school and out of school. As a result of the bullying, the lawsuit
claims,
the girl suffers from, "anxiety, withdrawal into fantasy, extreme fear,
hypersensitivity (and) extreme difficulty in social situations."
The Anibals'
13-page complaint describes dozens of specific incidents in which they
say school officials failed to stop other students from taunting,
teasing
and even assaulting their daughter. Among them:
* In September
2001, the Anibals' daughter was placed in a class with one of the three
students who were most aggressive in teasing, harassing and bullying
her.
* The following
school year, the girl was placed in a class with two students who
bullied
her on a daily basis, despite school officials' knowledge that the
students
had a history of harassing the girl.
* In March
and April of this year, Patrice Anibal complained repeatedly to school
and district officials, including Leverett, about other students
bullying
her daughter, but did not receive a satisfactory response.
Despite the
rift between the Anibals and school officials, Alfano said she hopes
the
parties can reach a settlement in the case.
"I have no
desire to play it out publicly," she said. "The things that the family
is looking for from the district are certainly things that can be
resolved."
Group seeks to reform state
education funding
By Tobin A.
Coleman, Stamford ADVOCATE
December 1,
2004
HARTFORD --
A new statewide coalition wants the Legislature to change the way
Connecticut
doles out education money.
Stamford Mayor
Dannel Malloy and Norwalk Mayor Alex Knopp were among two dozen
municipal,
education and labor leaders at the state Capitol yesterday to announce
formation of the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education
Funding.
Both mayors sit on the coalition's 18-member board.
The goal is
to replace state Education Cost Sharing grants with a system that
better
matches funding to the cost of educating students. The state relies too
much on local property taxes to fund education, the group said,
strangling
municipal budgets and holding back student achievement.
The coalition
is commissioning a $140,000 study that will pinpoint the cost of
education,
including variables for disadvantaged and special-needs students.
Similar
studies in Maryland and New Jersey led to changes in state funding
formulas,
said Dianne Kaplan deVries, project director for the group. The study
by
Augenblick, Palaich & Associates of Denver will be released in
March.
Malloy said
the Education Cost Sharing formula -- which he has strongly opposed for
years because he thinks it under-funds Stamford -- makes it difficult
for
Connecticut students to remain competitive.
"Classroom
size, training of teachers, whether a school system can retain teachers
in a competitive environment, are all issues that this formula, as it
currently
exists, is causing to defeat, system upon system, child upon child,
generation
upon generation. And that ultimately makes our state less competitive,"
Malloy said. "The days of running away from issues should be behind us.
It is time to embrace this one to make a difference for this generation
and to future generations."
Knopp said
implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and a recent
requirement
that students pass the Connecticut Academic Performance Test to
graduate
from high school require the state to find different ways to fund
education.
"We can't have
a funding formula that's divorced from whether or not students are in
schools
that achieve the standards of No Child Left Behind, or are in high
schools
that don't pass the CAPT tests and therefore can't graduate," Knopp
said.
Coalition members
hope parents will join them in the push to change the formula, he said.
They don't
expect final action in the upcoming legislative session, members said,
because the study won't be finished until halfway through the session.
The study could conclude that new taxes are needed, they said, because
no district is asking for less money.
At the least,
the state should pick up 50 percent of education costs, as the state
Constitution
calls for, not the 37 percent it pays, Middletown Mayor Domenique
Thornton
said.
In the past
eight years, Middletown's budget has increased $30 million, Thornton
said.
Of that, "$25
million went directly to education and only $5 million accounted for
increases
on the city side," she said. "With inflation . . . and the cost of
living
increases . . . we are actually limiting the resources we are applying
to the city side of the budget."
Malloy said
that since he became mayor of Stamford nine years ago, the amount of
property
taxes and fees devoted to education increased from 44 percent to 62
percent.
"You can only
push that so far," he said.
Knopp said
Norwalk spends 60 percent of its operating budget and 91 percent of its
capital budget on education. That has increased much more than spending
on city services, he said.
Danbury Mayor
Mark Boughton acknowledged that previous efforts to reform state
education
funding were dismissed.
"We have a
vision for the 21st century in funding education," Boughton said.
"Right
now, we use a 20th-century formula. . . . It's old, it's antiquated,
it's
outlived its usefulness."
But it could
take years to enact reforms, he said.
Dennis Schain,
spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell, said she favors a review of state
education
funding.
"The Education
Cost Sharing formula has been tinkered with by the Legislature time and
again throughout the years," Schain said. "Frankly, it bears little
resemblance
to the formula that was originally put in place by court order.
Inequities
do exist. A review is warranted, but the review must be open and honest
with favoritism and political agendas set aside."
CONNECTICUT
POLICY AND
ECONOMIC COUNCIL (CPEC):
On-line tool to help evaluate
your community! How to measure the "value" of your child's
education?
CPEC offers this link: http://www.schoolguide.org/
Across
the pond school located on "Weston Road" sends sixth form students
out for more advanced work.
Link above to early news of synthetic
fields!
"About Town" Unofficial
Highlights
of Weston School News:
No one could explain
why the school expansion was so big in hindsight! ANSWERS HERE.
THANK YOU CHANNEL 78...BROADCASTS
GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME!
Board OK's an overall increase of
1.64% (up from 1.57% proposed by staff) - $44,697,023 is the number for the school
budget as approved by the Board this year
- FY2010-2011 School Budget approved by Board of
Education at Tuesday, Jan.19, 2010 meeting.
- Next stop, Board of Selectmen (who cannot makes
changes).
- Then Board of Finance (who can and does) and
finally,
- ATBM on April 7, 2010 at 8pm, WHS.
Discussion
over increased fees to "Company" and other student activities.
Interesting report on other school systems' budgets:
Superintendent
Belair noted that many things included in Weston's school budget are
included in neighboring towns' school budgets...he didn't say it, but
this is one reason why Weston's per pupil cost is the highest in the
D.R.G.!!!
FY2010-2011
School Budget meetings in the Weston Library: budget document
and/or power point not online as stated - but perhaps we misunderstood?
- Monday Jan. 11,
2010 - 7pm - we watched the early part of this session via Town
TV channel 78. It was attended by a quorum of the Board of
Selectmen (not posted, we think), seated in the front row. Conclusion:
news that the school budget FY'11 shows a 1.57% increase over last year
(indirect information, but reliable).
- Wednesday Jan.
13, 2010 - 7pm
- Friday Jan. 15 ,
2010 - 8am
* = our source is online at http://www.westonk12-ct.org/
Board of Education
meeting took
place in the Weston Library on Monday, December 21, 2009.
Announcement of new bus contract (5 years) includes new bus fleet, only
1% increase - prepayment can get that number down, too.
Presentation on Fuel Cell possibility; report on Strategic School
Profile from State Board of Education - good measureof where we are
relative to other districts. Committees reported: Curriculum
(French), and vote taken on new courses: Manderin Chinese 4, TV
Production and
photography 2 (digital). Lots of gifts.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
VERSION OF "SPEAK
UP" - 12 QUESTIONS IN 90 MINUTES...the play by play below! We
counted 42 in the audience, including principals of the four schools.
THE NEW BOARD OF EDUCATION (l.to
r.) Denise Harvey, Dick Bochinski, Ellen Uzenoff, Sonya Stack, Dana
Levin, Les Wolf, Phil Schaefer. At right, Superintendent Jerry
Belair followed Dr. Lynn Pierson, who in turn, had followed Dr. Janet Shaner.
At 10:30a.m. the crowds were not present, but the meeting began...first
speaker wanted to know what the schools were doing on technology
upgrades; another early speaker wanted to apply business
techniques to budgeting for schools and engaged in an interesting
discourse with Director of Finance Keating and Superintendent Belair
(who seemed interested in enlisting this citizen in helping get a
better grip on budget).
Exchanges about class size and teaching came next, with
interesting reports of teacher absence and pro-TAG testimony;
matter of substitute teachers and their reception;
TAKING NOTES FURIOUSLY WERE...new Sec'y/Treasurer,
Vice-Chair and newly elected member...
Thinking out of the box, planning ahead and what to do about the $4
million Middle School roof (the cost keeps escalating); question
by the public regarding why W.I.S.E. is allowed to operate on campus if
it is a Political Action Committee - the answer given is that it isn't
Partisan (we think that is what we heard). And a reflection by
parent on the Nov. 15, 2001 Referendum...
Of the twelve speakers, every one had a complaint of
one
kind or another. The three above represented the W.I.S.E.
position (seeing this election as a victory for her side); the "Weston
for Fiscal Responsibility" speaker also has children in school and
asked about computer teaching staff as well as controlling costs;
at the right is a P.T.O. room parent who spoke eloquently for smaller
class sizes. Two speakers not shown.
NEW BOARD LEADERSHIP ELECTED UNANIMOUSLY
BOARD OF EDUCATION
ELECTIONS MONDAY, NOV. 16, 2009: (l to r) Ellen Uzenoff elected
Vice-Chair., Phil Schaefer now Chair., Dick
Bochinski, Secretary/Treasurer. Policy maintained on class size,
emphasizing no more than 20 in
Kindergarten or first grade plus renewal of policy in W.H.S. and desire
to have smaller class size someday. Plus reminder of Saturday,
Nov. 21, 2009 meeting open for public input 10:30am to 12 noon, at the
W.I.S. cafetorium.
"TRI-BOARD MEETING" NOV. 9, 2009 ON
BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS (held in the W.H.S. Conference Room)
Present were: BOARD OF ED - Ellen Uzenoff,
Phil Schaefer, Dick Bochinski, Les Wolf, Sonya Stack, Denise Harvey,
Dana Levin; SELECTMEN - Gayle Weinstein, Dan Gilbert, David
Muller; FINANCE - Mike O'Brien, Mike Carter, Jerry Sargent, Patty
Kopas, Melissa Koller, Bob Atkinson. Staff- Superintendent of
Schools Belair, Dr. Keating plus other staff; TOWN STAFF - Tom
Landry and Rick Darling; and Woody.
When the Board of Education finished its
presentation, which was to explain all the ways they try to save money
(see attached document), Tom Landry then made the Town's case for why
things were not as bad as they might be elsewhere. It was noted
that they had used all of the "one-time" tricks to keep the budget at
zero this past budget season, so this year will be very difficult.
- New Board of
Selectmen intends starting from zero with all of the Town
budgets;
- "Renegotiated
contract with the community." Reduced services, increased
user fees.
- Board of
Finance member suggested that the Police budget was something to
be explained better.
- Both First
Selectman candidates reported that there were houses they
"visited" during the campaign that were empty - no furniture, no
people.
- KAESTLE BOOS
REPORT: School board indicated that they had re-prioritized
projects. First Capital Planning Advisory Committee meeting
coming up Nov. 16 (no notice posted yet...)
- Number one
capital project for the school's is the Middle School roof and
the related projects that should be done at the same time:
this is something that will cost @ $3 million - will we bond for
this only, or do a $10 million bond issue? It was intimated
by Board of Finance members that we should wait at least a year
to do a big bond issue (until some of the older debt gets
reduced) in order to keep a steady level of increase in taxes...
Everyone kept repeating that they thought we
are in for a really nasty budget season.
Westonites for Fiscal Responsibility
were present. Board of Ed urged them to attend the Saturday,
November 21 public meeting at the WIS Cafetorium, 10:30 - 12 noon.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Chair. Ellen Uzenoff asks question of Les Wolf (Dana Levin at his
left), who was the lead negotiator on the AFSCME contract.
Board of Education attended by
"About Town" on September 21, 2009. NOT televised because no one
from the Town showed up to run the equipment.
One thing we noticed was that attendance was only 5 of 7 members were
present. Two Ed Board candidates
were in the audience, but of the two members absent, one was not
running for re-election, the other is.
Reports discussed by staff were most interesting, including a review of
ways the Board has cut their budget over the past 3 years. It was
noted that altho' 13 jobs were eliminated even tho' the student total
was down by 13 (estimated), the Board and staff were determined to
curtail expense and rethink how they deliver service for the
future. Discussion of student achievements ensued, with
description of performance indepth measure of both CAPT and Mastery
Tests - a long report was distributed.
To that end, discussion of the possibility of a fuel cell servicing the
Middle School and the High School was discussed by Don Gary of the
Building Committee.
Review of student registration k-12 showed that 30 students had
transferred from private school and 13 more were out-of-country
move-ins. The total number of new students was 104.
Five Weston teachers announce
retirements
Weston FORUM
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Jerome Belair, superintendent of Weston schools, reported that five
teachers have announced their retirement at the conclusion of the
2008-09 school year.
Each of these individuals has made a significant contribution to the
Weston school system, Mr. Belair said, adding that they have a combined
total of 159 years of teaching service among them.
Those who have announced their retirement include:
• John Billus, teacher of French at Weston High
School.
• Edward Siegal, teacher of English at Weston High
School.
• Frances Ryerson, instrumental music teacher at
Weston Middle School and Weston Intermediate School.
• Robert Mitchell, art teacher at Weston High School.
• Linda Froschauer, K-5 science/math curriculum
instructional leader.
Ellen Uzenoff, school board chairman, said her children have had many
of these teachers over the years and “we all have been very fortunate
to have their skills and special talents here in Weston.”
Ms. Uzenoff extended her congratulations and commended the teachers on
their outstanding teaching and many accomplishments.
Special Meeting of the Board of Education, November 17, 2008 at 7pm at
the Weston Library Community Room - report on Transportation Study
From the Board of Education website...
Welcome to the Weston Public Schools,
The success of Weston Public Schools is directly connected to a
dedicated and talented staff, active and strong parental involvement,
and a supportive and generous community. As an award-winning school
district with a long tradition of excellence in education, the Jerome
Belair, Superintendent of SchoolsWeston Public Schools values a system
of continuous improvement that permeates every aspect of its work in
order to become a center of educational excellence. We are committed to
providing a challenging curriculum, skilled instruction, and a learning
environment that responds to individual student academic needs. Our
work is guided by research and the belief that every student is capable
of attaining high levels of educational achievement in preparation for
meeting the rigorous demands of the twenty-first century.
We believe in the unlimited potential of our students by respecting and
developing their unique learning styles and interests. We set
challenging and demanding expectations for performance and support all
students to achieve high standards. We foster a culture of civility
where students and adults are treated with fairness, are respected for
their contributions, and are celebrated for their successes. We believe
in using data to guide decisions and to improve student learning,
differentiate instruction, and promote social, emotional and physical
growth.
Our work together requires teamwork, collaboration and dedication. We
believe in the value of collaboration and communication. We believe
that commitment to and implementation of continuous learning lead to
improved student performance. We believe in the power of personal
connections and relations between staff, students, parents and the
community.
I am fortunate to be part of a professional community that approaches
its work with optimism and a tremendous sense of possibility. I
lead a team of dedicated administrators, talented teachers and
committed support staff, involved families and supportive community
members, working in partnership to strengthen educational excellence.
As we look to the future, we need to set clearly defined goals and
measure how well we are meeting these goals. Great organizations have
clarity of purpose, common goals, shared commitment, and are
results-oriented. I look forward to working with each of you to provide
the best educational experiences for our youth.
In the words of John Bartlett, "The secret of success is constancy of
purpose.
I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for the Weston
Public Schools!
Respectfully,
Jerome R. Belair (NEW SUPERINTENDENT)
Superintendent Lynne Pierson resigns
Weston FORUM
Jan 29, 2008
In a letter dated Jan. 27, Lynne Pierson, Weston's superintendent of
schools, submitted her resignation to the Board of Education.
Dr. Pierson was granted a one-year unpaid leave of absence in July 2007
to take on a position with th