SEPTEMBER 2016 ARTICLES
September 29, 2016
EDUCATION WORLD: ConnCAN’s Jennifer Alexander: 'We Didn’t Need a Judge to Tell Us to Do What’s Right’
“Despite Connecticut’s education issues being well-known by advocates for years—decades even—it took until just this month for such issues to enter the national conversation, and in turn to become a central focus of education reform in general…”
BOSTON GLOBE: A stern warning from the Connecticut bench
“The recent frank rebuke to the Connecticut public school system from a state judge should reverberate in Massachusetts. Connecticut’s unequal public education system is not so different from that of Massachusetts, where per-pupil funding and education outcomes vary widely from district to district. Massachusetts lawmakers know they have a problem on their hands with the current public education funding formula, which has not kept up with the needs of schools…”
NEW TIMES: Education funding a hot topic at Danbury candidates forum
“The state’s formula for dispersing education funding emerged as critical campaign topic at a candidates’ forum Thursday night at Western Connecticut State University…”
HARTFORD COURANT: Ruling Outrages Families Of Students With Disabilities
“Four-year-old Gwendalyn DeLancy has a constellation of cognitive and motor issues as well as cortical visual impairment, a neurological problem that has diminished her ability to see…”
September 28, 2016
New Canaan Patch: 3 Connecticut Schools Named 2016 Blue Ribbon Schools
“U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. today announced the 329 National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2016. Three Connecticut schools were among the 329 named blue ribbon schools…”
September 26, 2016
Connecticut Law Tribune: Conn. Officials to Contest Education Funding Ruling
“State officials announced Thursday that they will appeal a trial judge's landmark ruling last week that called Connecticut's education funding system unconstitutional…”
September 22, 2016
HARTFORD COURANT: Why I Appealed Sweeping CT Education Ruling
“The problems with Connecticut's public education system highlighted by the Superior Court in its recent decision in a case filed by Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding deserve the immediate attention and action of policy-makers at every level of government…”
WHSU: Education Funding Case Headed To Conn. Supreme Court
“Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen says he’s happy the state Supreme Court is taking up a lower court ruling that declared Connecticut’s education funding system unconstitutional…”
August 21, 2016
EDUCATION WEEK: Connecticut Curbs Preschool Suspensions With Mental Health Support
“A Connecticut program that brings mental-health practitioners into preschool classrooms to support teachers has a measurable impact on reducing problem behaviors in young children…”
September 19, 2016
NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Wall Street ratings firm: Connecticut education ruling good for ‘troubled cities’
“Even though the state said it would appeal the ruling, a Wall Street ratings firm said the Sept. 7 decision in Connecticut’s landmark education lawsuit would “benefit financially troubled cities” and boost their sagging bond ratings…”
September 18, 2016
NEW Haven Register: Former Hamden mayor a driving force behind Connecticut education lawsuit
“When word came down recently that a Superior Court judge agreed with an organization fighting for more than a decade that adequate funding is a state constitutional right, Carl Amento couldn’t help but smile…”
September 15, 2016
The New York Times: Connecticut to Appeal Decision in Schools Funding Case
“The State of Connecticut said on Thursday that it would appeal a sweeping ruling in a schools funding case that ordered it to re-examine virtually the entire education system…”
Journal Inquirer: A Lesson On Education
“Area lawmakers universally agree the state’s education system and the way it’s funded are in need of improvement, and are hoping the Department of Education is developing a plan to revamp the Education Cost Sharing grant formula prior to the next legislative session…”
CT MIRROR: Text of the state’s appeal in the school funding case
“Application for certification to appeal pursuant to Connecticut General Statute…”
September 12, 2016
FUSION: The wealthiest state in America just got condemned for how badly it’s educating poor kids
“In what some experts are calling an unprecedented decision, a judge has ruled that Connecticut must overhaul how it funds education to correct profound inequities in student outcomes…”
September 9, 2016
Republican American: Governor, speaker argue over ruling on school funding
“Gov. Dannel P. Malloy cast Wednesday’s landmark court ruling on school funding as a vindication of his education policies and a condemnation of the legislature’s failure to follow his lead…”
September 8, 2016
HARTFORD COURANT: Legislature Must Draft A New Deal For CT Education
“In a broad and lucid indictment of the funding system for education in Connecticut, a state Superior Court judge had the wisdom and courage to call it what it has become: befuddled, misdirected and irrational…”
NBC CONNETICUT: Union Left Scratching Head Following Education Lawsuit Ruling
“The 40,000 member Connecticut Education Association's leadership has far more questions than answers following a judge's ruling yesterday saying the way the state funds local education is inadequate…”
CT POST: After ruling on school finding, officials ponder next step
“The lengthy to-do list the state has been ordered to implement within 180 days — make state school aid fair, raise graduation standards, revamp special education and revise teacher evaluations — has some lawmakers wondering if there is the time and political will to get the job done…”
September 7, 2016
CONNECTICUT LAW TRIBUNE: Conn. Education Funding System Unconstitutional, Judge Finds
“A state court judge has ruled that Connecticut's education funding system is both irrational and unconstitutional. The judge, however, did not question the amount the state spends for education…
EDUCATION WORLD: After Years of Challenges, Decades of an Achievement Gap, Judge Rules CT Education System Unconstitutional
“For Connecticut residents, access to a quality school system is the luck of the draw. For the fortunate, being born in select affluent Fairfield County school districts means having access to not only the best schools in the state, but in the country…”
September 5, 2016
NPR: Preschool Suspensions Really Happen And That's Not OK With ConnecticuT
“Every year, thousands of children are suspended from preschool. Take a second to let that sink in…"
September 1, 2016
CT POST: Hugs, tears and visitors on first day of school
“It was hard to tell who was more excited on the first day of school Thursday, Principal Sherrod McNeill at Franklin School in Stratford or the students he greeted as they arrived…”
NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Federal lawsuit could affect New Haven school choice
“New Haven boasts 27 magnet schools and nine charter schools, but a federal lawsuit brought by 11 parents and students in Bridgeport and Hartford could alter that…”