News Articles

Parents' Role Seen As Vital To Change—School Chief Begins PR Job: Selling Plan
By Robert A. Frahm, Hartford Courant, May 24, 2007

Adamowski told the board that replacing failing schools with high-quality alternatives is the central objective of his plan. It would give students across
the city a broad array of options ranging from all-boys or all-girls academies to schools focusing on careers such as nursing, teaching or financial services.

"What we have now, for the most part, is not working," said board member Andrea Comer. "Let's not pretend by making drastic changes we're making things worse. By creating more choices, at least, hopefully, we will address more parents' concerns. I think we're taking a step in the right direction."

New York Eighth Graders Show Gains in Reading
By David M. Herszenhorn, New York Times, May 23, 2007

The number of eighth graders reading at grade level or above in New York State climbed impressively this year for the first time since 1999, when the state adopted tougher educational standards and its modern testing system, according to scores released yesterday from the annual statewide English
exam.

“We have deplored low performance in middle grades in the past,” said the state education commissioner, Richard P. Mills, at a news conference in Albany. “But when you see improvement and you call and find out that people earned improvement by doing the right things, we have an obligation to celebrate that.”

Schools Facing Radical Change—City Superintendent Will Seek Biggest Overhaul In Decades
By Robert A. Frahm, Hartford Courant, May 23, 2007

School Superintendent Steven J. Adamowski's plan would radically alter the 24,000-student system by creating choices such as a year-round elementary school, all-boys or all-girls academies and high schools specializing in subjects ranging from nursing to military studies.

"This is an issue of closing the achievement gap," Adamowski said. The traditional 20th-century model of schools, he added, "is not working for us."

News Articles

A Program Left Behind—The State's 19 Vo-Ag Centers Are Underfunded, Over-Enrolled
By Lynn Doan, Hartford Courant, May 21, 2007

Many of the state's 19 vo-ag centers are reporting the same struggles.

Programs may have the space to expand but not enough teachers.
Center directors say sparse funding has caused their teaching staffs to dwindle, even as interest in the programs and job demand from the state's $2.2 billion agricultural industry are exploding.

"As we look to increase support for the local school systems, vo-ag schools must be included on the list," Fleischmann said. "These vocational
agricultural high schools are a very important piece of Connecticut's
educational fabric."

Adult education gives younger students more options
By Maria Garriga, New Haven Register, May 20, 2007

The Adult Education Centers are attracting teens who would otherwise be lost to the educational system. Some of the students say the caring teachers are a big draw.

Tiffany Sanjurjo, 17, left a small New Haven magnet school as a junior. "The school was a big front. The teachers were suppose to care. They
didn’t," she said. But her parents would not allow her to attend one of the
city’s major high schools because they were concerned she would be drawn into altercations.

"I had an attitude, but I’ve grown a lot here. This school has helped me more than anything," she said. "The teachers are like a second set of parents. They will stay late. They will go out of their way for you. They don’t move on in class until everybody understands."

Her affection for the school is so great that she rushed to return after having a baby and gallbladder surgery four days apart. Her surgery was March 12. "I came back a week after my surgery because I wanted to catch up on my work and make sure I didn’t get too far behind."

Adult education graduates commended for earning degrees
By Roxanne Mansfield, Norwich Bulletin, May 21, 2007

Family and friends gathered to watch as students accepted general education diplomas and high school credit diplomas.

"Our teachers feel privileged to be a part of your lives," Mary Berry, director of the Norwich Regional Adult Education Cooperative, told the 2007 graduates. Berry said this year's class was the largest over which she has presided.

"High school wasn't for me," he said. "I felt like there was a focus on everything but education. I found the GED test more challenging."

Giving immigrants a chance
By Mary E. O'Leary, New Britain Herald, May 21, 2007

The confluence of immigrant gains at the national, state and local levels this week has advocates hopeful for major changes on the horizon.

Magdalia Astro, 19, a Peruvian immigrant who graduated from Cooperative High School in New Haven, said she would be able to access courses at Gateway Community College for one-third the price she now pays if the
bill were to pass.

"We can't continue to be indifferent to what is happening in America's classrooms," with successful immigrants stymied from advancing beyond high school, Reinoso said.

"These kids will serve as a catalyst to other kids. Hopefully this will become a domino effect in their own immediate community. We're talking about poor kids who are first generation going to college who are future taxpayers," Reinoso said.

Principals Act in Plan to Reduce Bureaucracy
By Julie Boseman, New York Times, May 18, 2007

More than a third of New York City’s public school principals embraced a challenge from Chancellor Joel I. Klein to free themselves as much as
possible from outside oversight under a new reorganization and become full stewards of their individual schools, the city said yesterday.

The new system is the cornerstone of an effort by Mr. Klein to promote
accountability and transparency in the school system by forcing principals to shoulder more responsibility for their own schools.

The results of the principals’ selections were announced just one day after their union voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract that would allow significant bonuses and raise their average salary by more than 23 percent. By the 2009-10 school year, principals could earn two bonuses — $25,000 for leading a troubled school, and a $25,000 performance bonus — potentially pushing some annual salaries beyond $200,000.

Opinions & Editorials

Our view: State must step up to fund schools; towns squeezed
Editorial, Norwich Bulletin, May 21, 2007

The struggle between funding education and keeping property taxes reasonable is in full swing in towns all across Eastern Connecticut.
It's a sad time. The choice pits the needs of children against the needs of
the rest of the community. Often the loudest voices are those of the senior
citizens on fixed incomes.

Thanks to state and federal mandates and contracts for associated unions, superintendents have very little wiggle room in their budgets. Add to that the burden many Eastern Connecticut towns, such as Colchester, Grisiwold and Sterling, are facing with overcrowding and the costs associated with new schools, and there is a recipe for disaster.

The only ones who can fix this are the members of the General Assembly.

ConnCAN in the News

Educators left in suspense
By Randy James, Republican-American, May 17, 2007

The bill, which would take effect before the 2008-09 school year, is a response to concerns that many suspended students treat their punishment as vacation and lose valuable classroom time. Public schools statewide issued 77,000 out-of-school suspensions last year, officials say.

The issue has drawn special scrutiny in Waterbury, where nearly half of the city's high school students have been suspended out of school this year. "There's an incentive for some students to purposefully get themselves suspended so they don't have to get to school," said Rep. David K. Labriola, R-Naugatuck, a supporter. "This bill would eliminate that problem."

ConnCAN, an education research and advocacy group, also backs the idea."Often the kids who end up in out-of-school suspension fall behind," Executive Director Alex Johnston said. "I think this is a practice we need to move away from."

More Charter School Proposals Sought
By Maria Garriga, New Haven Register, May 15, 2007

In response to several legislative bills calling for new charter schools, the Department of Education has put out a request for proposals that could lead to two more schools opening as early as fall. The state has 16 charter schools, each of which runs independently of local school boards. The state gives them flexibility in curriculum and structure.

“The state of Connecticut is funny in that it approves schools before it approves funding. Last year, the state approved four new charter schools but only had funding for two,” said Marc Porter Magee, spokesman for ConnCAN. Magee said ConnCAN estimates show that three students applied for every one of those 3,600 slots, suggesting an overall demand for about 10,000 slots in charter schools.

Opinions & Editorials

Magnets Not Closing Color Gap
By David Medina, Hartford Courant, May 16, 2007

Sheff v. O'Neill guaranteed Hartford children pleasant new learning environments; higher, rigorous expectations for success; and resources to achieve that goal. Students and their families should take full advantage of the opportunity. Connecticut's neglectful track record in this area suggests that they shouldn't count on it happening again without another big lawsuit.

Some speculate that whites will gravitate to Hartford magnets as the schools burnish longer track records of excellence. That's heartwarming. But getting a better education now is much more important than ending racial and economic isolation. If whites come, they come. If they don't, let it be their loss.

News Articles
Those Tax Hikes? Forget It, Says Rell
By Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, May 16, 2007

Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who last week backed away from a plan to balance her budget by increasing the state income tax, declared Tuesday that the legislature can pass her budget with "no tax increases whatsoever."

The statement marked a major turnaround. Rell has officially dropped plans to increase the state income tax by 10 percent over two years and boost the cigarette tax to $2 per pack, up from $1.51 per pack.

May 14, 2007

News Articles

Summer School Focus: Reading
Tests This Month Will Determine Which K-3 Students Must Attend 14-Day Session
By Robert A. Frahm, Hartford Courant, May 11, 2007

The city's school system is making the summer classes mandatory for struggling readers. Under a new state law, school districts are required to offer summer classes to students who are substantially below grade level.

Just 15 percent of Hartford's third-graders met the state goal on the reading portion of last year's Connecticut Mastery Test, the lowest proportion of any school system in the state.

English Language Learners as Pawns in the School System’s Overhaul
By Samuel G. Freedman, New York Times, May 9, 2007

Just three years ago, Columbus was a traditional neighborhood high school with 548 ELLs among its 3,491 students. Fast-forward to the current school
year. The Columbus building is now known formally as the Columbus campus. It includes a downsized version of the former high school and four minischools, part of the Department of Education’s adoption of the small-school model as the answer to what ails secondary education in New York City.

This much is certain: With the pressure of No Child Left Behind, which uses standardized test scores to determine compliance with the law, what school would seek out new immigrants, who may not score well? Columbus, after all, has failed to make “adequate yearly progress” in language arts.

“The situation at Columbus is, unfortunately, not unique,” said Ujju Aggarwal, an organizer for the Center for Immigrant Families, an advocacy group. “Rather, it points to a proactive strategy fueled by No Child Left Behind, to continue to marginalize low-income children of color. By dismantling schools that have historically been under-resourced into smaller schools under the pretense of ‘choice,’ immigrant children continue to be displaced by our public education system.”

50 Years Later, Little Rock Can’t Escape Race
By Adam Nossiter, New York Times, May 9, 2007

In the latest clash, white parents pack school board meetings to support the embattled superintendent, Roy Brooks, who is black. The blacks among the school board members look on grimly, determined to use their new majority to oust him. Whites insist that test scores and enrollment have improved under the brusque, hard-charging Mr. Brooks; blacks on the board are furious that he has cut the number of office and other non-teaching jobs and closed some schools.

Dr. Greene, of the University of Arkansas, said he feared that the
dispute was really about patronage, not educational quality. “I think it would be hard to make strong criticisms of the superintendent on educational grounds,” he said.

Black parents remained largely silent at the board meeting. But several other black parents interviewed as they picked up their children at Dunbar Middle School were not following the board majority’s line.

Opinions & Editorials

Course for Families Enhances Math Test Scores
By Cara Bafile, Education World, May 2007

The process prompted Ladysmith Elementary School to create a preparatory course for standardized tests that focused on math skills. The weekly course was held on Tuesday night for six weeks. Charipar organized the classes and sent reminders home with students. The course had two main components: sharing test-taking strategies, which were taught by Charipar, and practicing with actual math questions, which was handled by classroom teachers.

"The key is that parents were taught, along with their children,
strategies for test taking," Charipar shared. "Not the least of those strategies
is the basic need for children to have a good night's sleep and breakfast in the morning."

News Articles

Column: A pushy mother's work is never done, especially when it comes to education
By Elizabeth Ogsa, Norwich Bulletin, May 10, 2007

But Lucy's thoughts are more than humor. The influence of mothers on the success of their children is profound. The Rand Institute, perhaps the most respected organization in educational research, points to the correlation of mothers' ages and education with student achievement as demonstrated on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (Rand, 1994).

As we move into May and June, we find ourselves celebrating occasions of motherhood and education. When the two converge, we have a powerful formula for student achievement.

Thanks to all mothers who are wise enough to push. You're a factor in your children's success that is second to none.

Budget Plan Aims To Put Money Right Into Schools
By Robert A. Frahm, Hartford Courant, May 9, 2007

The proposed $272 million budget, a 4.1 percent increase over this year's budget, includes a recommendation for 17 new teaching jobs for freshman classes at the city's three large high schools. It is part of Adamowski's plan to reverse a pattern that sees two out of three students drop out of school and leaves many of the remaining students unprepared for college or work.

"We cannot tolerate a system where only one in three children has a future by virtue of the schools they attend."

Adamowski, who took over the 22,000-student system last fall, also has proposed cutting 20 central office jobs and shifting about $12 million in federal Title I money directly to school principals to use as they see fit.

4th-graders sought for planned school
By Linda Conner Lambeck, Connecticut Post Online, May 7, 2007

BRIDGEPORT — A charter school modeled after Amistad Academy in
New Haven begins sending out applications today to parents of fourth-graders who attend 10 schools in the city's East Side and East End.
The school, to be called Achievement First-Bridgeport, is expected to open next fall with 84 fifth-graders in space leased from by Holy Rosary Church on East Washington Avenue.

Eventually, Achievement First- Bridgeport intends to grow to a 720-student school accommodating grades kindergarten through eight.

Charter School Closing Doors—Money Runs Out Before Year Ends
By Robert A Frahm, Hartford Courant, May 5, 2007

Officials of the Cross-Cultural Academy of Arts & Technology, an experimental school that opened last fall, told parents this week the school could no longer afford to pay its teachers and would be closing with six weeks left in the regular school year.

Charters are part of a national reform movement designed to encourage innovation by allowing educators, community leaders and entrepreneurs to operate publicly supported schools without many of the regulations governing traditional public schools.

Opinions & Editorials

Provide More Aid to Charters
Forum, New Haven Register, May 9, 2005
By Carlton L. Highsmith

If all of Connecticut's public schools performed as well as the state's public charter schools, the percentage of blacks students performing at grade level would jump from 28 percent to 54 percent, substantially reducing Connecticut's achievement gap.

Those who have the power to bring about change are responsible for giving every child in our state equal opportunities for success with no excuses. Fully funding public charter schools and helping to expand these educational success stories are the right place to start in keeping this promise to our children.