CT Independent News Feed

FOI Legislation Pits Donovan Against Malloy

2012-02-23T03:39:36Z

Since the Supreme Court issued a decision that requires municipalities to redact the addresses of police officers, correction officers, and other “protected classes” in public documents, local officials and lawmakers have been searching for a legislative solution.

Damn log

2012-02-22T23:25:00Z

As if singlespeeders needed another reason to feel superior, this happened to me today:

Luckily, that's a very popular Specialized derailleur hanger. Unlike last time I did this, it appears I broke the derailleur, too. I broke the old Dura Ace derailleur on my technium in the fall and bent the hanger (steel frame) and I still have got around to realigning the frame. Anybody want to let me borrow their alignment tool?

I have a replace old XTR derailleur and a replacement old Dura Ace, but they're getting harder and harder to find. I need to be more careful.

Like this beaver:

Lawmakers Focus On Priorities Other Than Education

2012-02-22T18:30:47Z

When the four legislative leaders were asked Wednesday to give their top legislative priority for the session, only Senate Minority Leader John McKinney began with a desire to work with the governor on his education proposals.

PELTO: "Malloy's "Strange Love" for Charter Schools"

2012-02-22T18:42:49Z

Cross post from Jon Pelto's Wait What?

Yesterday the New York Times ran an editorial entitled "Shuttering Bad Charter Schools"

In which the said "state governments and local districts need to do a much better job overseeing these schools, which now educate more than two million students. When weak charters stay open, students are deprived and public money is wasted."

A few hours later Governor Malloy was calling for a record investment in Connecticut's Charter Schools and fund to open more.

If you read his testimony you won't see the following expert from a highly critical State Department of Education report.

"The Connecticut State Board Department of Education wrote "The pattern of employing non-certified teachers at Amistad Academy [and Elm City Prep - both AF schools] is a significant cause of concern. The Connecticut State Department of Education has worked with [Achievement First] for a considerable period of time to resolve its teacher certification violations. Despite ongoing discussions with the school on the vital importance of upholding the state law on teacher certification, the issues had not been completely corrected. The Connecticut charter school accountability process is designed to ensure compliance with state and federal law and administrative regulations. Amistad Academy's [and AF's Elm City Prep] chronic noncompliance on teacher certification compromises the principles of charter school accountability." June 2009

Why didn't Governor Malloy raise the issue of Achievement First's unwillingness to meet Connecticut law.

Because the following year Achievement First got the law changed. Connecticut law required that every school ensure that every teacher we certified to teach within one year of joining the state. It was - and is - a law that applies to every public school in Connecticut - except for Charter Schools who had an amendment adopted that said they - and they alone - can have 30% of the staff non-certified.

And it doesn't stop there.

Read more below the fold...
Under Connecticut law, Charter schools must provide serve anyone and yet.

Achievement First - the Charter School Management Company that runs the plurality of charter schools in Connecticut - (as well as some of the state's independent charter schools) serve for less Latino students then they are supposed to if they are truly there to provide equal opportunity for all children.
Achievement First (as well as some of the independent charter schools) serves far less ELL or English Language Learners.
Achievement First (as well as some of the independent charter schools) serve far less students (Latino or otherwise) who go home to households where English is not the spoken language.
Achievement First (as well as some of the independent charter schools) serve fewer students who are poor as measured by the number who receive free or reduced lunch.
Achievements First (as well as some of the independent charter schools) serve students that have far fewer special education needs.

Malloy says the charter schools should do more to attract and retain under-represented "at risk" students - but the change should begin with the NEW charter schools that he plans to fund - with no required change for the existing ones.

The strategy, tactics and messages remain the same. Charter schools are not standard public schools. They do not have elected boards of education, they are not held to the same basic standards, they are allowed to unofficially cherry pick the students they want and "out migrate" those they don't.

The fact is charter schools are not being held accountable in the same way district public schools are and we can be pretty sure that now that one of Achievement First's founders is the Commissioner of Education - we won't be seeing a lot more criticism of Achievement First.

Now take a look at yesterday's New York Times editorial

February 22, 2012

Shuttering Bad Charter Schools

"The charter school movement has expanded over the last 20 years largely on this promise: If exempted from some state regulations, charters could outperform traditional public schools because they have flexibility and can be more readily tailored to the needs of students. Another selling point is that these schools are supposed to be periodically reviewed when they renew their operating permits - and easily shut down if they fail."

...

"The study raises troubling questions about the management practices of the oversight groups. Nearly a third of charter authorizers have not established clear revocation criteria; fewer than half have the kinds of strong, independent review panels the association recommends; and about only half issue annual reports that show the schools how they are doing.

State governments and local districts need to do a much better job overseeing these schools, which now educate more than two million students. When weak charters stay open, students are deprived and public money is wasted."

For the full Editorial go to:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/opinion/shuttering-bad-charter-schools.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Price Gouging, Take Two

2012-02-22T16:29:30Z

Democratic legislators are calling for bipartisan support of a bill that would prevent price gouging during weather emergency – but contractors say the bill’s language is unfairly vague.

Interest in Landlording

2012-02-22T14:17:34Z

Landlords are required to follow rules while handling the money of their tenants. One of them relates to the security deposits that they collect when someone first moves in. Tenants are supposed to earn interest on their deposits at a rate defined by the state.

For many years (since 2002) the state held the required security deposit interest rate at 1.5%. This page on the CT Department of Banking site shows the historical interest rates for a wide variety of deposits held in the state of Connecticut. As most everyone knows, it’s been really tough to find a 1.5% interest rate for deposits over the past few years. So landlords have been out of pocket each year to make up the difference. It’s not like it’s a huge amount, the entire 1.5% on a $3,000 security deposit would be $45, but still.

The state reduced the rate dramatically in 2012 to 0.16%. This is more in line with the current interest rate environment, so in that sense it’s long overdue. That same $3,000 security deposit will now only earn $4.80 per year.

But the bigger question is whether or not your landlord is actually paying interest. We would hope that the larger, professional organizations know about the law and comply with it. But the mom-and-pop landlords may not actually know what they’re supposed to be doing. We’re frequently surprised at how fast and loose some landlords seem to run their businesses.

Keeping up with the various rules regarding landlording was one of the main reasons we exited the business after only two years. It really is a commitment to do it right, and for us to be renting a single unit just didn’t make sense. We could see how it would be different if we made that our full-time job, or hired out the management to professionals, but neither of those options were right for us.

It’s actually a good time to be a multi-family property buyer right now. Prices are down overall, and in the more urban towns there are plenty of opportunities for distressed buildings. Many need a cash investment to bring them up to rentable condition, but that’s part of the reason they’re so cheap. People with cash to invest (and who want to earn more than the 0.1% the banks offer) may want to consider real estate. But keep in mind that it’s a tough business that will require time and attention.

Teacher Unions Reluctant To Support Tenure, Collective Bargaining Changes

2012-02-22T04:21:57Z

It took a total of two weeks for the state’s two teacher unions to tell lawmakers what they really think about Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s education bill. They don’t support parts of it.

Esty Goes Before Nominations Committee Again, Talks Storm Response

2012-02-22T10:30:13Z

When Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Daniel C. Esty sat through his first nomination hearing almost a year ago, he couldn’t have predicted how much time he’d spend on storm response, but it was a prominent topic at his second confirmation hearing.

Charter Schools Thank Malloy For Funding

2012-02-22T00:32:26Z

Wearing shirts that said, “Charter Schools Are Public Schools,“ a group of parents, teachers, and students from the state’s 17 charter schools came to the Capitol to help Gov. Dannel P. Malloy make his case to the General Assembly.

Tenure Dig Catches Up With Malloy

2012-02-21T20:55:16Z

HARTFORD—As heated hearings begin on his proposed teacher tenure reform, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was hit with a question: Has he been telling the truth about how the system works now? Or is he vilifying teachers?

Supers, Boards of Ed Tackle Education Funding

2012-02-21T18:57:32Z

They appreciate that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy maintained his promise to fund the Education Cost Sharing grant at the same or higher levels as last year, but two groups expressed concerns about the viability of the formula.

VIDEO STREAM: Education Committee Public Hearing 02.22.12

2012-02-22T23:38:34Z

Video via CT-N.
MOBILE: Apple | Android

The hearing is over.

It's on!

2012-02-21T16:27:00Z

For those fortunate enough to miss past inceptions of the Detour de CT, 2012 offers you another chance to end your lucky streak. But, now it's time to do your part to vote early and often for this year's date (late April/early May) at the super official ride website.

Gardening in Greater Hartford

2012-02-21T14:37:57Z

The snowless winter has made sledding nearly impossible this season. We got a few runs in after the Halloween storm, and a few more after a modest snowfall in January, but since then the sleds have been idle.

Instead we’ve been thinking about spring and the upcoming gardening season. And it seems like others are on the same page. Last week we learned about an updated plant hardiness map from the USDA. The map for Connecticut shows that the Greater Hartford area falls in either the 6a or 6b zone depending on the local conditions.

This version of the map is more detailed than the USDA has been able to put out in the past. They have made an effort to identify the mean lowest daily temperature for everywhere in the country, which is apparently the critical factor in whether plants will survive the winter. Their website shows static maps for entire states, and you can also enter your zip code and get the zone for your precise location.

We were out working on the yard this past weekend. Although we do have ambitious gardening plans for the spring, our recent activities were still related to cleaning up the ornamental tree that we lost in October. All that remains is the stump, which is turning out to be more troublesome than we had hoped. Anyway, once we get into planting mode it looks like we’ll be able to select flowers and shrubs for the 6b zone, which should give us a lot of nice options.

More on Malloy's "second thought"

2012-02-21T13:35:16Z

CTNewsJunkie has more on Gov. Malloy's decision not to attend the Connecticut Parents Union/Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst anti-teacher rally.

When the Connecticut Parents Union teamed up with Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst is when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy decided not to attend a March 14 rally being sponsored by the group.
"As much as the governor respects people's rights to be a part of the education dialogue, Ms. Rhee has at times been a divisive figure," Malloy's Senior Communications Adviser Roy Occhiogrosso said Monday. "And the governor is determined to try and have this discussion about education reform in a way that's not divisive."
Rhee has not only talked or joked about taping her students mouths shut during her first year of teaching in Baltimore as part of the Teach for America program, but questions have been raised about test scores when she was the chancellor of the Washington D.C. school system.
Rhee is now the head of StudentsFirst a grassroots group which has helped advocate for more than 50 new education policies in more than a handful of states. She teamed up with the Connecticut Parents Union headed by Gwen Samuel a few weeks ago.

Given Rhee's track record and Connecticut Parents Group history, it's fair to say that Gov. Malloy decision not to attend the anti-teacher rally was the right thing...

Tax Credit Program Will Help Pay The Bills

2012-02-21T10:30:42Z

A new tax credit incorporated in last year’s state budget will help Chintamari Kandel finally pay off some of his household expenses.

OP-ED | Malloy Is Combative, Confident, And Closely Attuned To The World

2012-02-21T10:28:27Z

It was more than three years ago that CTNewsJunkie.com started paying a diverse group of columnists to contribute their opinions to the site. The addition of commentary to an already steady stream of hard news from the Capitol helped the site grow its community of readers, and eventually led to the next logical leap last week when an editorial board was formed.

Malloy Backs Out Of Appearance With Parent Group

2012-02-21T03:24:02Z

When the Connecticut Parents Union teamed up with Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst is when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy decided not to attend a March 14 rally being sponsored by the group.

OP-ED | Throwing Good Teachers Out With The Bath Water?

2012-02-21T10:30:44Z

Experienced teachers produce higher student test scores. So it should be a matter of great concern that there are more novice teachers in our schools now than there were a decade ago. In 1987-88, the most common level of experience for K-12 teachers was 14 years; by 2007-08, it had dropped to 1-2 years. This is a problem, and a big one. But Gov. Dannel P. Malloy doesn’t see it that way.

From the CEA, regarding Malloy's tenure tennis

2012-02-20T19:42:52Z

Dear Connecticut teachers,

We know that many of you are meeting with your local legislators-in the town or city where you vote-to make sure these lawmakers are aware of CEA's positive school reform plan (go to cea.org to read details) as well as the dramatic and disrespectful changes being called for by Governor Dannel P. Malloy in his proposed education overhaul (http://www.cea.org/GovernorBill24.pdf).

To assist you with your all-important advocacy efforts today-whether they be in your hometown with legislators or meetings in Hartford in the weeks ahead, we have specified below critical elements in the governor's proposed education bill raised as Senate Bill #24
1. Disrespects the high standards that teachers meet to maintain their professional status

The governor's bill lowers standards in a long list of ways-many are detailed in this memorandum. Generally, he proposes allowing greater numbers of inexperienced individuals to teach our children, and he makes it easier for out-of-state teachers to migrate to Connecticut. He goes as far as to say that meeting National Board Certification, a universally acknowledged high standard, is no longer a reasonable hurdle to grant Connecticut certification to out-of-state educators.

2. Introduces a new system of state teacher certification and local principal evaluation

The governor's proposals about certification and tenure involve creating a complex system that replaces high objective state standards for teacher certification with a system that ties subjective local evaluations by principals to both teachers' certification and renewable tenure.
Districts would have to base salary schedules on the governor's new certification levels, not education and experience as is done now. There would be an apparent incentive for Boards of Education to set lower salaries for teachers. Moving from one level of certification to the next would be based solely on a principal's evaluation, not taking into account experience or advanced degrees. Teachers' ability to hold a license to work in any district would be determined by one person's judgment. Administrators could demote a teacher to a lower level of certification if she or he doesn't meet specific evaluation ratings. The teacher's salary would change with demotion.

3. Crushes the current teacher certification system and eliminates the master's degree requirement

The governor would set three levels of certificate - initial, professional, and (optional) master educator certificate (eliminates provisional). In doing this, the proposed bill devalues advanced degrees that teachers earn to improve skills.

Perhaps most dramatically, the bill eliminates the requirement for a master's degree, except for the master teacher certificate level. The lack of requirement for a master's degree for a professional certificate would suggest lower salaries for teachers.

4. Establishes new evaluation ratings and ties evaluations to salaries

The bill establishes four ratings to be used for teachers: below standard, developing, proficient, and exemplary. Evaluations would become the basis for salary, the level of certification a teacher could hold and retain, and tenure- all would be based on the judgment of one person in a district. Under the proposal, teachers would move up on the salary scale only if (1) teachers with an initial certificates have a rating of "developing," "proficient" or "exemplary"; (2) teachers with the professional educator certificate or master educator certificate have a rating as "proficient" or exemplary."

5. Changes tenure by weakening due process

Under the proposal, tenure would be obtained (1) during 30 months if (a) teacher has received two exemplary ratings on his/her evaluation and the superintendent offers a contract for the following school year or (2) during 50 months if teacher has received a combination of three "proficient" or "exemplary" ratings on his/her evaluation. With this approach the 40 school months to obtain tenure is eliminated. If a teacher does not receive a combination of three "proficient" or "exemplary" ratings, then the teacher is out after 50 school months, or sooner.
Two of the six reasons for termination have been changed. Reason one is changed from "inefficiency or "incompetence" to "ineffective." The sixth reason is changed to "other due and sufficient cause such as unprofessionalism which may include violations of the code of professional responsibility for educators."
"Ineffectiveness" is defined as (A) being tenured or non-tenured and rated as "below standard" based on evaluations; or (B) tenured and rated as "developing" for two or more consecutive years based on evaluations.

6. Creates experimental programs that will necessitate new employment rules, while squashing proven programs like CALI

One of these new programs is Network Schools which would aim to turn around the state's lowest performing schools and districts, according to the governor. Network Schools would require new turnaround agreements with the State Department of Education (SDE) regarding all aspects of school operation with management "without limitation." A second new school approach in the governor's bill is called a Focus School created in the name of accountability and based on the federal need to classify schools.

Senate Bill #24 also says it is necessary to be consistent with federal regulations for the state to begin classifying schools into five categories based on measures of student achievement and growth in individual schools. The schools that the SDE designates as low achieving would be "subject to intensified supervision and direction by the State Board of Education."

The new school programs give rise to new funding mechanisms and terms such as conditional funding and competitive funding. For example, nearly $40 million will go to new programs in the state's 30 lowest-performing school districts - conditioned upon the districts' implementation of education reform strategies required by the SDE and state commissioner. An additional $4.5 million in competitive funding will be offered to all districts-with a preference to the 30 low-performing districts-to enable even more innovations and so-called deeper reforms.

Finally, at least one successful program is deleted in the bill, the Connecticut Accountability for Learning Initiative (CALI). CEA considers the elimination of CALI a giant step backwards. CALI elimination lays to waste years of teachers' hard work, professional development, and commitment to use student data to close the achievement gap.

7. Minimizes the scope of collective bargaining

The bill requires movement through the salary schedule to be based on a teacher's evaluation. It constricts the dismissal hearing to the "process, not the content" involved in a teacher's evaluation, and restricts the tenure teacher dismissal hearing to only eight hours.
The proposal also essentially nullifies the collective bargaining agreements in schools and districts that become Network Schools and disregards the seniority or tenure status of a teacher. Additionally, the SDE, not local unions and boards of education, would determine incentives for teachers in new Network Schools. Furthermore, the SDE would have power to identify everything from salary bonuses to signing bonuses to housing subsidies for teachers in new Network Schools.

8. Concentrates enormous authority in the hands of the state commissioner of education and the local superintendent of schools

This theme is found throughout the proposed legislation. The state commissioner of education would have the authority to terminate an existing local or regional board of education and appoint new board members. The state commissioner of education would have the power to waive "any rule" that inhibits or hinders the ability of the department to implement new school initiatives.
Local superintendents would no longer be required to be certified. The commissioner would have the sole authority to appoint whomever he deems to be "exceptionally qualified" with no established criteria and regardless of his or her background or qualifications.

9. Relegates teachers' voices to an advisory role in critical decision making

The bill eliminates the requirement that districts have Professional Development (PD) committees with teachers. Districts may use the advice and assistance of teachers in planning PD. The proposal takes away the statutory right of teachers to be on PD committees and gives complete control of PD to the district.
The bill sets specific requirements that PD must meet-a good thing. However, teachers wouldn't have a voice in planning and implementing PD, as the law now requires. When it comes to new state Network Schools, teachers would only advise the SDE on the development and implementation of new incentives for teachers.

10. Changes the basic rights of beginning teachers

Appeals of non-renewal for non-tenured teachers would be eliminated under the governor's bill.
The bill also changes the definition of teacher so that individuals would have to work for an entire year as an at-will employee, rather than the current 90 days, to gain status as a certified professional employee.

11. Expands the role of private and non-profit corporations in public education

The state traditionally has depended on state funds to provide for state and local school programs. The governor's bill carves a new private pathway to funding, thus increasing the influence of private organizations. In the bill, private donations are invited to fund state competitive grants, and the capacity of nonprofit and private organizations are expanded to stimulate teacher advancement and career advancement opportunities in schools. The new private pathway also extends rewards for exemplary schools coming from private donations.

12. Falls short relative to funding and charter school changes

Unlike traditional public schools, which have to take all students, charter schools can continue to exclude some groups of students. The governor's bill only requires new charters to serve ONE or more of the following groups: (i) students with a history of low academic performance, (ii) students who receive free or reduced price lunches pursuant to federal law and regulations, (iii) students with a history of behavioral and social difficulties, (iv) students identified as requiring special education, or (v) students who are English language learners.
Already approved charter schools will not have to be accountable for the success of their documented recruitment and retention practices for priority student populations UNTIL their charter school status is up for renewal before the SDE. The governor's bill calls for increasing the state contribution for charter schools from $9,400 to $11,000 per pupil, with an additional $1,000 per pupil from the local districts, while transferring charter funding to the Education Cost Sharing section of education statutes. In addition, the governor wants to create new incentives for the creation of local charter schools and wants these schools to be eligible for state funding of $3,000 per pupil and a $500,000 start-up grant.

The bill raises a concern that the governor may be retreating on the state's commitment to send the greatest resources to the local districts with the greatest need. CEA has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the potential consequences of proposed funding changes. We have called for and will continue to advocate that legislators increase state funding of local education expenses equitably and target a portion of additional resources toward meeting and sustaining smaller class size goals.

Closing note: It is important that you become very familiar with the positive reform laid out in the CEA reform plan because it is a valid and fair alternative to what is found in Senate Bill #24. We urge you all to stay informed and take very seriously the calls from CEA to mobilize-your future and that of public education for all students depends on each and every one of us. If you have already started contacting your legislators, then please continue. If you are new to advocacy, then please start reaching out to legislators today.

Sincerely,
Phil Apruzzese, CEA President
Mary Loftus Levine, CEA Executive Director