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This weekly segment by Democrats for Education Reform CT looks at the top education stories Democrats are watching, providing bite-sized analysis and links to recent articles. This week’s stories: the new faces in ed policy, news on regionalization, and some quick local stories.
An Early Look at the Legislative Session
There are a lot of new faces in 2019: Governor, legislators, Education Committee co-chairs, and anticipated new members on the State Board of Education–just to name a few. What policy ideas will gain prominence under their leadership? Our new DFER CT Playbook provides a brief overview of these new faces and ideas.
Reactions to Regionalization
The idea of regionalization has remained a prominent headline over the past week, with Senator Duff, Senator Haskell, and Representative Dathan holding a Community Conversation in Norwalk on the issue. Senator Duff, who co-sponsored SB 457 with Senator Osten, described the bill as an effort to reduce administrative costs while increasing outcomes for students. A Hartford Courant story this week also covered Senator Osten speaking about the matter with the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.
Proposed bills (Senator Looney’s and Senator Duff and Osten’s)
Fast Takes on CT Ed
Uconn’s board has appointed a new President, Thomas C. Katsouleas, to replace outgoing President Susan Herbst. The search process was supported by Governor Lamont, who interviewed the two finalists for the role last month. In exciting local news, Norwalk’s Tracey Elementary was designated a “School of Character,” an accolade distinguishing the school for its commitment to social-emotional education. Two magnet schools in New London also received national recognition as as “Schools of Excellence”. Congratulations to these schools for an exciting start to the new year. Keep making CT proud!