Executive Director’s Report Attachment G A MONTHLY UPDATE BY THE CAPITOL REGION EDUCATION COUNCIL October 2014 Executive Director’s In This Issue Message District and School News .......2-3 Bruce E. Douglas, Ph.D. Recognition and Honors ............ 4 “The cause of the growing opportunity and achievement Events and Updates.................5-8 divide [in the U.S.] is becoming clearer. In certain circles it has become fashionable to deride public schools as hopelessly inept, dragged down by incompetent teachers and stifling bureaucracies. For sure, many schools need to improve. But a close look at the data indicates that ever- widening achievement gaps are growing fastest outside of school. They are growing on suburban playing fields and and at robotics competitions, at after-school math programs and specialized sleep-away camps, and elbow to elbow with parents around dining room tables all across America. The class-based education gap is accelerating not because teachers are lazy or because America’s schools suddenly forgot how to churn out Horatio Alger success stories. And poor and working-class kids are not learning less than before, they are actually learning more. Instead, the class- based education gap is accelerating because upper-middle- class children are accelerating faster, pulling away from their less privileged peers thanks to increasingly engaged parents and a cottage industry of coaches, counselors, tutors, and trainers.” —Eric Schwarz “The Opportunity Equation: How Citizen Teachers Are Combating the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools” District and School News iPads Replacing Textbooks in Cromwell High School Classrooms CROMWELL—As part of its Freshmen In some cases, it has sparked what Academy program, the school Talty described as “device envy” on administration presented an iPad to the part of other students – and incoming freshmen. teachers – who don’t have access to To date, the experiment seems to be the same advanced technology. working admirably. That prompted questions from Board “It’s been very successful,” of Finance members about if and Superintendent of Schools Paula when the school system might be Talty told the Board of Finance. able to shift away from oversized printed textbooks. “We went about this the right way, and seems as if everyone loves it,” There have been concerns expressed Talty said. about young children straining under the weight of book-filled backpacks. “There have been no losses so far and no thefts,” Talty said. “We are looking to transition very notebooks. quickly to electronic textbooks” So far, “The students have been “We hired someone with Apple wherever possible, Talty said. incredibly respectful” of their electronic experience who knew who to prevent the notebooks, Talty said. As to those bulging backpacks, Talty kids from disabling the system or adding said causal inspections of their contents And, she said, they “are actively engaged inappropriate apps,” Talty said. indicate that more than books, students in the Freshmen Academy,” which is Talty said she has been surprised at two often are carrying clothes and shoes in intended to help incoming students things since the program began. their backpacks. develop more independent thinking and improve their skill levels. “First, it’s been a most positive surprise Some may remember a time before how quickly the students have adapted electronic technology when teachers When school opened, the school to the use of these devices as an were the ones who got the apples. department distributed 161 Apple iPads instructional tool,” Talty said. and then had sessions with both parent Source- The Middletown Press article by Jeff Mill and students to discuss the security “Secondly is the ease with which the features that have been included in the students are using technology,” Talty said. Free Meals at Three Elementary Schools in East Hartford EAST HARTFORD — Breakfast and lunch The board voted at the meeting to allow at the three elementary schools should will be served free to students at three the three schools to participate in the receive a letter in coming weeks of the town’s elementary schools as program, called the Community Eligibility informing them about the program, part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Provision. Mainuli said.” program approved by the school board The program is available to schools where Source- Hartford Courant article by Hilda Munoz this week. more than 40 percent of students qualify The program is expected to take effect for free or reduced lunch, Mainuli said. Oct. 1 at Anna E. Norris Elementary The meal menu at those schools will School, Franklin H. Mayberry Elementary be the same as the rest of the school School and Silver Lane Elementary district, he said. School. “It’s the same program, the same “It’s a new opportunity for the State meals. All it does is recognize the overall of Connecticut, as well as other states percentage of free and reduced families around the country. We thought it would at those particular schools,” he said. be worth taking advantage of,” Paul Mainuli, director of business services, The only additional cost would be for a said during a school board meeting la carte items offered at the school or Tuesday. additional meals. Parents of students Courant Hartford The credit: Photo 2 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – October 2014 Connecticut’s Municipal Lobby Focuses on Education Funding In its second report of the campaign season, Connecticut’s largest municipal lobby released a document focused on major issues facing pre-K through 12th- grade public school education funding. Kevin Maloney, a spokesman for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said Monday that the state is currently underfunding the Education Cost Sharing formula by more than $600 million and it has failed to address the skyrocketing cost of special education, which now accounts for $1.8 billion of the $10 billion in local public education funds. “Right now, the towns and cities pay the majority of the costs — slightly more than 50 percent — while the state pays about he encourages candidates running for Ben Barnes, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s 42 percent,” Maloney said. public office to use to discuss the issue, budget director who co-chaired that task But it’s unclear whether the legislature were checked against the numbers used force, said the recommendations were will tackle the education cost sharing by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice similar to what the governor included formula this year or wait to hear what the in Education Funding in their lawsuit in his budget that year. Barnes said he court decides. against the state. hasn’t begun creating the budget for the next biennium, but added that the The trial for the landmark education “We worked closely with CCJEF,” Maloney said. “We shared the report with them administration has increased education funding lawsuit filed by the Connecticut funding every year. Coalition for Justice in Education Funding to make sure our facts are in line with was supposed to start Sept. 9, but it theirs.” “I think the track record speaks for was moved to Jan. 6, 2015, after the He said they feel “like we have dual itself,” Barnes said. November election. voices advancing the same issue.” Jennifer Alexander, president and CEO Maloney said the report issued Monday And while there’s widespread agreement of ConnCAN, said there’s universal addresses a lot of the detail that the education funding formula is broken, agreement that the funding formula is “underpins this court case.” there’s no agreement yet about how to broken, but there have been few changes over the years. The Connecticut Coalition for Justice fix it. in Education Funding sued the state in In 2011, the Connecticut Coalition for “We’re still left with a formula that’s not 2005, claiming it was not adequately Achievement Now helped draft a 116- being faithfully followed and doesn’t funding pre-K through 12th-grade public page bill that would have changed the direct funds where kids need them,” school education. Jim Finley, the former Education Cost Sharing formula to Alexander said Monday. executive director of CCM, is now a make ensure that public school funding She speculated that even if a judge lobbyist for the Connecticut Coalition for followed the child to their school of decides more money is needed, it will Justice in Education Funding. choice, instead of staying with the home likely be left up to the state legislature “Certainly, there’s got to be some district. The bill also took into account to distribute those funds in a way that progress made or that court case various poverty measures. But the makes sense. Education Committee declined to hold a is going to continue to dog us “There’s a growing sense that the public hearing on the bill. moving forward. It’s worthwhile for formula as its exists is not working,” the Connecticut economy and for Instead, Malloy created a task force Alexander said. Connecticut local governments to have to look at the state’s funding formula Source- CT Newsjunkie article by Christine Stuart the best possible local public education for education. They issued a report in system,” Maloney said, adding that the January 2012. numbers in the latest report, which EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – October 2014 3 Recognition and Honors Open Choice Alumna Profile: Dr. Dayna J.A. London Dayna J. A. London is a mirroring and preparing me 1996 graduate of the for the diverse world we live Hartford Region Open in,” said London. Choice Program, formerly After receiving her high Project Concern, and is school diploma, London a proud alumna of West earned degrees from Hartford Public Schools. Spelman College in Georgia, In 1984, London enrolled Meharry Medical College as a first-grade student in Tennessee, and the at West Hartford’s Duffy University of Pennsylvania.