In this important article, civil rights attorney explains how Governor Malloy switched sides on the funding formula for Connecticut public schools.
What hypocrisy! As mayor of Stamford, he was a plaintiff in the lawsuit. As governor, he now opposes the views he once espoused.
Lecker writes:
“As Stamford’s mayor, Dannel Malloy was an original plaintiff in the pending school funding case, The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Rell, and led the charge to win just and equitable funding for Connecticut schools. Now, Governor Malloy is trying aggressively to get the case dismissed. In doing so, he has exposed his 2012 education reforms as empty promises compared to what Connecticut’s children really need.
“The plaintiffs in CCJEF v. Rell charge that the state is violating the constitutional right of Connecticut’s children to an adequate education by depriving school districts of billions of dollars. Consequently, schools, especially in Connecticut’s neediest districts, cannot afford basic educational tools such as a sufficient number of teachers, reasonable class size, adequate school facilities, services for at-risk children, electives, AP classes, even books, computers and paper.”
Now Governor Malloy claims, with no evidence whatever, that his corporate reform plan focused on testing, accountability, rewards, and punishments, will do the job instead of equitable funding.
What hypocrisy!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Please read Wendy’s article AND the comments.
-KiI$PkokklolOljniuiuoiouuuUJjuuuujuujjIJUUtuUiiIIIiiIIiIIIiiIiiiiiiiiiIiiiIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIiiIiiOiIkohyyhhyyttmkjrtTTttttTtt
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
You know, its funny, here in Ct. there is a lot swirling around public education on the state and local levels. I almost think if the privatization reform movement can be effectively exposed here then the rest of the country just might wake up in time. Public school districts in Bridgeport, Hartford, New London and Windham get almost all of the attention due to political interference and conflict of interest and rising parent and student discontent. However, the mayorally run public school district in New Haven has been flying under the reform-concern radar and may be the ground zero for the hybridization of a future private-public school district. Maybe the very competent people described here investigating the privatization of schools reform movement could pay some attention to New Haven–especially since the 20 yr reign of the current mayor and school czar is about to end. Now is the time to uncover the truth.
Good points. I am particularly disturbed by our non-educator Education Commissioner Stephan Pryor, who previously was one of the founders of the Achievement First charter chain in New Haven. Can such a person really have the best interests of public education in mind?
Sure, sure, he cares about education. Just make sure you keep funneling tax money upward into his hands.
“DINO Dan’s” spots…er…scales are showing.
And they are a very shiny GREEN – $$$$$$$.
Wendy Lecker is among CT’s voices of reason because she knows and writes the FACTS. Another hero is CT’s Jon Pelto who tirelessly exposes many instances at local and state level of skirting state laws when it comes to pushing through so-called education reform measures and backing reform artists who lack any education certifications. But the real force is Dianne Kaplan deVries, the lead attorney on the case for CT Coalition for Justice inEducation Funding, who tells me that this case is due to come up July 2014 BUT thanks to the recent state petitions to throw out the case may drag on for years. Leaving CT children (especially the poorest) under served by our schools perhaps until current ones are ADULTS.
I wonder how much it took to buy off this hypocritical two faced politician. He must have been given an offshore account and told he will have a lifetime jog as this is how they roll.
One other bit of information. California has a constitutional requirement for equalized funding through the State Constitution and the Calif. Supreme Court decision Serrano v. Priest. Even with this the state funding/school district varied from $3,268-16,588/student in 1993 when I first did this work before the internet and the CDE website. This is all done through federal funding, state catagorical funding and local funding. Be careful with this kind of legislation as there are many tricks to be used.
The school funding case is not the only problem here in Connecticut. Here are a few more:
1. Racial segregation — The right of all children to attend a desegregated public school was promised in the 1996 Connecticut Supreme Court decision in Sheff v. O’Neill. Here we are, in 2013, with that promise unfulfilled. As noted in Jonathan Pelto’s Wait, What blog:
“One of the most significant problems associated with the overall racial isolation issue is that the State of Connecticut has been diverting more and more money away from the effort to reduce isolation and, instead, spending it on charter schools.”
2. “Reform” of teacher evaluations — A new plan is being rolled out which bases teacher evaluations on “student learning outcomes” (standardized tests), surveys (not necessarily of students or parents you actually have), observations, and whole school factors (read “low income communities = low rated teachers.”) I work in one of the towns piloting this disaster. So far, this cumbersome junk-science process is one big mess. FUBAR.
3. Common Core craziness — Connecticut policymakers seem to have drunk the Common Core Kool-Aid. They are so excited about CCSS that K through 12 standards are not enough. Draft pre-K standards are in the works. The gushing from Hartford is a bit sickening. The state website has a myriad of links to vision statements, rubrics to assess the quality of lessons, and pacing guides setting forth how many days to spend on a variety of CC units.
The Quakers adjured their followers to “speak truth to power.” It’s certainly time for that important moral and ethical task. I am grateful for all those who are finding their voice.
You are correct about the pilot to the new eval. system. I heard it was the cluster___ of all cluster_____s. And now they want to roll out an arbitrary secondary pilot of arbitrary system. They really are making this up as they go along. Keystone cops at the CT SDE led by a guy who never taught before…what a disaster.
We are building the plane while we are flying it: no cause for alarm, passengers!
I wish we could push the cockamamie pilots out the window or eject ourselves.
Hi Linda,
As a designated guinea pig, I mean lab rat, I mean teacher in a district piloting this program, I would love to share some insights. Sadly, compiling a complete list of problems would take a considerable amount of time, and I do have to, well, you know, teach. Maybe this summer I can write a memoir about the whole experience. I just need a good title: Madmen? The Year of Living Dangerously? Ship of Fools? I’m sure something will come to me. Let me just say that the preface to the SEED document outlining this program states that the process is fair, valid, and reliable. Sorry, this old language arts teacher must insist that words be used accurately and the new evaluation process is none of these things. The word you chose, cluster_______, had actually occurred to me, but I went with FUBAR because there is a non-profane version that I considered acceptable to readers who might be skittish about swearing. I laughed when I saw the same term occurred to you!
I would love to hear more about your experiences with the new evaluation system. Off the record is fine. Linda knows me. sarahdarerlittman at gmail dot com