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School-reform advocate Michelle Rhee speaks on Capitol steps
Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of schools in Washington, D.C., and founder of StudentsFirst, speaks on the steps of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut. The event was hosted by the Connecticut Parents...
What will teachers unions spend to stop Malloy?
Connecticut’s teachers unions have been effective at organizing opposition to speak at Gov. Dannel Malloy’s town halls on education reform. As Brian Lockhart reports from New Haven, “And while there were rows filled with supporters, the governor...
Legislature considers bill to subsidize daycare for parents on maternity leave and teen moms
A bill before the Connecticut General Assembly would expand daycare subsidies by covering teen mothers regardless of their parents’ income and subsidizing care for up to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave or six months of unemployment. CTNewsJunkie reported on the...
Washington couple takes shelter from Solyndra scandal at Connecticut agencies
Newlywed former members of Pres. Barack Obama’s administration recently took jobs in Connecticut’s environmental bureaucracy despite the groom’s potential ties to Solyndra, the now-defunct solar company aggressively funded by the federal government. Michael “Mackey”...
Jackson Labs can count UConn profs and contractors as employees
In return for $291 million in state subsidies courtesy of Gov. Dannel Malloy, the Jackson Laboratory must create 300 jobs – but taxpayers will pay the salaries for 10 of those employees. According to the funding agreement that governs the relationship between Jax and...
Registrar: Hartford won’t fully fund GOP Presidential primary
The Hartford City Council is not willing to put $90,000 of the city’s $545 million budget toward the April 24 Republican Presidential primary, according to the city’s Republican Registrar of Voters, putting the capital city’s vote in jeopardy. “Hartford Republicans...
‘Dance of the lemons’ affects Connecticut students
In 2005, Bridgeport hired a special education teacher. After one year, she left Bridgeport to teach in another school district. After a year in that school district, she left to teach in another school district. In 2008, she quit for “personal reasons” only to take...
Most Connecticut teachers get tenure
Of the 1,395 first-year teachers hired in Connecticut for the 2005-06 school year who did not choose to leave their job, school districts denied tenure to only 71 teachers, meaning 95 percent of eligible teachers received tenure. According to data obtained from the...
Most Conn. school districts didn’t fire any certified teachers over 6-year period
Ninety-three Connecticut school districts did not fire a certified teacher between Fall 2004 and Summer 2010, according to a review of state Department of Education data, including 20 of the 50 largest districts. Danbury (12th), Manchester (16th), East Hartford (17th)...
Malloy wants to change policies that keep teachers in place
The average American is 17 times more likely to get laid off or fired than a Connecticut teacher, according to an analysis of state and federal data. The average local and state government employee in the U.S. was six times more likely to get fired or laid off than...