ctblogger Posts

When it comes to protecting Wall Street at the expense of the middle class, it's no shock that Corporate Democrat Jim Himes and Republican-Light Elizabeth Esty, voted to throw the working class under the bus.

Had the Connecticut General Assembly not stripped Gov. Dannel Malloy's anti-union provisions, 1,000 - 1,500 public school teachers, in up to 25 mostly poor schools across the state, would have lost their rights to collective bargain. Even scarier: Malloy is Connecticut's least anti-union candidate for governor.

Last week, Dem Gov. Dan Malloy of Connecticut received the full support of the state's education boards. That's a mistake. Here are 5 reasons teachers should NOT support Gov. Malloy.

Did one of Gov. Dan Malloy's biggest re-election liabilities takes one for the team...or was he shown the door? Stefan Pryor announced yesterday that he will not seek another term as the state education commissioner, according to a report in the CT Mirror, in an obvious hat tip to the teachers and unions in the state unhappy with the administration's move towards privatized public education (aka, charter schools), among other things.

Over the last eight weeks, hundreds of volunteers in Connecticut spent countless hours collecting more than the 7,500 signatures necessary to ensure that voters have an option other than voting for Dannel Malloy or Tom Foley in this year's gubernatorial election. However, a new report alleges that some of the town clerks in charge with tabulating and verifying the signatures are illegally dismissing some signatures based on a lack of optional information. As if it wasn't already hard enough to hear a third party voice in a rigged system.

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy has a spotty history — and lots of advisers with industry ties — when it comes to the state's implementation of federal Common Core education initiative. His latest "mistruths" revolve around a parent's right to opt their children out of the standardized testing, as well as who's responsible for this in the first place.

Thanks to Governor Malloy and Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor you can hear the wild cheering from the corporate education reform industry as millions of dollars in taxpayer funds continue to flow to out-of-state companies so that they can come here to tell Connecticut's teachers, administrators and public schools how to implement the Common Core and how to "improve."

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton was caught erasing critical comments from his Facebook account regarding the CT gubernatorial candidate's flip-flop on common sense gun control. Of course, this is the same man who whitewashed his Twitter account when he announced his run for governor.

At today's State Board of Education meeting, Governor Dannel "Dan" Malloy's appointees will vote to re-commit Connecticut to the Common Core and then vote to divert scarce public funds to new charter schools in Connecticut. Four new charter school applications are up for vote today, and some of them have some scary ties to the Malloy Administration.

In an extraordinary statement about the fundamental lack of commitment to Connecticut citizens, the Hartford Board of Education will be meeting tonight to authorize Superintendent Christina Kishimoto to extend the Hartford Board of Education's contract with Teach for America, costing Connecticut and Hartford taxpayers an additional $650,940. Meanwhile, 136,500 Connecticut residents remain unemployed including many trained teachers who already hold Connecticut teacher certificates.

With nearly 500 teachers showing up at a Fairfield County meeting last night to meet with their state legislators we are reminded, yet again, that Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor and his entourage of high-priced, out-of-state consultants and personal assistants is the factor most likely to put an end to Malloy's political career.

After hours of debate, the city board of education late Tuesday rejected two proposed magnet schools and declined to move forward with a controversial plan to turn over management of SAND Elementary School to a nonprofit educational group, according to a Hartford Current report. In a rare example of community wishes winning against corporate interests, the Hartford-area schools will remain public — for now.

State law requires that every local board of education "shall evaluate the performance of the superintendent annually in accordance with guidelines and criteria mutually determined and agreed to by such board and such superintendent." The concept is pretty clear: Every year, Connecticut communities shall evaluate the performance of their superintendent of schools. But as a result of special deal between Hartford's Board of Education and Superintendent Christina Kishimoto, the leader of Hartford's school system will go without any evaluation this year and next.

In a move that puts public safety ahead of party politics, the Connecticut House of Representatives approved a measure that would grant drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants. Facing stark Republican opposition, Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden) touted a bill that he explained in a press release would "make our roads and families safer, is good for the economy, and is the right thing to do."

Bridgeport School Superintendent Paul Vallas is breaking the law by not allowing teachers, parents, and community leaders to participate in the educational process as outlined in state statutes, according to a complaint filed by the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) with the State Department of Education today.

Throughtout the gun control legislation process, when it came to the General Assembly drafting policy, Newtown's State Rep. (and proud ALEC member) Dan Carter went out of his way to stress the need for "bi-partisanship." So much for that.

Throughtout the gun control legislation process, when it came to the General Assembly drafting policy, Newtown's State Rep. (and proud ALEC member) Dan Carter went out of his way to stress the need for "bi-partisanship." So much for that.

The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission submitted their interm report to Governor Malloy on Monday. The full release from Molloy's office is enclosed.

Fox-CT is in damage-control move over a segment that featured b-roll of three women's breasts while an anchorwoman was reporting about the celebration of Women's Day at the Connecticut Capitol.

For nearly four decades, the State of Connecticut utilized a variety of different mechanisms to help these older, retired teachers get some type of health insurance. In 1991 it settled on the creation of the Retired Teachers Health Insurance Fund. To fund the program, active teachers contribute 1.2 percent of their income into the health fund. This year that amounts to about $45 million. The premiums that retired teachers pay for their insurance brings in about $37 million.

The Teachers Retirement Board has determined that the $110 subsidy "now covers on average" only 14 percent of the monthly premium for the retiree, further eroding the value of the retiree's pension. This year, Malloy went for broke and proposed simply making no payments whatsoever into the fund.