TEACHERS PRINCIPALS SCHOOLS FUTURE

Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now

A Progress Report on Education Reform in Connecticut

September 2013

Our state leaders must continue progress to ensure great teachers, principals, and public schools for every child. Jennifer Alexander, chief executive officer for ConnCAN
In May 2012, Governor Malloy signed into law An Act Concerning Educational Reform (P.A. 12-116). This law raises standards for educators, demands immediate action to improve failing schools, increases access to high-quality public school choices, and improves accountability and flexibility for our public schools. Passing P.A. 12-116 was just the first step toward improving our schools. The focus now shifts to proper and effective implementation of the law, as well as an acknowledgement that there is still much more work to be done. ConnCAN produced regular public progress reports on the implementation of P.A. 12-116. The first Progress Report was published in September 2012. These Progress Reports identify Connecticuts forward progress in meeting five of the most important components of the law. We are watching the implementation of P.A. 12-116 closely, and we hope that you are too. Despite a massive budget deficit and setbacks during the 2013 legislative session, Governor Malloy and state legislators made the tough choice to put kids and investments in education reforms first. By continuing education reforms, the governor and legislature are helping ensure that kids in Hartford and across Connecticut have access to the great teachers, principals and public schools they deserve.

September 2013 Progress Report on Education Reform (P.A. 12-116)

WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES
Educator Evaluations
Pilot of mandatory annual teacher/principal performance evaluations in 10 sites. Evaluations based on core requirements adopted by PEAC and approved by SBE. 45% of the evaluations are based on student learning indicators. A maximum of 22.5% may be based on student achievement growth on state assessments. UConns Neag School of Education will release an evaluation of the pilot by January 2014.

PROGRESS TO DATE
SB 1097, An Act Concerning Revisions to the Education Reform Act of 2012, was introduced in the General Assembly. Originally proposed to delay and water down the implementation of the statewide educator evaluation system, the legislation was not only successfully defeated, but the final version strengthened the original legislative language passed in 2012. The evaluation program remains on pace for the coming school year. Some districts have submitted applications for waivers from certain requirements of the evaluation system to the State Department of Education. On July 10th, Gov. Malloy announced his intention to seek flexibility, in the 2013-2014 school year, from the U.S. Department of Education that: 1) allows districts to administer either the Common Corealigned Smarter Balanced assessments or CAPT/CMTs, and 2) allows districts to opt out of using student achievement data in evaluations in the 2013-2014 school year. All districts will be expected to use student achievement data from Common Core-aligned assessments in evaluations in 2015.

Commissioners Network

Commissioner and SBE can select up to 25 lowestperforming schools for the Network. Turnaround plan developed by committee, subject to approval by commissioner and SDE. Turnaround committee is composed of the commissioner, plus 3 members selected by the union, and 2 by the district. The district superintendent is the non-voting chair. Up to 6 schools can be charter schools. Expedited binding arbitration process will be followed for resolving certain contract disputes. Limits school management to non-profit education management organizations.

On September 4th, the State Board of Education approved plans for two more Commissioners Network schools: Windham Middle School and Crosby High School in Waterbury. To date, there are eleven schools in the Commissioners Network: James J. Curiale School (Bridgeport), Paul Laurence Dunbar School (Bridgeport), Thirman Milner School (Hartford), High School in the Community (New Haven), Wilbur Cross High School (New Haven), Diloreto Magnet Elementary School (New Britain), Richard C. Briggs High School (Norwalk), John B. Stanton School (Norwich), Crosby High School (Waterbury), Walsh Elementary School (Waterbury), and Windham Middle School (Windham).

Alliance Districts

$39.5 million in conditional aid earmarked for lowest-performing districts. Districts must provide SDE with reform plans by August 2012.

The states biennial (FY14/FY15) budget includes a total of $151 million, earmarked for education reforms in the states 30 lowest performing school districts. On September 4th, the State Board of Education announced that it has started to approve plans for Year 2 of the Alliance District program. Full plan approvals include Bloomfield, Danbury, East Hartford, Hamden, West Haven, and Windsor Locks. Partial plan approvals include Ansonia and Norwich. The State Department of Education recently submitted a status report to the Connecticut General Assembly, proposing implementation approaches to the Chart of Accounts.

School Finance

Common Chart of Accounts to be implemented starting in 20142015. SDE must select a vendor to develop a framework for a statewide Common Chart of Accounts.

Charter Schools

Increase of per pupil charter funding to $10,500/FY 2013, $11,000/FY 2014, and $11,500/FY 2015. Locally-approved charters eligible for up to $3k per pupil state grant. State charter funding now flows from state to district to school. Locally-approved charter schools will have a separate, dedicated funding stream. 2 of the next 4 state charters must have a dual language or English Language learner focus. SDE will conduct a study of the opt-out lottery for charters to identify feasibility and cost and submit to the Education Committee by February 2014.

On September 4th, the Brass City Charter School opened in Waterbury, marking Connecticuts first new state public charter school in five years. The states biennial budget includes per-pupil funding for charter schools at $10,500/FY 2014 and $11,000/FY 2015, delaying the increase by one year, and eliminating the final $11,500 increase that was written into PA 12-116. The State Board of Education approved two state public charter school applications (Brass City Charter School in Waterbury and Path Academy in Windham), and the only local public charter school in the state (Elm City Montessori in New Haven). The remainder of the appropriated funds for public charter schools includes funding for 2 more state charter schools and 4 more local charter schools. The General Assembly passed PA 13-206, An Act Concerning District Partnerships, which fosters collaborative partnerships between charter schools and their host districts, by allowing districts to include performance data in their District Performance Index in exchange for in-kind contributions to charter schools.

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