CABE Journal March 2012

Connecticut Associationof Boards of Education Inc.81 Wolcott Hill RoadWethersfield, CT 06109-1242

PeriodicalPostage

PAIDHartford, CT

Vol. 17, No.3 March 2012

w w w . c a b e . o r g

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Gov. Malloy budget proposals ............ 2View from the Capitol ......................... 4See You in Court ................................. 5Policy to help improve student achievement ..................................... 6Joint statement of legislative goals ..... 8CABE: working for YOU ................. 10Highlights from FRN ........................ 11Frequently asked legal questions ...... 12Lighthouse update ............................. 15Letter to the editor ............................ 15

See BOOK REVIEW page 4

Full day kindergarten:What’s happening across the State?

Chris Seymour, Reporter, CABE

Attend the NSBA Convention!

See KINDERGARTEN page 9

Robert RaderExecutive Director, CABE andPatrice A. McCarthyDeputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

Book Review of Steve Jobs:The Fascinating Leadership

of Apple’s LeaderRobert Rader, Executive Director, CABE

According to the State Department ofEducation, 65 school systems in Con-necticut provide full-day kindergarten(FDK) to all children. While researchsuggests full-day kindergarten can booststudent academic achievement andimprove their social and emotional skills,implementing a new program like FDKcan be a costly endeavor in these chal-lenging economic times.

CABE recognizes the great benefits ofFDK, but has urged a cautious approachwhen it comes to the implementation in

all districts.“Unfortunately, the space, staff and

fiscal resources necessary to provide suchprograms are not uniformly available,”states CABE’s response to the NextEdreport.

The implementation of the rigorousCommon Core State Standards in 2014-15means all school systems may have toeventually implement FDK—with a half-day program, they may not have enoughtime to teach all that is required. Aroundthe state, districts are in various stages offull day kindergarten.

Most of the leaders in the modern ageare taught that displaying empathy, asense of caring, seeing things fromanother’s point of view and other traitsrelated to emotional intelligence skills arekey to building a great enterprise.

Much ink has been spilled about howthe autocratic, top-down, Patton-likeleader cannot succeed in today’s business(or education) worlds. Such leadership istoo harsh and doesn’t take into accountthe civility and morale-building that isnecessary to produce great work.

I submit that the rule is not nearly asblack and white as we may think.

Steve Jobs, the great leader of Apple,who, as everyone knows, started thecompany with Steve Wozniak back in themid-seventies, was the archetypal tyrantwho ruled Apple with a steel determina-tion, but also with a microscopic andunswerving focus on what he believedApple must be.

As Walter Isaacson writes in his Jobs’biography, Apple’s driving force was aperson who used few social skills,whether or not he had them at all. Someexamples, are:

• he would greet potential alliesrepresenting companies he wantedto work with, by telling them thattheir products were awful (actuallyhe used a curse word);

• he treated his family poorly, excepttowards the end of his life;

• he cared little about charity, despitehis great wealth; and,

• he as a recent Fortune Magazineput it, built a company based onsecrecy.

Maybe we can understand secrecy asnecessary to create the excitement andeven frenzy over product launches and thereasonable belief that premature an-nouncements of new products would harmthe sale of older products. After all, whowould want an iPhone 4, if they knew thatthe 4S was coming out soon?

Isaacson discusses how Jobs was not

Classical Magnet Band, Hartford

For the first time, the National SchoolBoards Association Annual Conference iscoming to a city near us – Boston,Massachusetts. It’s April 21-23!

At this Convention, Connecticut willthank outgoing NSBA President from EastLyme, for her many years of dedicatedservice, not only to NSBA, but to CABE,too. The networking reception, still in theplanning stages, will take place on Satur-day evening.

Generally, NSBA conferences havebeen held far from our home state – inplaces like New Orleans, San Francisco,Chicago and San Diego. This year’s easytravel for Connecticut board members andsuperintendents is a wonderful opportu-nity to get together for one or more days

of great speakers, workshops and all theother aspects of this major convention.

We are working with NSBA to makethis as pleasant an experience as possiblefor our members. NSBA has arranged fora one-day registration option for thosewho would like to attend. For more infor-mation visit the NSBA website atwww.nsba.org.

Please talk about this with other mem-bers of the Board and your superinten-dent. It would be wonderful for us tohave a large delegation to thank Mary forher years of service.

Here is the link to the NSBA informa-tion on the Convention: https://secure.nsba.org/register/annual/2012/acreg_welcome.cfm. Please feel free to contactus if we can help you make this a terrificprofessional development for you and/oryour Leadership Team!

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEELydia Tedone

President, SimsburyRichard Murray

First Vice President, KillinglyAnn Gruenberg

VP for Government Relations, HamptonStephen Wright

VP for Professional Development, TrumbullJames Marpe

Secretary/Treasurer, WestportDon Blevins

Immediate Past PresidentJohn Prins

Member at LargeMary Broderick

NSBA President, East Lyme

AREA DIRECTORSSusan Hoffnagle,

Area 1 Co-Director, WinchesterMari-Ellen (Mimi) Valyo,

Area 1 Co-Director, WinchesterDaniel Santorso,

Area 1 Co-Director, PlymouthBecky Tyrrell,

Area 2 Director, PlainvilleLaura Bush,

Area 3 Director, VernonGavin Forrester,

Area 6 Co-Director, StratfordElaine Whitney,

Area 6 Co-Director, WestportMichael D’Agostino,

Area 7 Co-Director, HamdenSheila McCreven,

Area 7 Co-Director, WoodbridgeJohn Prins,

Area 7 Co-Director, BranfordRobert Ruggiero,

Area 8 Co-Director, MadisonPamela Meier

Area 8 Co-Director, MadisonGail MacDonald,

Area 9 Director, Stonington

CITY REPRESENTATIVESBob Trefry

City Representative, BridgeportMichael R. Nast

City Representative, New HavenPolly Rauh

City Representative, StamfordCharles Stango

City Representative, Waterbury

Lydia Tedone

2 The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education

PRESIDENT COMMENTARY

CABE Board of Directors

Education here, there, everywhere

COMMITTEE CHAIRSRobert Mitchell,

Chair, State Relations, MontvilleBeverly Washington,

Chair Federal Relations, Groton

ASSOCIATESEileen Baker,

Associate, Old SaybrookSharon Beloin-Saavedra,

Associate, New BritainGary Brochu,

Associate, BerlinRobert Guthrie,

Associate, West HavenCal Heminway,

Associate, Granby

STAFFRobert Rader, Executive Director

Patrice McCarthy, Deputy Director and General CounselBonnie Carney, Sr. Staff Associate for Publications

Nicholas Caruso, Sr. Staff Assoc. forField Service and Coord. of Technology

Sheila McKay, Sr. Staff Associate for Government RelationsKelly Moyher, Sr. Staff Attorney

Vincent Mustaro, Sr. Staff Associate for Policy ServiceLisa Steimer, Sr. Staff Assoc. for Professional Development

Teresa Costa, Coordinator of Finance and AdministrationPamela Brooks, Sr. Admin. Assoc. for Policy Ser. /Search Ser.

Terry DeMars, Admin. Assoc. for Policy ServiceGail Heath, Admin. Assoc. for Government RelationsWilmarie Newton, Admin. Assoc. for Labor Relations

Corliss Ucci, Receptionist/Asst. to the Executive Director

The CABE Journal (ISSN 1092-1818) is publishedmonthly except a combined issue for July/August asa member service of the Connecticut Association ofBoards of Education, 81 Wolcott Hill Road, Wethers-field, CT 06109, (860) 571-7446. CABE member-ship dues include $30 per person for each individualwho receives The CABE Journal. The subscriptionrate for nonmembers is $75. Association membershipdues include a subscription for each board member,superintendent, assistant superintendent and busi-ness manager. The companies and advertisementsfound in The CABE Journal are not necessarilyendorsed by CABE. “Periodicals Postage Paid atHartford, CT.” POSTMASTER: Send address changesto The CABE Journal, CABE, 81 Wolcott Hill Road,Wethersfield, CT 06109-1242. Email:[email protected] can find the CABE Journal online at:www.cabe.org/userlogin.cfm?pp=84&userrequest=true&keyrequest=false&userpage=84

Recently, I had the opportunity to par-ticipate in a discussion about how urbanand suburban school leaders should re-spond to increasing racial and economicdiversity.

This project, called “One Nation Indi-visible”, tells stories about, connects andmobilizes people who are building andsustaining racially, culturally, linguisti-cally and economically integrated schools,social institutions and communities in theUnited States.

In attendance was a national networkof educational thinkers, educators, strate-gists, policy experts and community build-ers. The session was held outside Min-neapolis where the focus was on a districtthat is increasingly facing challenges thataccompany demographic shifts, coupledwith ongoing public discourse.

The school leaders present, throughcompelling discussions and developed

awareness of education in similarlysituated districts around the country,began to formulate recommendations fornational and state policies.

More importantly, reform for localpractices would support educators whounderstand the value of racial and socio-economic diversity, equity and culturalrelevant pedagogy.

Connecting one another, via federal,state and local policy makers, can de-monstrate support for school leaders inchanging districts, while conversationsand insights from the national partici-pants helped demonstrate the commit-ment to public education with varyingdegrees of success.

On the flight home, I reflected on athought, “if it takes a village to raise achild,” then “it takes a district to educateALL children…”During the first week of February, I

attended the Federal Relations Network(FRN) Conference, sponsored by theNational School Boards Association(NSBA) in Washington, DC.

I gathered with 900 of our fellowschool board members from around thecountry, where “our” goal was to “speaktogether” as one collective voice regardingeducational issues facing us, whethernational, state or local.

Legislative issues addressed were:ESEA/NCLB Reauthorization; FederalFunding for Title 1 and IDEA; SchoolBoard Governance; and the future visionfor public education – 21st centurylearning; pre-k; teacher/principal effective-ness; recommended standards/assess-ments; STEM support and child nutrition.

As we converged on Capitol Hill tomeet with our Congressional delegation,we were a solid state presence of publiceducation advocates demonstrating ourdedication and commitment to influencingfederal legislation.

As board members, we witness firsthand that local school boards are relevantand our local knowledge is critical morethan ever to setting the education legisla-tive agenda for the year – the “Agenda forAmerica’s Schoolchildren.”

Upon my return to Hartford, I wasgreeted with Gov. Malloy’s State of theState Address where his proposals foreducation reform dominated his speech.This budget year is now commonly known

as the “Year of Education”, if only for afew short legislative months.

Not a day passes in the press or mediawithout headlines reading: “School Re-form,” “Overhauling Education,” “StudentAchievement,” “School Funding,” “Ten-ure,” “Evaluation,” “Education Re-Vamp,” “Fix Schools,” “Teacher Talent,”“Teacher Pay,” “Work Together,” and“Education Opportunity.” From op-eds toblogs to social media outlets, the wordEDUCATION is the key word.

As Board Members, our collectiveknowledge of state and local legislationand policies impacts our districts and ourschoolchildren.

Connections with our local legislatorswill strengthen local support for sustainedinvestments in our school systems, as wecontinue to strive for quality publiceducation, whether in Connecticut,Washington, DC . . . or Minnesota.

Governor Malloy has identified 2012 asthe “Year of Education”, and presented acomprehensive package of educationreform proposals to the General Assembly.The proposals include increased educationfunding for the 2012-13 budget, as well aschanges to teacher tenure. A summary ofsome of the most significant proposalsfollows.

Education Cost Sharing (ECS)The budget documents indicate that

“The unfortunate truth is that since FY2009 the Education Cost Sharing (ECS)Grant has been flat funded, making effortsto turn around student achievementdifficult at best”. For FY 2013, there is anincrease of $50 million in the ECS grant.

The foundation level will increase from$9,867 to $12,000. No town’s ECS will bereduced from 2011-12 levels, and 130towns will receive ECS increases. $39.5million of this new money will go to thelowest performing districts, based on theirability to achieve reforms, such as in-creased school learning time, recruitmentand compensation of the most effectiveteachers and leaders.

Early Childhood Programs• $4 million in funding for an additional

500 school readiness slots;• $5 million in bond funds to develop the

Tiered Quality Rating and InformationSystem (TQRIS); and

• $3 million in professional developmentand incentives for using the newsystem.

Intervention and supports toturn around Connecticut’slowest-performing schoolsand districts

$22.9 million in funding to create a“Commissioner’s Network”. Comprisedof the lowest performing schools, thenetwork would give SDE significantlatitude to intervene in low performingschools and provide new school manage-ment. Teachers and school leaders innetwork schools would be eligible forsignificant compensation and otherincentives to work – and remain – turn-around schools. These incentives couldinclude signing bonuses and pay incre-ments in return for minimum length of

(please see GOVERNOR’S page 11)

Governor Malloy’s“Year of Education”budget proposals

Robert Rader

BUSINESS AFFILIATESDIAMOND MEMBER

Finalsite

GOLD MEMBERSBerchem, Moses & Devlin

Connecticut Business SystemsShipman & Goodwin

Siegel, O'Connor,O’Donnell & Beck, P.C

Sullivan, Schoen,Campane & Connon

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COMMENTARY

CABE Affiliate Members

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education 3

Are school boards irrelevant? I don’t think so!

BRONZE PLUS MEMBERSThe S/L/A/M Collaborative

Suisman, Shapiro, Wool, Brennan,Gray & Greenberg

Whitsons School Nutrition

BRONZE MEMBERS

Nathaniel G. Brown, LLCChinni & Meuser LLC

Dattco Inc.Fuller & D’Angelo

Architects and PlannersJCJ Architecture

Kainen, Escalera & McHale, P.C.The Lexington GroupMuschell & Simoncelli

SILVER MEMBERSAnthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Corporate Cost ControlLindberg & Ripple Inc.

Ovations Benefits GroupQuisenberry Arcari Architects

The Segal CompanyTrane

BRONZE PLUS MEMBERSBlue Ribbon LLCBrown and Brown

Fletcher Thompson ArchitectsFriar Associates

Goldstein & Peck, P.C.Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc.

O & G Industries

EDUCATIONALAFFILIATES

American School for the DeafArea Cooperative Educational Services

Capitol Region Education CouncilThe College Board

Connecticut Association ofSchool Business Officials

Cooperative Educational ServicesConnecticut Center for School Change

Connecticut EducatorsComputer Association

Connecticut School Buildingsand Grounds Association

EASTCONNEDUCATION CONNECTION

LEARN

As I wrote in my review of StevenBrill’s Class Warfare in the NovemberCABE Journal, some in the media, as wellas those in educational leadership, havebeen wondering if boards of education arestill relevant. Even as Washington andHartford have enacted laws (NCLB,stimulus money with strings attached,bullying) that are new mandates, at thelocal level we are moving into a moredecentralized system of providingeducation. This decentralization isreflected in more magnet schools, charterschools, programs that provide morechoice to our students and their parentsincluding inter-district schools, even asthe majority of local students attendtraditional schools.

And other states, including Massachu-setts, are dealing with the implications ofvirtual schools. Everything is donethrough the internet in these schools.

There is much to praise in GovernorMalloy’s proposals about more funding,reform of teacher tenure and support forunderperforming schools. However, thereis concern about spending more money,including that of school districts, to payfor students attending charter schools.We recognize the need to ensure choice,but not at the expense of school districtsacross the State.

More and different types of alterna-tives with an emphasis on serving theunique needs of all students may result ina forward-looking school district, but youalso may have a recipe for dysfunction.

Are Boards An Anachronism?What is the role of a Board and

superintendent in a district that mustgovern and lead based on these conflict-ing needs? How does a Board handle themyriad of issues this creates in the midstof change and competing needs?

Well, if you believe some, the Boarditself is an anachronism. Even here inConnecticut, there have been recommen-dations that schools be regionalized andthat either an all powerful-Board or astrong superintendent governing theresulting larger district.

Previously we were told that districtsshould be consolidated or regionalized in

order to save taxpayers’ money. But,research has shown that, despite thebelief that “getting rid of all thoseadministrators” will save big bucks, thesavings are minor and the governing bodyor person is so removed from the stu-dents, parents and the community that thesystem is less flexible and accountable.

That still leaves us with the questionof how to govern disparate schools andprograms withindistricts. Obviously,Board members havea critical role inpolicy decisions, butthey must start with amindset that may bedifferent than if allthe schools wereuniformly operated.

I was asked thisvery question by asuperintendent in alarge city in Con-necticut. How canwe get Boards to acomfort level with allof the change (call it“reform”, call it“transformation”)and enable them to see the whole, often-confusing picture?

The answer to this question is bestaddressed at the local level. We havelong emphasized local differences as wehave discussed how cookie cuttersolutions don’t work at the local level. Itis time that Boards consider these issues,build capacity to deal with the issues thatwill arise and figure out how to imple-ment best practices.

Boards’ Rolein Addressing Big Issues

We believe that Boards and superin-tendents should determine where theystand on various issues and then decidewhat they need to do to get there.Determine your destination and then thepath you must take.

In order to help focus a Board discus-sion on the “big” issues, here are a fewquestions to get the conversation started.We developed these questions with help

from Nick Caruso, our Senior StaffAssociate for Field Services, who hasworked for years with districts and theState Department of Education on theLighthouse Project.

Questions for Consideration• Have the Board and Superintendent

discussed NextEd and what theeffect of its provisions onyour district may be?Have you thought aboutthe CABE-and CAPSS-supported idea thatstudents’ progress bebased on demonstratedcompetency, not seattime?• Does your Board

discuss the wholepanoply of options thatstudents have as they takeadvantage of choices?Do they look at how, forexample, charter schoolsin the district maysucceed in achievinghigher student growth,and how the district may

be able to use those same practices?• Do the Board and Superintendent

understand the implications of all ofthe choices in the district? How dothey ensure accountability?

• Is it appropriate for the Board toexamine how all students in thecommunity, no matter which schoolsthey attend and where they’re from,do in preparing students for thefuture?

Here are some questions about theBoard’s role in implementation of ideasfrom the big issues:

• Does your Board hold an annual(semi-annual) retreat or periodicworkshops to allow for more in-depth discussions to gain in-depthknowledge of teaching practices,learning needs, curriculum andstudent demographics?

• Does your Board have a clearlydefined set of expectations foraddressing the big issues? Are theyin your District Improvement Plan,

District Goals, Mission, StrategicPlan, policies, budget? Are theyaligned with school goals? Stategoals?

• Does your Board ever look atstudent data outside of the tradi-tional Mastery/CAPT presentations?Do they actually spend timeworking with the data, or is thepresentation of the data mostly one-way?

The questions above are a merestarting point for the in-depth conversa-tions that must take place between Boardsand Superintendents and with the commu-nity. Some districts have gotten a start onthat – and others have not had the chanceduring this busy budget and legislativeseason.

We must find a way to discuss thesetransformative ideas if Boards are tomaintain and strengthen their ability tohelp our students succeed. We must findways to act upon them – not only locally,but at the State and national levels. Ourvoices must be strong and united andCABE and CAPSS will do all we can tomake that happen.

I don’t think it’s an overstatement tosay that what we do in the next few yearswill determine the relevancy of Boards forthe future. It will be at our peril if wedon’t take this opportunity to think abouthow best to maintain and even strengthenour work on behalf of our students acrossthe State.Editor’s Note: If your board would likeCABE to facilitate a discussion on theseissues, contact Nicholas Caruso at 860-571-7446 or [email protected]..

“I don’t think it’san overstatementto say that whatwe do in the nextfew years willdetermine therelevancy ofBoards for thefuture.”


Book Review of Steve Jobs: The Facinating Leadership of Apple’s Leader

(continued from page 1)unaware of otherpeoples’ feelings, buthe used them as aweapon to breakthem down.Isaacson writes that“He could sizepeople up, under-stand their innerthoughts, and knowhow to relate to

but audited more classes than he attended.It was obvious that he was more inter-ested in design and work with earlycomputers than formal schooling.

Isaacson follows him through the earlyyears, hits and misses with variouscomputers over the years, his firing atApple, his success with Pixar, his hugelysuccessful return to Apple and the lastmonths of his life. What kept hitting me,despite the huge successes was that evenas he tried to balance his life with a more“humane” streak, he remained difficult towork with.

But, even so, with his brilliance, hecreated an army of followers, who knewthat his products were top-notch andchanged everything. They love Apple forits us-against big, bad Microsoft themeand loved Jobs because he was a revolu-tionary – or at least portrayed himself asone, even as this company hired most ofits workers outside the U.S. and freelyadmitted it stole ideas from others.Moreover, they loved Jobs in spite of hispersonality, because of his passion anddesire to be at the crossroads of technol-ogy and the humanities and for hisartistry.

Jobs loved art and design and workedextremely hard. He had his own very,very strong feelings and beliefs aboutwhat a product should look like and wasinvolved in every aspect of productdesign, production, advertising and sales.

Despite his harsh manner with people,he put strong, highly intelligent people

around him – a real “A” team. Thosepeople he abused often ended up sayingthat he got them to do things they neverthought possible.

So, as I sit here writing this review onan Apple iPad2, while I often use my iPodand also have an iPhone, it may seemincongruous to discuss Job’s leadershipfaults. But, the truth is that this verybrilliant man, who built this huge com-pany, had huge flaws as well. And, that’sthe lesson: in order to be successful asthe type of person Jobs was, you alsohave to have much greater strengths.

For a person who looked for balancethrough Far Eastern ideas, Jobs really hadnone, except in the strict sense of balancein the products he built. He was far-sighted in regard to what the future couldbring and how he could help get Applethere.

But, he was not the type of man thatmost employees today would want towork with. For most of us, collaboration,morale-boosting and using our emotionalintelligence to help others is whatmotivates us.

View from the Capitol

Steve Jobs

The “year of education” is leading to afrantic pace of activity at the state capitalfor everyone involved in public educa-tion. The Education and AppropriationsCommittees already have heard testimonyon the Governor’s reform proposals.

At legislative breakfasts around thestate, as well as our individual meetingswith legislators, they have repeatedlyurged board members and superintendentsto provide their input on these proposals.Seize this opportunity! CABE’s upcom-ing Day on the Hill provides another

opportunity, coupled withinvitations to yourlegislators to meet withyour board of educa-tion.

For this to truly bethe year of educationin Connecticut, wemust all engage in thelegislative process!

Patrice A. McCarthyDeputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

them, cajole them,or hurt them at

will.”But, despite his epic lack of people

skills, Jobs built an empire with great,revolutionary, beneficial and beautifulproducts that have changed our world .

Isaacson’s book was written at Jobs’srequest. Isaacson has written wonderfulbiographies of Einstein, BenjaminFranklin and others and this book is afascinating read. While Isaacson writesabout Jobs growing up in California, whatI found particularly interesting was thenarrative on how Jobs was a real ‘60’skid. He spent a year in India when he wasin his teens, used LSD and, throughout hislife, had very strange eating habits. Hewould eat only one thing for weeks, likecarrots and, when he went to restaurants,he would order something, then oftensend it back three or four times, telling thewaiter it was “inedible.”

His formal schooling was hit and miss– he went to Reed College in California,

And, makes our enterprises goodplaces in which to work – and grow.

It is not too early to be thinkingabout the 2012 CABE/CAPSSConvention which will be heldNovember 16-17. The ConventionCommittee met in January to beginplanning this annual event. Theydetermined the theme of the 2012Convention to be Boards and Super-intendents: The Challenges andOpportunities in Reforming andTransforming Education.

Supporting the theme are fivestrands under which breakout sessionswill fall. They are: Reform andTransform, EffectiveBoardsmanship, Maximizing Re-sources, Increasing Student Achieve-ment, and Developing and FosteringSchool/Family/Community Partner-ships.

A Call for Proposal has been mailedto solicit workshop proposals for theConvention. Call for Proposal

Lisa SteimerSenior Staff Associate forProfessional Development, CABE

2012 CABE/CAPSS Conventioninformation is also available atwww.cabe.org. If you are interested insubmitting a proposal for considerationby the Committee, please note thedeadline is Friday, March 9.

Information for Student Performersand the Talented Student Display wasalso mailed in early February. TalentedStudent information is also available atwww.cabe.org. If you are interested inentering your students, please completethe entry form and return to CABE withnecessary supporting materials. Now isyour chance to brag about the talentedstudents in your district!

Be sure to mark your calendar – welook forward to seeing you at the 2012CABE/CAPSS Convention on Novem-ber 16-17!

If you are interested in joining theCABE/CAPSS Convention Committeeor have Convention breakout sessionideas, please contact Lisa Steimer [email protected].

Watch future issues of the CABEJournal for the most up-to-date Con-vention news.

Jobs on Public EducationFrom Isaacson’s Steve Jobs

Towards the end of his life, Jobs gavehis views on public education.

He “attacked America’s education sys-tem, saying that it was hopelessly anti-quated and crippled by union work rules.Until the teachers’ unions were broken,there was almost no hope for educationreform. Teachers should be treated as pro-fessionals, not as industrial assembly-lineworkers. Principals should be able to hireand fire them based on how good theywere. Schools should be staying openuntil at least 6 p.m. and be in sessioneleven months of the year. It was ab-surd… that American classrooms werestill based on teachers standing at a boardand using textbooks. All books, learningmaterials, and assessments should be digi-tal and interactive, tailored to each stu-dent and providing feedback in real time.”

See You in Court – The Nutmeg Board of Education

The Nutmeg Board is dealing with budget issues and FOIA mattersThomas B. Mooney, Esq.Shipman & Goodwin


A Practical Guideto Connecticut

School Lawby Thomas B. Mooney, Esq.

Shipman & Goodwin

The Guide comes with a CD which provideshyperlinks to many cases and statutes

and will permit word searchesas a supplement to the Index.

New to the Seventh Edition:Bullying, background checks, child abuse reporting,

discrimination issues, educational reform,FERPA, freedom of information,

state aid for education andmuch, much more

You can call CABE at 860-571-7446 or 800-317-0033and purchase your copy

NOW!

Seventh EditionNow shipping

The Nutmeg Board of Educationmakes many mistakes. The latest imbro-glio created by the board will be reportedhere each issue, followed by an explana-tion of what the board should have done.Though not intended as legal advice,these situations may help board membersavoid common problems.

Mr. Superintendent was pleased tohear all the big talk about education re-form. If the Governor is willing to spendState money to improve education, hethought, shouldn’t we expect the Townfathers in Nutmeg to do the same?

Unbeknownst to Mr. Superintendent,however, education reform has indeedbeen on the mind of Seymour Dollars,Chair of the Nutmeg Board of Finance.Seymour and his cronies have been hatch-ing a plot to tell the Board of Educationhow to save money and provide cost-effective education.

The Board of Finance plan has severalelements. First, it will require that theBoard of Education bid all contractsabove $5,000 to assure the best price forall goods and services. Second, given the

availability of training videos on theInternet, no additional funds will beappropriated for professional develop-ment activities. Third, and most signifi-cant in terms of costs, the health insuranceplan will be managed by the Town, andthat insurance will now be providedthrough a self-insurance program.

The members of the Nutmeg Board ofEducation were chagrined to first learnabout Seymour’s plan when they receivedcalls asking for comment on the plan fromNancy Newshound, ace reporter from theNutmeg Bugle.

Veteran Board member Bob Bombastdidn’t hold back when Nancy explainedthe plan. “Seymour should stick to Townmatters!” he barked. “We will not permitthe Town to usurp the authority of theBoard of Education.”

The Board of Education started its nextmeeting by convening into executivesession to discuss Seymour’s plan. Boardmembers conceded that the bidding re-quirement was likely required by statuteanyway, and getting rid of professionaldevelopment was probably a step in theright direction.

But they all expressed grave concern

over the Town’s assuming responsibilityfor employee health insurance.

The Board members were not alone.When it reconvened in open session, theBoard moved right to Public Comment,and Mal Content, President of the NutmegUnion of Teachers, was first to speak.“The Town Administration is incompe-

Given this independent authority of theboard of education, the town, actingthrough the board of finance, the towncouncil, the mayor, etc., does not have theright to tell the school board how to oper-ate. As to the first element, there are afew bidding requirements by statute, suchas for school construction and schoollunch programs. However, absent a char-ter provision imposing specific require-ments, the board of education has theright to decide whether and when to putcontracts out to bid.

The Board has the responsibility toprovide teachers with professional devel-opment activities. However, here, thereare also statutory concerns. Currently,boards of education are required toprovide eighteen hours of professionaldevelopment to teachers each year.

Moreover, under the proposed reformlegislation, the State Department of Edu-cation will be auditing school districts toassure that effective in-service instructionis provided. It is unlikely that trainingvideos will suffice.

The main event, of course, is healthinsurance, which is a basic part of theright and responsibility of boards ofeducation to employ teachers and othersto fulfill their educational mission. Thetown cannot unilaterally take on theresponsibility to provide health insuranceto school board employees.

Collaboration on health insurancebetween school and municipal officials ispossible and may indeed be welcome.

However, since the board of educationmay expend its appropriation “in itsdiscretion,” it and the town must agree onany role for the town in providing and/orfunding health insurance.

As long as the obligations of both townand board of education are clearly spelledout, under some circumstances, self-insured plans can offer savings.

Moreover, in general unions do nothave the right to bargain over suchfunding issues. However, the board ofeducation may have to bargain overrelated mandatory subjects, such as statemandates and benefits administration.

Finally, as so often happens, there areFOIA issues in Nutmeg. First, it appearsthat the Board convened an illegalexecutive session. Issues relating to thebudget are not privileged to executivesession. Unless the Board members werediscussing a confidential document, suchas legal advice concerning the Town’splan, it should not have convened inexecutive session to discuss these matters.

Second, texting about the operation ofthe public schools, as Seymour did,creates public records. Seymour’s textwas more obnoxious than embarrassing,but such is not always the case. Boardmembers are well advised to be cautiousbefore texting their colleagues or othersabout board business.

Attorney Thomas B. Mooney is a part-ner in the Hartford law firm of Shipman &Goodwin who works frequently withboards of education. Mooney is a regularcontributor to the CABE Journal.

“ . . . under the proposedreform legislation, theState Department of Edu-cation will be auditingschool districts to assurethat effective in-serviceinstruction is provided.”

tent. NUTS will never agree to let thosebozos take over our health insurance.”

Some Board members nodded inagreement, secretly hoping that Seymourwas not watching the meeting on cableaccess.

Bob Bombast, however, could not careless, and he is always only too happy tosay what the other Board members thinkto themselves. “I wouldn’t trust thosepeople to gas up my car,” Bob scowled.“I move that the Board accept the firsttwo elements of the Town’s plan for edu-cation reform, but that we unequivocallyreject the Town’s plan to take over healthinsurance.

As it turns out, Seymour was indeedwatching the meeting on cable access, andhe promptly sent a text to Bob, withcopies to the other Board members andMr. Superintendent as well. With his flarefor the dramatic, Bob was only too happyto read it aloud at the meeting: “DearBoard members. Obviously, you haveforgotten who holds the purse strings. Wehave already taken the money from yourbudget. Have a nice day. ”

Can the Board of Finance do that?

Boards of education act as the agentfor the state to assure that all residentchildren receive a suitable program ofinstruction, and, as such, they are inde-pendent of town control as they fulfill thatresponsibility.

To provide the necessary funds, thetown is required, first, to consider thebudget request of the board of educationand then, in light of other demands on thetown’s financial ability, to appropriate thefunds reasonably necessary to that end.Connecticut General Statutes, Section 10-222, makes the independent authority ofboards of education clear.

It provides that the “money appropri-ated by any municipality for the mainte-nance of public schools shall be expendedby and in the discretion of the board ofeducation.”


Vincent A. MustaroSenior Staff Associate for Policy Service, CABE

Use policy to help improved student achievement

The need exists to improve education inConnecticut and to significantly raise stu-dent achievement levels. This is reflectedin federal mandates and new state initiatives.Local school board members, in additionto CABE, NSBA and school staff, have acompelling leadership role in this task.

The challenge of improving studentachievement for all children represents anopportunity for school boards to benefi-cially impact the lives of each child in thedistrict and thereby elevate their own stand-ing as a force in education and as a govern-ing body.

The boards focus on studentsThe primary focus of school boards must

be on students. Boards of education sup-port student achievement through attentionto vision, standards of performance, assess-ment, accountability, alignment of resourcesto meet performance standards, school anddistrict climate, collaborative relationshipsand a commitment to the concept of con-tinuous improvement.

Board of education meeting time mustbe centered about students, their needs andlevel of achievement. Boards want what isbest for students but that won’t happen byaccident. Raising student achievement, themost important challenge school boardsface, requires concerted action.

School boards can be and must remainmajor players in efforts to raise studentachievement. By exercising policy leader-ship and effective governance practices,boards are not just observers on the road toimproved results; they can be leaders.Boards help educators to focus on results.Through the district’s vision and goal state-ments, boards help establish a successfullearning environment, exercise accountabil-ity for results and use advocacy to buildsupport for the district’s efforts.

In the effort to bring student achievementto desired levels, the board must place a highpriority on the development of a strongschool board team. The board’s bylaws andoperating principles help establish a toneof respect and honesty crucial to the effortto lead an organization through these chal-lenging times. Boards, through policy di-rection, establish their role as educationaladvocates and define needed relationshipswith important stakeholders and groups.

Policies relating to the relationship withthe superintendent and staff are crucial.These policies should be monitored to de-termine their effectiveness in establishingthe desired tone crucial to a positive teameffort that results in the needed changes inour educational system to contribute to im-proved student success.

Focusing on improvingstudent achievement

Board planning must be focused on im-proving student achievement with clearly

defined outcomes focused on studentachievement. The board’s policy statementspertaining to the district’s mission, vision,philosophy and goals help assure a focuson student achievement. Data should beproperly used to determine the level of stu-dent achievement. Also, the board shouldhear regular reports pertaining to studentachievement, based on a variety of assess-ments, at its meetings. Such reports alsoserve the important function of monitoringhow successfully its policies are workingin key areas.

Through policy, boards should establish,in addition to regular board meetings, worksessions to permit the board to gain in-depthknowledge about teaching practices, learn-ing needs, achievement, curriculum and stu-dent demographics. Regular board meetingsdo not allow sufficient time to study suchissues in depth.

The annual district goal setting processshould be used by the board to direct theadministration to make sure that individualschool and staff goals, an integral part ofthe evaluation process, are aligned with thedistrict and state goals wherever possible.The goal setting process at all levels shouldinclude an accountability system that per-mits and utilizes frequent assessment.

Another important policy, the board’sphilosophy policy statement should state theboard’s commitment to students with em-phasis on success for all students. Districtpractices should support a student-centeredphilosophy, including appropriate alloca-tions of resources to the important catego-ries of instruction, students, administration,operations and maintenance. Resourcesmust support district efforts. The budgetprocess should target areas for improvementand the resources needed for those areas.

The decision-making processThe decision-making process should be

guided by how any pending decision willaffect students. This maintains a board andstaff focus on students. In addition, boardsshould consider, through policy direction,the involvement of students in the develop-ment or revision of policies that affect them.Students can provide insight into the prac-

tical effect of many policies. Also, a boardpolicy can make students a regular part ofboard meetings.

Research supports the relationship be-tween parental involvement and higher stu-dent achievement. The board should reviewits parental involvement policy and supportactions which encourage a high level of suchinvolvement. Related to this are policy state-ments related to a positive working relation-ship with parent organizations, staff devel-opment to assist staff in working and com-municating with parents and parents as partof board advisory committees.

The board’s willingness to cooperate andutilize the input of school governance coun-cils should also be formalized in boardpolicy. Schools should exhibit a positiveschool climate that is user friendly in re-sponse to board expectations. Therefore,policies pertaining to safety, discipline andrelated topics should be reexamined. In ad-dition, recent legislation pertaining to bul-lying requires the development of safeschool climate plans.

Boards, involved in monitoring studentachievement, must use data appropriatelyto identify strengths and shortcomings, andthe areas needing improvement. The boarddoesn’t initiate programs on its own, butdirects the administration to present to itplans for the improvement of studentachievement. Board members, through ef-fective questioning, should be interested inand determine how the proposed improve-ment program can contribute to improvedstudent achievement for all groups of stu-dents.

Public confidence in the board’s gover-nance of the district will be improvedthrough regular progress reports pertainingto goal achievement. Clear informationabout the areas that were selected for im-provement and the improvement strategiesused should be included in these reports.The board should also give credit and cel-ebrate results in order to keep the improve-ment process active and people motivated.Board meetings should be used to praise theefforts, results, staff and students. Recog-nition efforts provide a clear message aboutthe board’s expectations and values.

The board should advocate throughpolicy and actions for students in the com-munity. Partnerships should be created withindividuals and other agencies that servechildren and families. Presentations shouldbe made to civic organizations to explainthe needs of district students, what theschools are doing and how communitygroups and organizations can help.

ConclusionIn short, schools boards through policy

and the implementation of appropriate prac-tices can steer the direction the system takesto improve student results. The policy de-velopment, review, adoption, and monitor-ing process can lead to steps to make thedifference only a board can accomplish. Ina time where significant changes are pro-posed for transforming education in ourstate, the role of boards of education in theprocess must be preserved and utilized as acooperation partner.

Graph courtesy of the Connecticut College of Independent Colleges (CCIC). For more informationcontact CCIC, 21 Calcott Notch Road, Suite 1, Farmington, CT 06032; phone 860-678-0005.

Change in Connecticut Jobs byEducation Level: 2008 to 2018

Source: The Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce



CABE, CAPSS, CAS, CBIA, CCER, CONNCANJoint Statement of Legislative Goals

February 2012

Every student in Connecticut has aright to a high-quality education, regard-less of his or her race, ethnicity, wealth,or zip code. Unfortunately, every studentin Connecticut is not receiving a high-quality education, as demonstrated by ourstate’s largest achievement gaps in thenation and by the gap between what ourhighest-performing students learn andwhat they need to know to meet interna-tional benchmarks for learning.

The primary reason for this unaccept-able situation is the fact that the educationsystem in Connecticut is not designed toguarantee that every child will learn whathe or she needs to lead full and productivelives. We, therefore, must take bold

expediteddue processthat is focus-ed on whet-her the eval-uation pro-cedures werefollowedfairly.

• Teacherswho consis-tently receivethe highestevaluation

School anddistrict accountability

We support a system of differentiatedaccountability for schools and districtsthat provides varied support and interven-tions based on where schools and districtsfall across a range of student performancelevels. We know that many schools andsome districts are consistentlyunderperforming. It is imperative that weimprove these schools and districts, andprovide their students with high-qualityeducation right away. This goal can beaddressed by:

• Developing a system in which ourlowest-performing schools anddistricts receive immediate andintensive support and intervention.

• Ensuring that any increases infunding to these schools anddistricts is aimed at increasingstudent achievement.

• Recognizing our high-performing,highest-need schools and replicatingtheir success.

• Supporting innovative models toaddress the learning needs of everystudent.

Pre-kindergartenAll children should have access to

programming beginning at age three thatis developmentally appropriate andstaffed by highly effective teachers, withinitial priority given to low-incomestudents. In addition, families need clearinformation about the quality of theirprekindergarten options.

Educationcontract negotiations

During contract negotiations, weencourage the parties to consider newways of structuring contracts to focus onstudent learning needs. In educationcontract negotiations, if the school districtand the local teachers union cannot cometo agreement, the decision goes to bindingarbitration. We believe that the state lawon binding arbitration must be amendedso that students’ learning needs are theprimary factors that guide the bindingarbitration process.

actions that change the system if we wantto ensure a brighter future for our stu-dents, our communities, and our state.

It is in this spirit that our organiza-tions, the Connecticut Association ofPublic School Superintendents (CAPSS),Connecticut Association of Schools(CAS), Connecticut Association ofBoards of Education (CABE), Connecti-cut Business and Industry Association(CBIA), Connecticut Council forEducation Reform (CCER), and Con-necticut Coalition for Achievement Now(ConnCAN), come together, for the firsttime, to form a common position onimportant educational challenges facingour state. Each of our organizations hasour own individual agendas and we maynot always agree on how to solve prob-lems in our education system. However,we do share common positions on thefollowing issues and we jointly call on ourstate leaders to take action on these goalsduring this legislative session.

Educator preparationand certification

Our current systems to prepare andcertify teachers, principals, and superin-tendents must be improved and becomemore flexible in order to find the bestpossible candidates for the jobs. Prepara-tion programs, both traditional and non-traditional, must be more clinicallyoriented, with both preparation andcertification based primarily on demon-strated ability to perform well on the job.

Teacher evaluationand support

The goal of an evaluation system mustbe two-fold: to develop and supportteachers to become highly effective, andto dismiss ineffective teachers at anycareer level, including those who do notor cannot demonstrate improvement withsupport. Recently, the State Board ofEducation approved a set of guidelines forevaluation systems that include four levelsof performance and multiple measures ofa teacher’s effectiveness, with a clearfocus on student learning. These guide-lines were developed by the state’sPerformance Evaluation AdvisoryCommittee (PEAC).

We support the principle evaluationguidelines as adopted by the PEAC andthe State Board of Education.

In addition, we believe that:• Reductions in force, when neces-

sary, should be guided primarily byteacher evaluation results. Ifdismissals are needed, they shouldoccur within levels of performance,beginning first with ineffectiveteachers and working up from there.

• Teacher tenure should be earnedand kept based on satisfactoryevaluation results. At any point,teachers who do not consistentlyreceive at least a proficient ratingshould be dismissed. We support an

ratingsshould beeligible forrecognition,includingpromotionsalong acareer ladder and salary increases.

Principalevaluation and support

Principal evaluation systems shouldmirror the goals for teacher evaluations:to develop and support principals tobecome highly effective, and to dismissineffective principals, including thosewho do not or cannot demonstrateimprovement with support. We believethat principals must be held accountablefor their performance and, at the sametime, be given the training, autonomy andauthority to build the capacity needed toensure fair, objective, and effectiveteacher evaluations. We support theprinciple evaluation guidelines as adoptedby the PEAC and the State Board ofEducation.

In addition, we believe that:• Growth of student achievement in

the building or instructional unit forwhich the principal is responsibleshould be the most significantelement in principal evaluation.

• The principal must have high-quality training and support inteacher evaluation.

• The principal should have asignificant voice in deciding who isemployed in his/her school orinstructional unit.

Relationship betweentime and learning

We need to measure student learningnot by time spent in classrooms, but bymastery of content. The first step inmoving toward such a system is to allowlocal boards of education to awardstudents credit for evidence of work andexperiences that demonstrate mastery inrelation to the Common Core college- andcareer-readiness standards, rather thanCarnegie Units earned or “seat time”accumulated, regardless of the timerequired for such mastery. Flexibility inmeeting student learning needs must beused both for remediation for studentswho need additional learning time tomaster content, and for enrichmentopportunities for advanced study.

CABE Executive Director Robert Rader speaking at the press confer-ence held on February 14 at the Legislative Office Building inHartford. Other groups in participating were: Connecticut Associationof Public School Superintendents (CAPSS); Connecticut Coalition forAchievement Now (ConnCAN); Connecticut Association of Schools(CAS); Connecticut Business and Industries Association (CBIA); andConnecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER).


(continued from page 1)

Glastonbury Starts FDKGlastonbury Starts FDKGlastonbury Starts FDKGlastonbury Starts FDKGlastonbury Starts FDKIn Glastonbury, seven teachers will be

added in 2012-13 in order to implementfull-day kindergarten. But the town didn’tluck out and come across a windfall inorder to be able to afford FDK in thesetough economic times. Instead, there willbe a reduction of seven classroomsections at the elementary level. Thereduction of seven sections in grades 3-5is the result of a decade long drop in thebirthrate in town, according to schoolofficials.

Recognizing that a full-day programmight not be right for all children, theschool system also plans on offeringparents a choice between half-day andfull-day kindergarten in 2012-13.

Glastonbury Board of Educationmember Pandora Wohler said she feels“strongly” parents should be offered achoice between full-day and half-day thisfall. “They are their child’s first teachersand know the child best,” she said ofparents. “Some children may not be readyfor a full day of school; for example, thechild may still take a daily nap. Addition-ally, some parents have expressed thatthey would prefer to provide enrichmentactivities at home. Whatever the parents’reasons, they should be allowed to choosewhat is best for their son or daughter.”

Wohler also touched on the changinglandscape of kindergarten curriculum.“The amount of academic curriculum,primarily language arts and mathemat-ics… being taught in kindergarten nowwould probably surprise anyone who hasnot been in a kindergarten classroom inrecent years. This is not your father’skindergarten – it is not even your olderchildren’s kindergarten,” she said.

And with the implementation of thenew Common Core State Standardsroughly two years away, the kindergartenexperience will continue to evolve.“These curriculum requirements willincrease in 2014 when Connecticut adoptsthe Common Core State Standards,”added Wohler.

Providing FDK is “not about providingdaycare or the perception that ourkindergarteners are not coming to school‘ready to learn,’” explained Wohler.“Rather it is about the additional expecta-tions these young children will face. Whatis being squeezed out of the kindergartenday is time for the social and emotionaldevelopment, which is so important forour youngest students,” she said.

With all that is and will be expected ofthem, kindergarten teachers and studentssimply need more time, added Wohler.“Remember the book, All I Really NeedTo Know I Learned in Kindergarten?Well those are the things teachers arehaving difficulty fitting into the half-dayprogram—sharing, listening, cooperating,etc. A full-day program would allow formore time to fit everything in. I believethat, like adults, our children would learnbetter if they were not rushed—they mighteven have time for recess.”

New Britain Has FDK –At A Cost

In New Britain, the Hardware Citycurrently has universal all-day kindergar-ten, according to Board of EducationChair Sharon Beloin-Saavedra, who alsoserves on the CABE Board of Directors.

“We have had some form of a full-dayprogram for almost 10 years but in thelast five have been able to provide thisprogram to all our kindergarten students,”she explained.

But providing that program to allstudents has obviously come with a cost.“It has come at the expense of otherprograms/staff in our budget,” she noted.

To preserve the FDK program the NewBritain Board has had to make cuts inother areas, mostly at the middle schoollevel – these include cuts to guidancecounselors, foreign language and con-sumer sciences, according to Beloin-Saavedra. “We also count on the 2% setaside ECS grant to help pay for thisprogram,” she added.

Despite its cost, Beloin-Saavedra saidFDK is “a must have program” in urbancommunities. “I absolutely believe (datawill show) a full day program is essentialto mitigating the preparation gap andbetter preparing students to be reading atgrade level by the third grade,” she said.

New Britain could have 40 FDK kin-dergarten classes this fall. “We currentlyhave 36 all-day kindergartens and believethat next school year we will or shouldadd four additional classes. The cost ofthe program is in the personnel (teachers)and classroom space – [the] full-dayprogram requires double the space ofrunning half-day programs...and, ofcourse, materials and teachers for specialarea subjects such as art/music/PE.”

Ideally, a full-day program wouldinclude the support of a paraprofessionaland a class size capped at no more than20, said Beloin-Saavedra. “This we areunable to do in New Britain because offinancial limitations,” she said.

Stamford Weighs InIn another urban community, Stamford,

full-day kindergarten has been in fullswing since 1980, according to BoardChair Polly Rauh, who also serves onCABE’s Board of Directors. “We pilotedFDK in 1979 and in 1980 went to FDKfor all students. It has been in place eversince,” she explained.

Full day kindergarten: What’s happening across the State?

CABE: working for YOUIndividualized Workshops • Professional Development Opportunities

Legal Services • Policy Services • Representing You Statewide and Nationally

Below are the highlights of activities thatthe CABE staff has undertaken on yourbehalf over the last month. We did this:

✦ By ensuring members re-ceive the most up-to-datecommunications:• Met with retiring Bethel Superinten-

dent Gary Chesley and incoming Su-perintendent Kevin Smith.

• Met with Board Chair ChristopherMickey and Superintendent TeresaKane of East Windsor on CABE pro-grams, workshops and services.

• Met with Board Chair AndreaSaunders and Superintendent JeffKitching (Plainville) and Board ChairMary Grace Reed and SuperintendentKathleen Greider (Farmington) to dis-cuss CABE’s programs, activities andservices.

• Developed new policy manuals utiliz-ing the Custom Policy Service. Mate-rials were prepared for Derby,Putnam, Sherman, Union and WindsorLocks.

• Prepared and disseminated Conven-tion Call for Proposals and Talented

Student information.• As part of the development of new

policy manuals utilizing the CustomPolicy Service, materials were pre-pared for Derby, East Windsor,Putnam, Wallingford, Windsor Locksand Woodbridge Boards of Education.

• Met with the Policy Committee of theWallingford Board of Education.

✦ By helping school boardsto increase student achieve-ment:• Worked with a new coalition, made

up of CABE, CAPSS the Connecti-cut Association of Schools (CAS), theConnecticut Council on EducationReform, Connecticut Business andIndustry Association (CBIA) andConnCAN on how to increase studentachievement. The group held a pressconference and released a joint state-ment on February 14. [See page 8.]

• Provided training to Hamden SchoolGovernance Councils

• Participated in Glastonbury strategic


planning meeting.• Participated in and held CABE/

CAPSS Convention Committee meet-ing.

• Provided Lighthouse training for theDanbury, Killingly, Norwalk, Nor-wich, Shelton and Windham Boardsof Education.

• Sent two issues of “Policy Highlightsvia email covering topics that affectstudent achievement. This includeduse of technology in class, sex edu-cation standards, reading programs,religion in public schools, class size,sexual harassment, food allergies, andsocial networking.

✦ By providing opportunitiesfor members to learn how tobetter govern their districts:• Facilitated retreats with Cromwell,

Franklin (with members of the Leba-non, Bozrah and Columbia Boards),Somers, Sprague, Stamford, Water-town, Killingworth and Waterbury onboard roles and responsibilities.

• Facilitated Board retreat for the Sa-lem Board of Education.

• Held and participated in two sessionsof the CABE Leadership Institute.

• Demonstrated CABE-Meeting forGlastonbury and Southington Boardsof Education and the GlastonburyTown Council.

• Provided policy information to 39 dis-tricts, one attorney, two newspapers,one radio station, one RESC and oneout-of-state school board associationthrough 73 answered requests for in-formation or sample policies, on 60topics. The topics of greatest interestwere wellness, child abuse reporting,administration of medication, com-puter acceptable use, and security is-sues.

✦ By representing Connecticutschool boards on the state,national or international lev-els:• Attended Title I Committee of Prac-

titioners meeting.• Attended CT Coalition for Justice in

Education funding steering commit-tee meeting.

• Attended CREC Council meetings toprovide legislative update.

• Attended ECS Task Force Commit-tee meetings.

• Attended Legislative breakfasts inRockville, Westport, Hartford andColechester.

• Participated in NSBA Council ofSchool Attorney Nominating Com-mittee meeting

• Participated in NSBA Board of Di-rectors meeting

• Attended Secondary School ReformImplementation Task Force meeting.

• Attended State Board of Educationmeeting.

• Met with Education Committee mem-bers to discuss Legislative Priorities.

• Attended former Interim Commis-sioner George Coleman’s RetirementReception.

• Attended meeting and teleconferencefor the Professional Educators Advi-

sory Committee.• Met with new Executive Director Ray

Ann Knopf of the Connecticut Coun-cil on Education Reform.

• Met with the Hartford Courant, NewHaven Register, The Day editorialboards to explain our positions, es-pecially on legislative issues.

• Attended meeting of the CAPSSTechnology Subcommittee.

• Attended meeting of Connecticutcouncil for Advanced TechnologyAdvisory Committee.

• Attended NSBA Leadership and Fed-eral Relations Network conferences,took active parts in several workshopsand other activities, including meet-ing with member of the Connecticutcongressional delegation.

• Participated in Governor’s PreventionPartnership’s Board of Directorsmeeting.

• Participated in meeting of the WhatWill Our Children Lose Coalition.

• Attended CAPSS International Com-mittee meeting.

• Participated in CSAE Board of Di-rectors and Governance Committeemeetings.

• Attended meeting of Connecticut’sChild Emergency Preparedness Com-mittee.

• Attended CAPSS Board of Directorsmeeting.

✦ By promoting public educa-tion:• Met with State Department of Educa-

tion representatives on ConnecticutNCLB waiver application.

• Continued to work with the State De-partment of Education and the Depart-ment of Children and Families to fi-nalize a new policy pertaining to childabuse reporting to fulfill legislativerequirements.

• Answered questions about the mostcurrent legal issues facing boards ofeducation on referenda, board minutesand agendas, negotiations, executivesession, nepotism and board vacancy.

✦ By providing services to meetmembers needs:• Delivered webinar on the Governors

Education Reform Package.• Met with CAPSS Executive Director

Joe Cirasuolo on school capacity.• Met with Bridgeport Superintendent

Paul Vallas and Hartford Superinten-dent Christine Kishimoto on howCABE can help their school districts.

• Attended Lessons in Leadership ses-sion, concerning relationships in theworkplace.

• Prepared Custom Policy material forAnsonia, Columbia, East Hampton,East Windsor, Franklin, GilbertSchool, Hebron, New Fairfield, NewHartford, Newington, Marlborough,North Stonington, Old Saybrook, Ox-ford, Regional School District No. 6,Stafford, Sterling, West Haven,Westbrook and Windham.

• The audit of the Brooklyn policymanual is in progress, nearing comple-tion.

(continued from page 2)service commitments.

Expand the availability ofhigh-quality school models,including traditional schools,magnets, charter and others

Additional funding to expand andreplicate high quality school modelsincluding charter, magnet andCommPACT schools. The charter schoolformula will be integrated into the ECSappropriation “to ensure financialsecurity for these schools”. The recom-mended budget includes:• Charter schools - increase the state

per-pupil grant from the current$9,400 to $11,000 per-pupil as well asexpand the number of slots for charterschools There is also a municipalshare of $1,000 per student that asending district would pay to charterschools that its resident studentschoose to attend;

• Incentives for local charter schools,including $3,000 per pupil and$500,000 start-up grant

• $5 million to fund an increase in theper pupil grants for non-Sheff magnetschools in order to phase in parity forthose magnet schools with the Sheffmagnet schools;

• $750,000 for the Vocational Agricul-ture Program and a new competitivegrant to increase the number ofstudents coming from Priority SchoolDistricts

• Increased funding of $7 million forcompliance with the Sheff settlement.

Connecticut Technical HighSchool System (CTHSS)

Create a new governing board witheight members, four of whom are

appointed by the State Board of Educa-tion and four of whom are recommendedby Regional Chambers of Commerce.

Remove red tape and otherbarriers to success, especiallyin high-performing schoolsand districts• Eliminate the continuing education

requirement and the Master’s degreerequirement for attaining a profes-sional certificate;·

• Expand reciprocity with educators whoare certified in out-of-state institutionsof higher education and AlternativeRoute to Certification through aCommissioner’s waiver;

• Create a Red Tape Council to removeunnecessary rules

Enhance Educator Quality$12 million in funding for recruiting

and developing the best educationprofessionals, and training for teachersand administrators on the new evaluationsystemThe changes to teacher tenureinclude “making tenure a privilege, not aright” Teachers would be employees atwill for 1 year (currently 90 days), wouldearn tenure in 3-5 years on the basis ofperformance, and could be dismissed if“ineffective” or “unprofessional”. Thetermination appeals process would beconducted by a single impartial arbitrator,and limited to a review of whether theevaluation and support process wasfollowed.

Districts under 1000 PupilsThe Governor proposes to reduce ECS

grants beginning in 2015-16 to schooldistricts with fewer than 1000 pupilswhose per pupil expenditure exceeds thestate wide average.

Governor’s Malloy’s“Year of Education” budget proposals


This October over three millionstudents across the country took thePSAT/NMSQT® and in Connecticut thattranslated into a participation rate wellover eighty percent for all of our publicschool juniors and sophomores, and aslightly higher percentage if we includeindependent schools in Connecticut.

Looking back 32 years ago when I satfor the PSAT/NMSQT, the test then waslittle more than a practice run-up for theSAT® that most of us would take later inthe spring of our junior year. Some of us –not me mind you – also were chosen asNational Merit Scholars by virtue ofdoing exceptionally well on the test.

To say that the PSAT/NMSQT haschanged in the 32 years since I took theexam is a putting the issue mildly. Back inthe day, the test was really about testpreparation and selecting National MeritScholars.

Telescoping to the present, the PSAT/NMSQT is now a college readinesslearning resource with something foreveryone: teachers, administrators,counselors, and students. Because somuch has been added to the PSAT/NMSQT, we now have more sophomorestaking the test than we do juniors,something that was unheard of even tenyears ago. So what’s new with the PSAT/NMSQT?

PSATOne of the most useful features that the

College Board added to the PSAT/NMSAT is AP Potential™ which answersthe question of how the results from thePSAT/NMSQT can be used to predictlater success in Advanced Placement®courses. Because the College Board ownsboth the PSAT/NMSQT and AdvancedPlacement it is uniquely able to determinethe outcomes and the predictive relation-ship from the PSAT/NMSQT assessmentto up to 25 different AP courses.

Each school is given an access codeand a series of steps where they are ableto generate rosters of their own studentswho show promise for having success inany of 25 different AP® courses, asdefined by a score of three or higher.Schools have the option to determine forthemselves the minimum criteria forsuccess, e.g., fifty percent likelihood ofAP success, sixty percent likelihood, andso forth.

Once the minimum is chosen, the APPotential tool generates a list of studentswho show promise of likely successshould they opt for AP. This is a power-ful, quantitative tool that the CollegeBoard makes available to schools at nocost in order to expand what has tradition-ally been a restrictive AP selection

process.AP Potential fits squarely into using

data to inform school policy and coursescheduling decisions. From our research,we know that thousands of students havea strong likelihood for succeeding invarious Advanced Placement courses butare not afforded access or not encouragedto participate in AP. We also know thatAP Potential is an untapped resource thatmore schools should use.

College Quick StartAnother important PSAT/NMSQT tool

for students is My College Quick Start™Students who take the PSAT/NMSQThave a wealth of dynamic online re-sources that they can access with a codeprovided to them on their paper scorereport.

Once students log-on, they receivedetailed question-by-question feedbackfrom the PSAT/NMSQT. Unlike theCAPT assessment, for instance, everyquestion on the PSAT/NMSQT is publiclyreleased so nothing is held back; allquestions are available for review and thisis particularly useful to educators whowant to use the data for school improve-ment.

With My College Quick Start, studentscan also get a full length practice SAT,helpful suggestions on where they mayneed to focus as they look towards theSAT, and access to the College Board’sdynamic college search engine thatenables students to filter and search fromnearly 4000 colleges in our database.

My RoadAnother feature in My College Quick

Start is My Road™ that providesstudents with a wealth of college planningtools, including information on hundredsof potential careers and college majors.My Road is a useful tool for counselorsand advisors as they begin the collegeplanning process with students.

AP Potential, My College Quick Start,and My Road are just some of the newfeatures that are available to schools andstudents who participate in the PSAT/NMSQT. Much has changed since manyof us took the PSAT/NMSQT. If you oryour colleagues are interested in learningmore about all of the no-cost resourcesthat come with the PSAT/NMSQT, Iwould happy to follow up and answeryour questions contact me at 781-663-2736 (work); 617-455-5457 (cell);[email protected] (email).

The College Board is a not-for-profitmembership organization committed toexcellence and equity in education whosemission is to connect students to collegesuccess and opportunity. We are proud tobe an educational affiliate of CABE.

Alan BernsteinSenior Educational Manager, K-23 Services,The College Board

College Boardopportunities for your students

Highlightsfrom FederalRelationsConference

Representatives of theConnecticut Association ofBoards of Education traveled toWashington, D.C recently for theNational School BoardsAssociation’s Annual FederalRelations Network Conference,where they participated inbriefings on federal educationissues and met with key staff ofConnecticut’s Congressionaldelegation.

Primary issues of concernwere the need for reauthorizationof the Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act (currently knownas the No Child Left Behind Act)and funding for the Individualswith Disabilities Education Act.

Given that these are currentlyseparate bills in the House andSenate on ESEA, with significantdifferences between them,reauthorization during thissession of Congress is unlikely.

The impact of the CommonCore standards on teaching andassessment, and the need forsupport for implementation, wasalso discussed extensively.

Patrice A. McCarthyDeputy Director and General

Standing in front of the Capitol are: Ann Gruenberg(Hampton) Vice President for Government Relations;Superintendent Mark Benigni (Meriden); RobertRader and Patrice A. McCarthy (CABE).

Lobbying Representative Rosa DeLauro were:Patrice A. McCarthy, Lydia Tedone (Simsbury)President; Beverly Washington (Groton) FederalRelations Chair; Representative DeLauro; andRichard Murray (Killingly) First Vice President.

Lobbying Representative Chris Murphy were:Ann Gruenberg (Hampton) Vice President forGovernment Relations; Lydia Tedone(Simsbury) President; RepresentativeMurphy; Robert Rader (CABE); and MarkBenigni (Meriden).

Lobbying Representa-tive John Larsonwere: Ann Gruenberg(Hampton); MarkBenigni (Meriden); Representative Larson; Lydia Tedone (Simsbury); Sheila McKay and RobertRader (CABE); and Cal Heminway (Granby).

Lobbying Representa-tive Joe Courtneywere: Ann Gruenberg(Hamton); BeverlyWashington (Groton);Patrice McCarthy (CABE); Representative Courtney; Cal Heminway (Granby); Lydia Tedone(Simsbury); Mary Broderick (East Lyme) President, NSBA; Richard Murray (Killingly) and RobertRader (CABE).


Kelly B. MoyherSenior Staff Attorney, CABE

Frequently asked legal questions

Disseminating information to the public on referendum issues

Boards of Education often have ques-tions about the ability to disseminateinformation to the public when a referen-dum on the budget or a school construc-tion project is pending. The following areamong the most frequently asked ques-tions.

• Can school district staff and boardmembers advocate for passage of thereferendum at public meetings, civicgroups, and churches after thereferendum date is set?Yes. Municipal officials and employeesretain their right to speak freely onthese matters once the referendum dateis set so long as no municipal re-sources are used to convey the advo-cacy message.

Accordingly, these officials andemployees may speak freely on theirown time (time for which that they arenot compensated by the municipality).They also may write letters to theeditor of newspapers using theirofficial titles.

If the public meeting at which theadvocacy occurs is conducted in amunicipally funded facility, thengroups that desire to use the facility toadvocate their opposing viewpoint onthe referendum must be treated on thesame terms.

• What information can be distributedbefore a referendum is set?Before a referendum is scheduled oranytime during the year when noreferendum has been officially set, aboard of education, PTAs, PTOs,Administrators, and Superintendentscan distribute information on:- Budget priorities- Rationale for new initiatives- Budget proposals- The need for construction projects

• What restrictions are there onstudents and PTAs/PTOs when areferendum date has been set?Students may not be used as couriersof information that advocates aposition on a referendum. A noticeindicating the time, place and questionto be voted upon, information that iscontent neutral, may be sent home withstudents.

PTAs, PTOs, administrators and othergroups may not use school equipmentand supplies to advocate a position ona referendum.

• Can architectural drawings remainon display once the referendum dateis set?Yes. The continuing display of suchdrawings would not trigger theprocedural requirement of the legisla-tive body of the municipality toapprove the display. If the drawingsare included in printed materials that

contain other information concerningthe referendum, then the legislativebody would have to authorize itsprinting and dissemination and suchaccompanying information could notadvocate the passage of the referen-dum.

• If the superintendent or his/her youngchild prepares a PowerPoint presenta-tion on their home computer, whichincludes both factual information aswell as advocates for the passage ofthe referendum, can the superinten-dent use that PowerPoint presentationwhen making public speeches afterthe referendum date is set?Yes. Municipal officials, such as thesuperintendent, can spend their ownmoney and time advocating for thereferendum as long as no municipallyfunded resources are used for advo-cacy. The superintendent may make thePowerPoint presentation to groupssuch as area chambers of commerceand PTA/PTO groups after the normalworkday to ensure that no municipalexpenditures are made for advocacyprohibited by § 9-369b of the GeneralStatues.

• Can the superintendent use a Power-Point presentation prepared by schooldistrict staff that contains architec-tural renderings, information on thecost of the project, state reimburse-ment information and data onpopulation growth in the community

after the referendum date is set?Yes, provided the information does notadvocate passage of the referendum. Ifthe PowerPoint presentation is repro-duced and disseminated in printedform, the legislative body would haveto authorize its distribution as it wouldany other form of printed materialdisseminated after the referendum dateis set.

• Can the board of education websitecontinue to contain a link to the PTAor PTO website after the referendumdate is set, even if the linked siteadvocates adoption of the referen-dum?Yes. A mere link to the PTA or PTOwebsite that has a prior existence apartfrom the referendum would not resultin a municipal expenditure for thepurpose of advocating a referendum.

• May board members, superintendents,teachers and other municipal employ-ees participate in political committeesthat advocate positions on pendingreferenda?Absolutely. Again, these officials donot lose their right to associate withothers for advocacy purposes. Politicalcommittees must use private (notpublic) resources to advocate theirpositions on referenda. Municipalofficials may contribute their own timeand money to any such politicalcommittee that is registered with thetown clerk of the municipality.

Editor’s Note: CABE is a member ofthe Northeast Region of the NationalSchool Boards Association (NSBA).After much discussion that took place atthe annual Northeast Regional Meeting,the following position statement wasadopted in early February. We hope thatschool boards and superintendents willsee it as a forward-looking vision forpublic education and that it will helpinform disucussions at the local level.Many of its aspects are already thepositions of the various states, includingConnecticut.

This document is intended to encour-age action and leadership by local schoolboards. Local school boards and stateassociations must take a proactive role inpreserving and defending a system ofpublic education that has a primarymission of promoting the success of allstudents.

In addition, school boards arecommunity leaders, representing thevoice, heart and soul of their districts.Local boards empower communities todefine the unique values that describesuccess for their students.

Given the critical role that schoolboards must play in strengthening local

Northeast Region adopts position statementgovernance and advancing studentachievement, the leaders of the stateschool board associations in the North-east Region propose and endorse thefollowing set of principles and actionsteps to drive that agenda. Theseprinciples are not meant to be a completeor detailed checklist, but are intended toprovide a frame of reference for trueeducation reform in our states and for theadvocacy efforts of NSBA.• The mission of the school board and

its actions must focus on the bestinterests of childreno This includes articulating a vision

of high expectations for studentachievement with no exceptions, noexcuses

o This includes adopting policy,negotiating labor contracts,adopting budgets and hiringsuperintendents and, where appro-priate, key administrators, inaddition to all other roles andresponsibility of the board

o This requires that decisions bebased on relevant, reliable data andbest practices

o This includes advocating forchildren, social issues, economic

justice and emotional well-being(the Whole Child)

o This includes providing for a safeand secure learning environment

• Staff Relations should focus onpolicies that reflect the best interestsof childreno Educator evaluations should be

based on best interests of childreno Properly-focused and relevant

professional development should beprovided to all educators, mostparticularly those in the mostchallenging learning environments

o Teachers in the most challenginglearning environment must beprovided additional support

o The central focus of collectivebargaining should be on studentachievement and the developmentof high quality professional andsupport staff

o The needs of students must comebefore the needs or convenience ofadults. Factors in student achieve-ment, including length of school dayand year, and student contact timeare examples

• School boards must prioritize andaddress concerns about under-performing schoolso School boards should confront and

correct performance issues and notallow them to become fodder forvoucher and other anti-publiceducation forces

• School board members must alwaysbe focused on the right work: studentachievemento Boards should focus their meetings

to discuss student achievemento Both candidates and experienced

school board members mustunderstand their critical role in thecontinuous improvement of studentachievement

o School boards should engage inprofessional development, self-evaluation and reflection tostrengthen their effectiveness

School boards recognize and commu-nicate their critical role as elected officialsin providing exemplary public service in ademocratic society and appreciate thecritical functions of engaging the publicand representing the interests of thecommunity, articulating its values, andstrengthening a democratic societythrough public education.


CABE and Baldwin Media:Partners in Managing Communications

The Media Messagefrom Ann Baldwin, Baldwin Media Marketing, LLC

Governor Malloy declares this“The Year of Education”

Time for educators to speak up

is recruiting for

SUPERINTENDENTOF SCHOOLS

For more information contact, CABE Search Services,Jacqueline V. Jacoby • 860-539-7594

Randall H. Collins • 860-443-5735

P.O. Box 290252, Wethersfield, CT 06129-0252www.cabe.org/support • Equal Opportunity Employers

Keeping your policies current is our business.

CABE Policy ServicesIs your policy up to date? Does your policy meet legal requirements,

address current issues and reflect the latest technological advances.Is your policy aligned with recent court decisions? Has your policybeen reviewed or updated within the last two years?

If your answer to any of these questions is no, we can help.CABE offers a variety of customized policy services to assist local

school districts with developing and maintaining updated, enforce-able and legally compliant policy manuals.

For information on CABE’s variety of policy services, please contactCABE Policy Services at 800-317-0033 or 860-571-7446 or visitwww.cabe.org.

What isyour policyon bullying?

Now that we are one month into this short Legislative Session it is fairlyobvious that education is the “hot topic” and while many in the world ofeducation are mostly pleased with the Governor’s proposal, I think that mostalso agree that there is still a lot that has to happen on a Legislative level toadequately support education reform in Connecticut. While I am not apolitical operative by any means, as a communications professional, I under-stand the role that the media plays in generating dialogue and often timesresults. I think that we have all seen that education reform is at the forefrontof what is making headlines in our state so this could be your opportunity totake an active role in communication. The media plays an important role in the world of Legislative leaders:representing the way that the media portrays the issues before them to theoutside world and more importantly their constituents can have a huge impacton their future political aspirations. Ask any Legislator and they will tell youthat press relations and public perception matter. While media resources are dwindling in our state, we are fortunate that westill have a Capitol press corps that is focused on Legislative issues. TheLegislative process is one of the most complex and least understood aspects ofAmerican Democracy. Reporters assigned to cover the Legislature will havevarying degrees of understanding of how it works and will appreciate the inputand expertise of a credible source. I bring this up because this is an opportunity for those involved andimpacted by education reform to have a voice, not only in what ultimatelyends up happening in this year’s Legislative session, but it is also an opportu-nity to use the words of Joe Cirasuolo, Executive Director of CAPSS, to“plant the seeds” for future educational reform. So how do you do that? This is an opportunity for you to be part of thestory. A time to reach out to educational reporters, or your local reporters andlet them know that you would be available to be a source on education,Because the media can do more that provide visibility they can be an influen-tial trigger for legislative action as well. Perhaps you have a strong opinionabout an issue that arises that would fit well into an op-ed piece in your localpaper or on-line publication? The need for people who involved in all levels of education to weigh in isgreat. From local boards of education, educators and superintendents this isan opportunity to be heard and to give the general public a grass roots per-spective on the real impact and need for better support for Connecticut’spublic school children.

Governor Malloy willbe attending

Register NOW and together we can make our voices heard!Contact: Gail Heath at 860-571-7446 to register or email

[email protected]

CABE Day on the HillMarch 14, 2012

8:30 am

The Bushnell, Hartford

AMITY REGION 5 PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MANCHESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS

OXFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

REGION 12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ROCKY HILL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

For an update or more information onvacancies go to our website: www.cabe.org


CABE-Meeting

Learn more:

CABE-Meeting is a user-friendly, web-based servicespecifically designed to assist the board, superintendent andcentral office staff in preparing for and running board ofeducation meetings.

• Do you want to save yourdistrict money?

• Do you want to utilizetechnology to enable staffto be more efficient?

• Do you want to focus moreof your human andfinancial resources onincreasing studentachievement in yourdistrict?

• Do you want to enhancecommunication with yourcommunity?

• Do you want to model themethods that should beused to infuse technologyin your schools?

If you answered “yes” to atleast one of the abovequestions, read on. CABE-Meeting can help you!

Take a few minutes and go tohttp://www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=158 to completeour CABE-Meeting costanalysis worksheet (located atthe bottom of the page) andsee how much your districtcan save in one year. Districtscan save thousands ofdollars each year by usingCABE-Meeting.

For more information or toschedule a demonstration foryour board, call Lisa Steimerat 800-317-0033 or 860-571-7446 or [email protected].

CABE-Meeting

Lisa SteimerConnecticut Association ofBoards of Education81 Wolcott Hill RoadWethersfield, CT 06109www.cabe.org

Is CABE-Meeting for you?

Editor’s Note: The letter below was signed by three members of theConnecticut Congressional Delegation, Rosa DeLauro, John Larson andJoe Courtney. We thought it would let you know how strongly they feltabout Connecticut’s loss in the Race to the Top competition and about theuse of competitive grants in general in a time of economic challenge. Weappreciate the work they, and others in Congress are doing on these vitalissues. The letter was addressed to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

December 19, 2011

Arne DuncanSecretary of EducationU.S. Department of Education400 Maryland Avenue SWWashington, DC 20202

Dear Secretary Duncan,

We write to express our disappointment with the Department’sdecision to not provide funding for the state of Connecticut throughthe Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge. While we werepleased by your decision to dedicate a portion of Fiscal Year 2011Race to the Top funds to early education, we are deeply disappointedthat those funds will not support early education in our state ofConnecticut.

Unlike many states, Connecticut has taken aggressive action tosupport early childhood education. With the passage of Public Act No.11-181 earlier this year, Connecticut continued its steps to improve thequality of education for young children in our state while dramaticallyincreasing accountability for programs that serves children in theirformative years. While we are hopeful that Connecticut will continuedown the path to improving early childhood education, the decisionnot to provide additional federal funds could hinder that effort. As youare aware, in 2010 Connecticut passed landmark reforms in an effortto receive Race to the Top funding provided by the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act. However, once the decision was made not tofund Connecticut’s application in Round 1 or Round 2, our statelegislature took steps to delay many of those reforms citing a lack ofresources. Given this precedent and the continued economic challengesfacing our state, we are rightfully concerned about the fate of recentreforms to Connecticut’s early childhood system.

All of us believe that investing in education is a vital to reformingour education system and giving each child, regardless of their socio-economic status, a chance to succeed. Yet at a time when schools arelaying off teachers, cutting programs and raising class sizes, we aredeeply concerned with the level of funding that is going to programslike Race to the Top which provide resources to only a few states whileothers are left behind. It is particularly troubling that funding for theRace to the Top program has appeared to take precedence over coreformula programs like Title I, IDEA, Perkins grants and others whichare the bedrock of federal funding for our schools. At a time whenTitle I is being essentially flat funded and our commitment to IDEA iswell below the statutory requirement, continued funding for the Raceto the Top is hard to justify.

As your department finalizes its budgetary requests for Fiscal Year2013, we urge you to focus on funding core formula programs thathelp children in all states. While we understand your strong belief inthe value of the Race to the Top model, we believe that it is the duty ofthe federal government to meet our obligation to schools across thiscountry by increasing funds for proven education programs that schoolsneed to maintain basic services and staffing levels.

Given the scarcity of resources and the impending cuts that alldepartments are likely to face, we strongly urge you to prioritize coreformula funding programs ahead of Race to the Top in Fiscal Year2013.

Sincerely,ROSA L. DeLAURO JOE COURTNEY JOHN B. LARSONMember of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress

Congressman write Duncanon Race to the Top


Lighthouse update -where we stand . . .Nicholas CarusoSenior Staff Associate for Field Serviceand Coordinator of Technology, CABE

Recently CABE and the ConnecticutState Department of Education (SDE)celebrated the third anniversary of theLighthouse Project, a multi-state pro-gram designed to help boards of educa-tion focus their leadership on improvingstudent achievement through a partner-ship between CABE and SDE. In thosethree years we’ve seen the programevolve and grow. This year we seeseveral important changes taking placethat promise to make Lighthouse evenbetter.

Connecticut LighthouseUnlike most of the other states

participating in Lighthouse, our projectis a direct partnership between SDE andCABE. As we moved forward with ourtraining (both for ourselves and ourdistricts), it became obvious thatConnecticut districts had some uniquedifferences with other states.

We are spending time this year tomore clearly define what we wantLighthouse to do for Connecticutdistricts. The theory behind Lighthouseis research-based and has been proven towork in districts where the culture hasbeen changed to support Lighthouseconditions.

However, we felt that we could betterdefine how a Lighthouse board works toachieve those conditions. Our team (withboth SDE and CABE staff members) hasbeen doing that. As most of our firstcadre of districts is through with thefoundational part of the training, we areworking hard to ensure that boardschange their efforts to focus clearly onwork that only the board can do.

This means a closer look at whatboards talk about and what actions theyspend their time on during their meet-ings. How much time is devotes tostudent achievement? How does theboard look at data?

One thing we have done recently is toidentify the characteristics of a Light-house board. While still a draft, this listincludes:

• Focuses relentlessly on theimprovement of student achieve-ment for all students.

• Monitors and holds the districtaccountable for implementation ofthe District Improvement Plan(DIP).

• Provides the resources necessaryfor the approved DIP.

• Works effectively with thesuperintendent as a collaborativeleadership team to focus prioritiesaround high achievement for all

studentsin thedistrict.

• Demonstratesa belief thathigh qualityinstruction ineveryclassroom isthe founda-tion for highachieve-ment for allstudents.

• Monitorsthe conditions and beliefs necessaryfor improving teaching and learningin the district and pro-vides leader-ship to address issues around thoseconditions and beliefs.

• Makes decisions based on analysis ofrelevant research and data.

• Communicates clearly the goals andexpectations for the district, staff,and students with an emphasis onhigh achievement for all students inthe district.

• Bases decisions about resources andbudget on goals and vision for thedistrict with high achievement andcontinuous improvement for allstudents as the priority.

• Conducts meetings that are efficientand effective that focus primarily onstudent achievement and otherdistrict priorities.

• Treats fellow Board members, thesuperintendent, staff, and members ofthe public with respect.

What’s next?As we wind down the work with our

first cadre of districts, we want to ensurethat the work they have done will endurepast the foundation they received. Wecontinue to refine how we can help thosedistricts move forward. We are also startingwork with a second round of districts(Norwalk, Norwich and Danbury) toprovide an even better experience.

The Lighthouse team is anticipating ajump in the number of participatingdistricts as more of the SDE partnerdistricts join in. We will continue to scaleup our resources to ensure a qualityprogram for all districts who participate inLighthouse. We are also working tostreamline the process, so that more boardswill be willing to make the commitment toLighthouse training.

Last, but not least, we will start toanalyze multiple years of data to ensurethat the desired outcomes for Lighthouseare, in fact, happening with our partici-pants. We anticipate the next three yearswill be even better!

Letter to the EditorCCJEF speaks out on state’s

subpoena actionFrank CarranoPresident, CCJEF andChair, Branford Board of Education

The State of Connecticut has issuedsubpoenas to ten school districts that aremembers of the Connecticut Coalition forJustice in Education Funding in conjunc-tion with the school finance lawsuitCCJEF v. Rell. Those districts areBridgeport, Danbury, Hartford, NewBritain, New London, Norwich,Plainfield, Stamford, Waterford, andWindham. All except Waterford are homedistricts for named plaintiff students in thesuit.

The scope of the identical subpoenas ismassive, covering all facets of schooldistrict operations over the past 10 years— including finance, personnel, curricu-lum and instruction, pupil supportservices, instructional technology andmaterials, student outcomes, and facili-ties.

About two-thirds of what’s beingrequested is already substantially col-lected annually by the State Departmentof Education. This amounts to anextraordinarily costly duplication of statereporting burdens. The largest districtsare still tabulating estimates on effort andlabor costs, but small and mid-sizeddistricts report that answering the sub-poena as currently written is likely torequire between 550 and 1600 hours ofeffort, at an approximate cost rangingfrom $35,000 to $100,000, and no districtexpects to be able to fully retrieve the vastamount of decade-old information beingrequested.

That such enormously onerousproduction orders would be issued toschool districts in the midst of peakbudget season – just as superintendentsand their boards of education are negoti-ating with their municipalities andcollective bargaining units to close anycurrent budget gaps and to eke out aminimally acceptable budgets for 2012-13– and less than a month away from theadministration of the state assessmentsappears to me to be clear harassment.

In any litigation the plaintiff partiesfully expect to get subpoenaed for thecollection of pertinent facts directlyrelated to the case, but these subpoenasgo far beyond that. In my view, theyconstitute a punitive action brought tointimidate school communities that havethe audacity to have finally drawn a linein the sand about the state’s failure toadequately and equitably fund their publicschools at a level that ensures that everyConnecticut PK-12 student has equaleducational opportunity.

If every school district in this statewere to stand up at this time and say tothe Governor and Legislature, “Enough isenough! Fund our schools, and stoppushing the burden off onto our munici-palities and their property taxpayers,”would all 166 districts then get subpoe-naed? And does the state now intend tosimilarly punish the dozens of othercommunities that are members of CCJEF?

Pamela Meehl Coyle, who previouslyserved as the Senior Staff Associate forPolicy Services, recently accepted aposition as a Research Analyst for theOffice of Planning and InstitutionalResearch at Stonehill College. In her newrole, she serves on the College’s StrategicPlanning and Institutional Assessmentcommittees. Congratulations Pam!

Patrice A. McCarthyDeputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

People in the News

There’s also considerable irony here,in that these subpoenas and their massiveand duplicative reporting burden comejust at a time that Governor Malloy hasannounced that reducing state paperworkand reporting mandates on school districtsis a critical part of his education reformeffort!

Next steps? CCJEF and the individualdistricts are presently reviewing thesubpoenas and determining the appropri-ate response. Certainly the extremelyshort turnaround time is a huge issue;each district has just 30 days from thedate of service to respond, though theOffice of the Attorney General may beshowing some limited flexibility in thatregard on a district-by-district basis.

According to CCJEF’s legal counsel,the Yale Law School Education AdequacyClinic, the burdensome and vague natureof the demands, coupled with the fact thatthe state already possesses much of theinformation requested of the districts,means that the subpoenas are likely onunsteady legal ground.

For those new board of educationmembers who may not be familiar withCCJEF, the Connecticut Coalition forJustice in Education Funding is a broad-based coalition of municipalities, localboards of education, statewide profes-sional education associations, unions, andother pro-education advocacy organiza-tions, parents and Connecticut schoolchil-dren aged 18 or older, and other con-cerned Connecticut taxpayers. Eventhough member school communities arehome to nearly half of all public schoolstudents, including some three-fourths ofall minority students, those from low-income families, and students from homeswhere English is not the primary lan-guage, the issue of adequacy effects all ofour districts CABE was a foundingmember of CCJEF and holds a permanentseat on its governing body.

In late 2005, CCJEF filed suit againstthe state for its failure to adequately andequitably fund the public schools. In2010, the Connecticut Supreme Courtruled that under the Connecticut constitu-tion all children are entitled to a quality(adequate) education and the state mustpay for it. That landmark pretrial victoryfor schoolchildren allowed CCJEF v. Rellto proceed to trial on the merits ofplaintiffs’ adequacy and equity claims.The case is now in the discovery phase,with trial scheduled for July 2014.


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Documents

CABE Journal March 2012