Charter Schools Thank Malloy For Funding
by Christine Stuart | Feb 21, 2012 8:32pm
(5) Comments | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Education
Wearing shirts that said, “Charter Schools Are Public Schools,“ a group of parents, teachers, and students from the state’s 17 charter schools came to the Capitol to help Gov. Dannel P. Malloy make his case to the General Assembly.
Dacia Toll, CEO and president of Achievement First, which operates nine charter schools in Connecticut, said she’s been coming to Hartford for 13 years advocating for more funding for charters. It took 13 years, but “we finally have a governor who faces down that achievement gap and says, ‘not on my watch’,” Toll told the crowd Tuesday.
And while the group didn’t get every they wanted Malloy’s budget increases the state’s per-pupil funding for charter schools from $9,400 to $11,000 while increasing the contribution from local school districts to $1,000 per student.
The group had a chance to thank Malloy with posters and chants for the boost in funding when he made an appearance at the rally outside the state Capitol.
“There are a lot of people who think my talking about closing the achievement gap is fantasy, but you’re living proof that it’s not fantasy,” Malloy told the crowd. “A lot of people think that in urban environments people are less anxious to be educated and will find other things to do with their time and you’re living proof that’s not the case.”
But the legislation, which is 163-pages long, makes many changes, some such as tenure are controversial, while others aren’t.
Malloy acknowledged that these reforms need to be adopted by the legislature in a relatively short period of time “in which we either win, or we lose.”
“This is our day, this is our opportunity,” Malloy said. “There has never been a moment where we were closer to success or closer to disappointment, but disappointment in this setting will set us back many, many years.”
But Malloy accepts that his proposal will have to make it through the legislature and may not come out looking exactly as he proposed it.
“There’s a process and I engaged in that process today,” Malloy said. “You know governor’s have not appeared before committee’s too often and had not taken questions, except under subpoena.”
Sen. Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, who also spoke at the charter school rally, said he thinks Malloy wants “all of it,” but whether he gets it remains to be seen.
McKinney said in terms of Malloy’s proposals to close the achievement gap he’s on board, but there are some things such as forced regionalization that he doesn’t like and still things such as the nexus between tenure and certification he needs to research further.
“It’s an important step. It’s a long overdue step, but I think we’re going to learn once they pass how the teacher evaluations work,” McKinney said.
The most controversial part of Malloy’s plan is tenure and how teachers will be evaluated and certified by the state. The two teacher unions and several teachers spoke against that part of the legislation Tuesday during an Education Committee public hearing. The charter school students testified to the Appropriations Committee Tuesday evening.
Click here for more about the events of the day from Melissa Bailey of the New Haven Independent.
Tags: education, charter school, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, tenure, funding
(5) Comments
posted by: The Educator | February 22, 2012 12:49am
If Charter schools are public schools too, then why do districts have to spend more to send children there? What happens when students fail at Charter schools? What about inclusion at Charter schools? Anyone else find it suspicious that groups like ConnCan, of which none of its members were ever teachers are so quick to promote these? What about the Ed Commish, who was never a teacher or an educator? If Gov. Malloy’s approval rating drops below a certain percent are we allowed to find him ineffective and have him removed from office? I would have more faith in Pryor’s decision making if he had worked at a public school as a teacher or administrator and had to do the evaluations he is calling for. Its a scam from top to bottom.
posted by: 27Reasons | February 22, 2012 12:07pm
Public school teachers were urged by their union to vote for Malloy, and there’s a very good chance that he would not have won without the support of teachers. NOW, he is looking to make teachers scapegoats for the shortcomings of others! These are radical changed being proposed in the name ‘reform.’ As for charter schools, how is it fair that they get to exclude special education, ell, and behavior students, and then employ average class sizes of 15 students. How can you possibly compare that to what normal public schools are asked to do. All of this ‘reform’ has very much to do with elite interests and little to do with better education.
posted by: 27Reasons | February 22, 2012 12:13pm
And another big point: School districts are already functioning across the state on ‘bare-bones’ budgets. Many teachers have already been let go, programs have been cut, salaries have been frozen, and there’s nothing left to take away in most cases. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO OUR CHILDREN in public schools when tens of thousands of dollars more are suddenly wiped from future budgets, to ‘follow the students’ to private schools?!?! This whole idea should be ILLEGAL. If you want to send your child to private school; then pay for it yourself.
posted by: saramerica | February 22, 2012 6:15pm
Well this is very interesting…and while it requires further investigation, might give some insight into the Governor’s preference for charter schools. http://jonpelto.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/oops-and-here-i-thought-it-was-an-annual-meeting-and-not-a-gala-dinner/
posted by: Beth | February 27, 2012 4:32pm
I love how everyone thinks charter schools are not public schools. NOT TRUE. Please read the law before commenting. They are public schools which have to follow the same regs around certification, etc. that other public schools do (as opposed to private schools). Charters are not allowed to exclude ANYONE except non-CT residents. If I’m a CT 6th grader and apply to the lottery and get picked, I’m in. Period. And let’s not give much credence to anything Jon Pelto says until he convinces us he’s not got a huge chip on his shoulder. Haters gonna hate, and he hates everything!