Hours from his first debate with incumbent Governor Dan Malloy, Republican nominee Tom Foley released his plan for Connecticut that includes five points “that matter most” with support for school choice. Foley has been criticized for lacking in issue specificity.
On the education front Foley says:
“I will fix our under-performing schools with “real education reform. We must do this to ensure every young person in Connecticut gets a fair start with a decent education. “Real” reform does not mean interfering with local control of schools that are performing well. Where schools are not performing well, I will:
• Make sure no child is trapped in a bad school–it is not fair. The American promise of fairness and opportunity is not there if a child cannot get a decent education. Parents with children in under-performing schools should be able to choose among
other in-district public schools.• Implement “money follows the child” including a variable grant amount based on a student’s need.
• Provide more support for teachers who are the most important factor in educational outcomes.
• Improve transparency and introduce an A–F school grading system to give educators and parents the information they need to make sure every child is given a good education.
• Ensure that no one slips through the cracks by requiring that third graders pass a reading test before being allowed to go on to fourth grade and that high school students pass a regents-style exam before graduating.
Read more here.
When local schools are not performing well, is that the time to ask for missing funds to adequately complete the mission of education of youth from K-12? Do you ask the State Legislature, State BOE, your local Mayor to be sure they hear you? Do you expect responses from candidates about an issue that has been in the courts too long and too often? Time will tell.
Missing Funds, then those funds should come from Bridgeport since Bridgeport pays only 15% of its Total Educational Bill.
I’m sorry, but what did he say? This guy is talking loud and saying nothing.
The only thing that stands out to me is third graders pass a reading test before going on to fourth grade. So many students make it to high school completely illiterate. It is absolutely heartbreaking and every teacher who pushed them through should be fired. I also like the regent-style exam. However, waiting to administering them on the eve of graduation is absolutely absurd. In Brooklyn New York, I remember the regents were a big deal. Elementary, Junior High and High School. You address the problem before it is a nightmare. In Brooklyn I remember students were frequently skipping grades if they had shown promise. They would put them in other advanced classes to see if they can perform. Here in Bridgeport we advance underperformers and put them in a class with special-needs students and completely disregard the student who has a chance to change the world. They become invisible and unchallenged. Starving for education but the teachers spend their time disciplining problem students etc. etc. Regents and Reading comprehension mandatory testing … definitely.
Paul Vallas instituted the same requirement in Chicago with the governor’s support. It was such a disaster, even the governor withdrew his support and the testing requirement for graduation was eliminated.
No one should be judged by a single test to determine their future. In CT, children are required to have a 180 days per year of schooling. That is 720 days of schooling at the high school level. Are you saying if a child receives average grades all four years but performs poorly on this single test, they should be denied an opportunity to graduate?
What if a good employee is seeking a promotion and his/her supervisor tells them I am going to administer a written test on Wednesday and you have to receive a 65 to be promoted. The employee receives a 61, however this employee received satisfactory evaluations for four consecutive years, has an excellent attendance record, works well with his colleagues and supervisors, follows direction well, has a good work ethic, helps organize a children’s toy drive every holiday season, etc. Should this employee be denied the promotion because of a single written test score?
Children are so much more than an annual test score. Shouldn’t the child’s conduct, manners, civic responsibility, relationship with fellow students and staff, extra curricular activities, effort, etc., be weighed along with their annual test score? Children and teachers should be evaluated as human beings and all their contributions and successes, not just on a single test score.
A child’s conduct, manners, civic responsibility should be learned at home with proper home training. If not, the District should penalize for Parental Irresponsibility.
“Children are so much more than an annual test score. Shouldn’t the child’s conduct, manners, civic responsibility, relationship with fellow students and staff, extracurricular activities, effort, etc., be weighed along with their annual test score?”
I think your comments above are accurate and fair-minded. But does the presence of a teenager in 720 days of classes itself qualify them for a high school diploma? Isn’t there a variety of testing or examining or project evaluation ongoing in those years that is part of the record to be weighed? To allow adjustments in teaching content or approach? To show whether curriculum design receives attention?
About 12 years ago a technology business leader from Europe talked about our education system and told the audience our high school diploma means nothing. He was talking about the fact it does not certify the accomplishment of any set of skills or knowledge attainment. Different communities with different standards. That was one constituency heard from with an important observation about how the US does things.
The NY Regents test process may have changed over the years but essentially the Regents Board provided a testing process for those who were bound for higher education. It was a level playing field for those able and willing to take the test and have the results part of their record.
We can become “test obsessed” as some have observed in looking back 15-20 years and that is not good, but some practical and universal form of assessment before and after a period of instruction whether it be a chapter, a course, a semester, or high school, by itself is only that.
A job application process, submitting forms to enter a school of higher learning, auditioning for a role in a performance, trying out for a sports team, satisfying the “physical training” component of graduating from military basic training are all parts of human-being evaluations, and many have testing as a significant component if not for a positive response then at least for placement consideration. Test results are important. Adjustments can be part of the process, but objective standards are important to balance subjective observations and data and to provide certification or accreditation.
A single test score (on paper regarding rules of the road or behind the wheel with an MVD officer) whether you are 17 or 77 can determine the right to secure a driver’s license today and the ability to legally drive away. I do not have a problem with that. Who does? It seems common sense. Time will tell.