Grogins Tours Bassick With State Ed Chief

The state’s Education Cost Sharing formula is an exercise in frustration for many city officials. Why is it that Hartford and New Haven have historically received more loot from the formula than the state’s largest city? State Rep. Auden Grogins, a member of the Education Committee, wants to modernize the education sharing formula. She took a tour of Bassick High School last week with State Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor. From Grogins:

State Representative Auden Grogins (D-Bridgeport) is pleased to report that she recently toured Bassick High School in Bridgeport with new Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor as part of a statewide tour of a variety of schools and school types.

“Education will feature prominently in the upcoming legislative session as Governor Malloy has expressed his intention of tackling major educational issues in the next session with the formation of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Task Force in August and the Achievement Gap Task Force,” Rep. Grogins said. “As the only member of the Bridgeport delegation serving on the Education Committee, I look forward to working with the Commissioner and my colleagues in Hartford to make sure Bridgeport receives its fair share of education dollars and is well represented in the legislative agenda and the task force’s recommendations.”

The ECS Task Force will review the effectiveness of the state’s ECS grant and how it relates to state constitutional requirements. The group is charged with the important task of developing recommendations on possible ways to change how money is divided up by school district. The Achievement Gap Task Force is assigned to study ways to close the achievement gap between wealthy and poor students.

Of particular interest to Rep. Grogins is the fact that Bassick is a Community, Parents, Administrators, Children, and Teachers, or ‘CommPACT,’ School. The CommPACT School model is the first-of-its-kind school reform program developed to address the achievement gap issues in Connecticut’s public schools and to create a more vibrant learning environment.

“CommPACT schools have seen a rise in student performance and more efficient operational structures and I am very interested in pursuing this concept and model further if it continues to be successful,” Rep. Grogins said. “We must emphasize what works if we are to make a sincere effort to improve public education.”

The primary stakeholders involved in public education, including community members, parents, administrators, children, and teachers, worked as a collaborative team to develop the CommPACT School model. Though still accountable to their local districts, CommPACT Schools have autonomy to make changes–a departure from traditional top-down models of organization.

“Bridgeport that has a high percentage of English language learners and a myriad of issues reflected in testimony presented to the task force on behalf of Bridgeport. I am committed to working to address education issues as the legislative session convenes in February,” Rep. Grogins added. “I would like to thank Commissioner Pryor for his proactive approach and willingness to learn about the successes and challenges facing Bridgeport’s schools. This will be a productive session for our state’s students.”

Rep. Grogins represents the 129th district and serves as Vice Chair of the Planning and Development Committee as well as serving as a member of the Education and Judiciary Committees.