Business, Education Groups Rally Around Reforms

More evidence of the sea change taking in public opinion toward education reform was seen this week as a diverse group of Connecticut business and education organizations said they agree on significant goals to begin raising outcomes for all students and closing the state’s achievement gap.

Standing together at a joint press conference were the Connecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER), Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS), Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS), the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE), and CBIA.

Although each organization has its own reform agenda, they agreed on several strategies to achieve meaningful public school reform.

The group’s combined agenda calls for improving:

• Educator preparation, teacher and principal evaluation and support
• Students’ mastery of content (versus measuring time spent in the classroom)
• Schools’ and districts’ accountability
• Access to early childhood education
• Educator contract negotiations

Achieving those reforms is necessary, the groups said, if lawmakers are serious about putting Connecticut on a track to be a leader in public education for the 21st century.

The significance of six large and disparate organizations coming together on this issue cannot be overstated, and their spirit of cooperation complements the growing chorus of bipartisan voices in the legislature that support meaningful school reform this year.

This is no time for deferring to political interests nor for maintaining the status quo in public education. Connecticut’s broken education system must be fixed so that schools and teachers can excel and provide a world-class education to all students.