May 6, 2010
BLACK & PUERTO RICAN CAUCUS WINS
FINAL APPROVAL OF ACHIEVEMENT GAP LEGISLATION
Lawmakers from the Connecticut General Assembly's Black and Puerto Rican Caucus today are celebrating the final legislative approval of a proposal they introduced addressing the achievement gap between minority and white students in Connecticut – the state with the highest discrepancy in the nation.
The House of Representatives approved their proposal Tuesday night by a vote of 145-0 in the form of an amendment onto legislation aimed at improving the state's changes in securing federal "Race to the Top" funding. The Senate quickly followed and adopted their amendment on Wednesday afternoon, sending the legislation to the desk of the governor for her signature.
"Advancing our legislative proposal is a solid start to addressing the persistent achievement gap and instituting a needed accountability measure. The votes in both chambers represent a victory for parents across the state, particularly ones who have children attending any one of the state's 137 chronically failing schools," said State Representative Jason Bartlett (D-Bethel, Danbury, Redding), who led the debate on the amendment in the House.
State Representative Jason Rojas said it was time for bold and innovative changes to make Connecticut more competitive and stronger when it comes to competing for "Race to the Top" dollars.
"I am very proud of this final product," Rojas said. "The councils bring together our primary stakeholders in education – parents and children – to truly address the governance deficiencies that exist in schools that have not been adequately educating our children. This bill empowers both parents and teachers by giving them the backing of law to provide them the support they deserve to make the changes in their schools that need to be made."
Under their legislation, local and regional boards of education identified as low achieving by not meeting adequate yearly progress in mathematics and reading must establish a school governance council with the power to reconstitute schools in three years. It creates a new Parent Trust Fund and allows the commissioner of the Department of Education to use the resources of the fund to make grants to programs aimed at improving the health, safety and education of children.
Their legislation also creates an online credit recovery program for schools with a drop out rate of 8% or greater, requires boards of education to conduct two parent conferences per year and establishes a task force to study issues related to the achievement gap. Finally, boards of education would have to offer an advanced placement (AP) course program, and for State Department of Education to develop guidelines for training teachers for teaching AP courses.
State Representative Douglas McCrory (D-Hartford) said the legislature has taken a first step towards tackling this issue by giving greater power to parents. "My colleagues and I will continue to keep this issue as a top priority and will work with parents, educators, and local and state officials to make the necessary changes needed to achieve equal opportunities in education," he said.
Lawmakers in the caucus developed the legislation after holding a series of town hall hearings throughout the state during the past year. They said they plan on continuing their advocacy regarding the state's achievement gap and will pursue additional legislation in future sessions.
Their amendment, LCO 5548, was incorporated into Senate Bill 438.