July 26, 2010

MAJORITY LEADER MERRILL PICKS REP. ROJAS
TO SERVE ON ACHIEVEMENT GAP TASK FORCE

House Majority Leader Denise Merrill (D-Mansfield, Chaplin) has chosen state Rep. Jason Rojas to serve on the newly created Achievement Gap Task Force, a group formed to help carry out goals set in legislation that Rojas successfully co-authored.

Noting Rojas’ experience as a former board of education member in East Hartford, Merrill said Rojas would play a valuable role on an important task force formed to find ways to close the achievement gap between minority and white students in the state.

“Jason is the right person for this position,” Merrill said. “I am confident that his talents and expertise will be of great value to the task force.”

Rojas also served on the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Public Secondary Schools. The association is responsible for accrediting over 650 high schools throughout New England. The group’s Standards for Accreditation are a research-based set of practices and concepts that provide guidance to schools on all aspects of education.

Rojas said he was eager for the task force to begin its work.

“The achievement gap is one of our state’s most important moral and policy issues to address. The achievement gap impacts property taxes and economic and workforce development,” Rojas said. “It perpetuates economic and racial isolation and we have an obligation to all families to ensure that their children will be able to reach the goals that they have set for themselves. We will only close the gap if we honestly address and indentify the causes and engage the communities most impacted by it.”

The task force is a result of legislation that Rojas successfully co-authored and helped push through the General Assembly in answer to the state’s need to provide quality education for all and close the achievement gap between minority and white students.

In addition to addressing the achievement gap, the new legislation increases the number of credits required for high school graduation and requires students to pass exams in core subjects such as math, history, biology and English, while empowering parents, school boards and the state to step in when schools are failing.

“The legislation gives new authority to stakeholders, including, for the first time, parents, to take decisive action when schools are letting students down,” Rojas said.