Should Connecticut schools end social promotion?
This year Connecticut was regrettably recognized for having the most dramatic achievement gap in the country. These results suggest that a serious problem exists in our public schools, but a recent study looking at the practice of social promotion and other reforms...
Why doesn’t Connecticut have a top 100 high school?
Although Connecticut has often been commended for its educational achievements, a recent study by Newsweek and the Daily Beast didn’t rank a single Connecticut school in the top 100 schools nationally. The study aimed to rank schools based on their “Newsweek Score,” a...
Blumenthal inheritance 1, Norwalk 0
The Norwalk Hour had an interesting story Thursday about a judge reducing the value of a commercial building by nearly $15 million, saving its owners about $1 million in taxes over five years. The article failed to mention the building, MerrittView, is owned by the...
Study: Poorest saw welfare reform job gains
With welfare reform in the news again because of a tussle on the issue between Pres. Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, here is a study worth looking at. The University of Michigan’s National Poverty Center studied the impact of 1990s welfare...
Pension contributions at issue in nursing home strike
The union striking at five Connecticut nursing homes has a well-funded pension according to one measure reported to union members, but a much less favorable position according to federally-mandated calculations. Service Employees International Union 1199 New England,...
Dueling reports: One says Connecticut has four top cities, but metro areas rank poorly for minorities
Money magazine just ranked four Connecticut cities in the top 100 to live in nationwide. The four winning cities – Greenwich, Hamden, Fairfield and West Hartford – are nice suburban towns and have down well in previous Money rankings. While Connecticut has some of the...
There is no teacher shortage in Connecticut
Jonathan Pelto had an interesting post over the weekend about unemployment in Connecticut. He criticizes the typically-reported unemployment rate and mentions the problems pointed to by other unemployment measures, something I have written about here and here. Pelto...