Attachment that accompanied Wesptport PTA letter

Senate Bill 24 Summary: An Act Concerning Education Competitiveness
􏰀 Early Childhood Education
o Expanded access (in budget) for 500 additional slots for kids in priority school districts o Provide grants for quality improvement programs for educators/non-certified programs o Develop Tiered Quality Rating and Information System as part of the coordinated early
childhood education system
􏰀 Lowest Achieving Schools
􏰁 Establish Commissioner’s Network of ~25 lowest-performing schools (over two years)

• 􏰁  Requires either a turnaround agreement between district & State Department of Education (SDE) or will be managed/operated by the Network
  
• 􏰁  Schools will remain in the Network for 3 years at which time an evaluation will determine if the school is prepared to exit
  

o Talent Strategy for Network Schools:

• 􏰁  The SDE Commissioner or his designee will hire all staff in a Network school as
  district employees
  
  • Current teachers will need to apply for a position (mutual consent hiring)
    
  • Priority will be given to teachers in the district in hiring
    
• 􏰁  Establish grant programs for funding teacher/school leader compensation increases and innovations or the coordination of school/ student support services
  􏰀 Public Schools of Choice
  

o Magnet
􏰁 Provides $5 million new funding to non-Sheff host and regional magnets to make funding of magnets more equitable across the state
o Agricultural Science
􏰁 Establish $750,000 competitive grant program to recruit students from Priority
School Districts
o Connecticut Technical High Schools
􏰁 Provides $500,000 in funding for trade supplies
􏰁 Also changes governance for the Connecticut Technical High School System

• Four executives from Connecticut based employers (nominated by regional chambers of commerce ) and appointed by Governor
  
• Five members appointed by the State Board of Education
  
• Commissioners of DECD and Labor will serve ex-officio
  

o Charter Schools
􏰁 FundingcontributionsforStateCharters

• Increase state contribution per pupil from $9400 to $11,000
  
• Establish a $1000 per resident student local contribution for state charters
  
• Charter funding is done under ECS appropriation
  􏰁 AccountabilityforStateCharters
  􏰁 Preference in granting charters/renewing charters to applicant schools that:
  o Havespecialmissiontoserveidentifiedstudentpopulations
  o Hasarecordofsuccessandhasahighquality/feasibleturnaround
  plan
  

o Presentstrongrecruitment/retentionplanforidentifiedstudent populations
• State Board of Education will review charter renewal applications taking into consideration student recruitment/retention plans for identified student populations
􏰁 LocalCharters

• State Board of Education may award $500,000 in start-up grant and/or
  $3,000 grant per student
  
• Local Charters are eligible for grants with high-quality plans to undertake a
  school turnaround or serving at least one of the following populations: o Studentswithhistoriesoflowacademicperformance
  o Studentswhoreceivefree/reducedpricelunch
  o Studentswithhistoriesofbehavioral/socialdifficulties
  o Studentseligibleforspecialeducationservices o StudentswhoareEnglishlanguagelearners
  􏰀 Teacher and School Leader Talent Support and Accountability
  

o Teacher Preparation

• 􏰁  Require a B+ average for entry into teacher prep programs (proposed to State Board of Education, except as pertains to Alternative Route to Certification Programs)
  
• 􏰁  Establish Education Preparation Advisory Council (in cooperation with P-20 Council) to overhaul accreditation regulations, and to include outcome indicators such as:
  
  • Student achievement results of new teachers/graduates
    
  • Graduates’ rates of employment in high-need districts
    
  • Graduates’ job retention rates
    
  • Recruitment of high-quality students
    
  • Feedback from school districts on the quality of student teachers
    
• 􏰁  “Attract the Best” Teacher Incentive Program
  
  • Grants of up to $5000 for students with exemplary academic achievement that are committed to working in a low-achieving school
    
  • Loan forgiveness up to $2500/year for four years for teaching graduates who work in low-achieving school districts
    
• 􏰁  Professional Development
  Replace seat-time based Continuing Education Unit requirements with high- quality, job-embedded professional development tied to job performance
  

o School Leader Preparation
􏰁 Establish and provide a grant for the Connecticut School Leadership Academy
o Teachers and Administrators’ Evaluation

• 􏰁  Designates four evaluation levels: Exemplary, Proficient, Developing, and Below
  Standard
  
• 􏰁  Evaluation system was developed by Performance Evaluation Advisory Council
  
  • 45% tied to student learning (one half based on standardized test)
    
  • 40% based on observations of performance and practice
    
  • 10% based on peer or parent feedback including surveys
    
  • 5% based on student feedback or whole-school achievement
    

o Teacher Certification
􏰁 Reduce certification fees from $250 to $200

􏰁 Simplified three-level system:
􏰁 Initial certificate for new, pre-tenured teachers.
􏰁 Professional certificate for tenured teachers
􏰁 Master certificate for tenured teachers with exemplary practice
o Teacher Support
􏰁 $5 million for additional and re-focused professional development
􏰁 $2.5 million for evaluation system development, training, and implementation
o Teacher Tenure

• 􏰁  Probationary period extended from 90-days to one year
  
• 􏰁  Tenure achieved through two exemplary evaluations within 3 school years OR 3
  proficient or exemplary evaluations within 5 school years
  
• 􏰁  If tenured teachers are rated below standard at any time or developing for two or
  more years, dismissal is pursuant to an impartial termination hearing with due process
  􏰀 Education Cost Sharing Grant
  

o 2.47% increase in Alliance districts’ grant, 1.41% increase all other districts’ grant o Foundation is increased from $9,867 to $12,000
o Household income data is streamlined and replaced by annually update DECD data
(Median Household Income)
o Poverty rate determination is updated from Title 1 Census Poverty to Husky A o Additional Funding:

• 􏰁  Committed Funding: Towns will receive FY2012 levels at minimum (Base Aid)
  
• 􏰁  Conditional Funding: 30 of the lowest performing district (Alliance Districts) receive
  additional funding ($39.5 million) with SDE approval of spending plans
  
• 􏰁  Competitive Funding: $4.5 million funds a competitive grant program for districts
  that to develop best academic practices
  
• 􏰁  Other districts statewide (106) will receive increased ECS aid totaling $10.5 million
  􏰀 College and Career Readiness
  

o State Board of Education shall develop and adopt a college readiness assessment for
eleventh graders (and a subsequent plan for those not ready for college) by 3/31/2013