Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, February 15, 2014

2-15-14 Wait What? All Week

Wait What?:



  Wait What? All Week






“Google explicitly admits for the first time that it scans the email of Google Apps for Education users for ad-serving purposes even when ad serving is turned off.” – Safegov.org 1/31/14 Late last year, Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Commissioner Stefan Pryor, like governors and education commissioner across the country, proudly announced that they were […]The post Are Governor Malloy’s new Google

Say it ain’t so! Here is the latest from fellow blogger Jan Resseger, a vital pro-public education voice at the national level; Here is a quick weekend update on an important development about media coverage of issues connected to school reform. This time the topic is so-called news coverage of public pensions, the kind of […]The post PBS sells out to Corporate Education Reform Industry? appeared

Who on earth would require HS juniors to take the Common Core Field Test in the spring?
Ah….  Well… Governor Malloy, Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor and their corporate education reform industry allies are doing exactly that. When it comes to these proponents of education reform, three of their favorite words tend to be “Common Core, “Standardized Testing,” and “College Ready.” As any parent who has sent a child off to college […]The post Who on earth would require HS juniors
More than 500 New York State principals slam Common Core testing frenzy
While Stefan Pryor, Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, and the Connecticut State Department of Education are instructing Connecticut superintendents and principals to mislead and lie to parents in an attempt to scare parents from opting their children out of the standardized testing frenzy, a group of more than 500 New York State principals have signed […]The post More than 500 New York

FEB 13

Corporate Education Reform Industry targets students, parents and teacher of Clark Elementary School
Three days ago, in a post entitled NEWS FLASH: Pryor reportedly giving Hartford’s Clark Elementary School to Washington D.C. Charter School Chain, Wait What? readers learned of an apparent deal by Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor and his senior staff to turn over Hartford’s Clark Elementary School to a major Washington D.C. based charter school […]The post Corporate Education Reform Industry
Malloy majors in fiction at press conference touting commitment to higher education.
“I am not talking about what happened in the past. I am talking about what needs to happen in the future.  (Governor Dannel Malloy 2-12-14) The CT News Junkie headline reads “Commits To Higher Ed, Hopes Future Governors Will Too.” Governor Malloy held at press conference at Manchester Community College on Wednesday in which he […]The post Malloy majors in fiction at press conference touting commit

FEB 12

Steve Perry gets hit with City of Hartford ethics complaint
In an article entitled, “Complaint Filed Against Capital Prep Principal,” Kerri Provost, of the blog Real Hartford reports that; “Councilperson Larry Deutsch filed a complaint with the City of Hartford Ethics Commission tonight regarding Steve Perry’s alleged policy violations. Perry is the principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School (Capital Prep).” As Provost explains; “Deutsch presented […]T
When real teachers speak… Elected officials should listen
Barth Keck is an English teacher and assistant football coach in Connecticut.  He also writes commentary pieces for CT News Junkie.  His pieces should be mandatory reading for every federal, state and local elected official in Connecticut. In his latest column entitled, Already Feeling Squeezed As I Attempt to ‘Align’ With Common Core, Barth Keck […]The post When real teachers speak… Elected offic

FEB 11

Parents can opt their children out of the standardized testing frenzy and school superintendents should be supporting them
Connecticut Parents have a right to opt their children out of the standardized testing frenzy and school superintendents should be supporting them. And Connecticut public school superintendents should be supporting them. It is not easy being a superintendent of schools.  I know, having had a superintendent in the family and having e worked with dozens […]The post Parents can opt their children out
Steve Perry, the reader known as “Reality Ed” and disaster know as Capital Prep
As Wait, Wait? has investigated the allegations associated with Capital Prep Steve Perry and the potential violations of federal and state laws and Hartford regulations and policies at Capital Prep, readers have become accustomed to the constant comments and attacks from Steve Perry or one or more of his supporters. Over the past few months […]The post Steve Perry, the reader known as “Reality Ed”

FEB 10

NEWS FLASH: Pryor reportedly giving Hartford’s Clark Elementary School to Washington D.C. Charter School Chain
Sources close to Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor report that the Charter School loving Commissioner of Education has committed to give Hartford’s Clark Elementary School to Friendship Charter Schools Inc., a major charter school management company based in Washington, D.C. Malloy’s Commissioner of Education recently announced that he has “accepted” Hartford’s Clark Element
Speaking of Bullying and Safe School Climates – Another MUST READ piece by Sarah Darer Littman
Sarah Darer Littman is back writing columns for CT Newsjunkie!  A pro-public education advocate, Sarah Darer Littman is also an award-winning columnist and novelist of books for teens. In a weekend commentary piece for CT Newsjunkie entitled, When Adults – and Politicians – Are Bystanders to Bullying, she has produced another MUST READ column. While […]The post Speaking of Bullying and Safe School
Oh for crying out loud – Pryor misses deadline for vital school safety report AGAIN!
February 1, 2014 has come and gone and Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor has FAILED AGAIN to produce a mandatory report on bullying, school climate and how to make our schools safer. And this isn’t the first time that Stefan Pryor has failed to fulfill his legal obligations when it comes to this […]The post Oh for crying out loud – Pryor misses deadline for vital school safe

FEB 09

Who is pushing Capital Prep Steve Perry’s Capital Prep Harbor Charter School application?
According to the charter school application submitted by Steve Perry’s private charter school Management Company;  “The Capital Prep Harbor School (the “Harbor School”) is designed as a replication of the Capital Preparatory Magnet School (“Capital Prep”) in Hartford, Connecticut.  The founders of Capital Prep have developed an internationally recognized model designed to prepare children from […]
Is Hartford forgoing its ethics policy for Capital Prep Steve Perry?
Even a cursory review of the facts reveal that Capital Prep Principal Steve Perry is violating Hartford Board of Education policies, and potentially state laws, due to his chronic absenteeism, his inappropriate use of social media and the fact that he spends an inordinate amount of his work day promoting his profitable public speaking business. […]The post Is Hartford forgoing its ethics policy fo

FEB 08

Malloy and Pryor’s “Mandatory” March Madness: The Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Field Test
Despite what Governor Malloy, Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor and their corporate education reform industry allies are telling Connecticut parents, the Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment “Field Test” scheduled for March-June is not a Connecticut Mastery Examination.  In fact, it is nothing more than a Test of a Test. And to suggest that parents must force […]The post Malloy and Pryor’s “M
Ailing teacher evaluation program can’t be cured (by Wendy Lecker)
Among Governor Malloy’s package of election year gimmicks to win back enough support to get 50 percent of the vote in November’s gubernatorial election are a series of steps to deceive teachers, parents and public school advocates into think that he is mending his ways and stepping off the corporate education reform industry gravy train. […]The post Ailing teacher evaluation program can’t be cured

FEB 07

Malloy Shifts Into Full-On Makeup Mode (A must read by Kevin Rennie)
First there was Dan Malloy, the Democratic candidate for Governor.  Once elected, Dan became Dannel and the commitments and promises made were quickly swept aside by the arrogance and sense of entitlement displayed by Connecticut’s new Governor Dannel Malloy. Now with the gubernatorial election ten months away, Dannel Malloy is morphing yet again — and […]The post Malloy Shifts Into Full-On Makeup
Colin McEnroe’s commentary piece on Pryor getting national coverage
After reading Colin McEnroe’s recent commentary piece entitled,  Parsing The Unintelligible Stefan Pryor, Diane Ravitch, America’s leading public education advocate, cross posts the piece to her blog asking, “When Did Gibberish Replace Conventional English?” The two are MUST READ pieces. Diane writes: Colin McEnroe of NPR in Connecticut has discovered the root problem of corporate reformers: They
Commissioner Pryor’s agency tells superintendents to mislead and lie to parents – and they are
Shelton Connecticut Superintendent of Schools Freeman Burr is sending a letter to parents who seek to opt their children out of Connecticut’s standardized testing scheme.  The letter, based on a model provided by Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor’s office is misleading and could reasonably be called an outright lie. When Governor Malloy was recently asked […]The post Commissioner Pryor’s agen
It’s an election year and Governor Malloy is now for raising the minimum wage
However, his announced $10 an-hour minimum wage wouldn’t take effect until 26 months after the next election. When it comes to politics, even short-term memory is a scarce commodity. While candidate Dan Malloy was a supporter of increasing the minimum wage, Governor Dannel Malloy has taken a considerably more conservative approach. In January 2012, the […]The post It’s an election year and Governo