New legislation just signed by Gov. Rell in CT

In contrast to the ongoing drama and (so far) lack of action in NY, here's a summary of the new legislation just signed by Gov. Rell in CT by ConnCAN's Alex Johnston:

 

Here's what we got:

Goal 1: Measuring effectiveness. For the first time, every district in the state will be required to evaluate teachers based on their students' achievement growth.

Goal 2: World-class standards. The state board of education agreed to adopt the Common Core Standards to create internationally benchmarked goals to strive towards in Connecticut public schools.

Goal 3: Superstar principals. A new pathway to certification is now on the books for our most talented classroom teachers to become principals.

Here's what we didn't get:

Goal 4: Money Follows the Child. The Race to the Top law lifts the caps on the number of seats allowed in our high-performing public charter schools but it doesn't lift the other cap that comes from a lack of money for those seats. We are still one of just three states that fund our charter schools on a line item in the state budget to be fought over year after year. It is high time that we move to a commonsense money follows the child system of public school funding, and we didn't win that this year.