New Haven Citizens Action Network » Barriers to success

The Waffle House? Call the Alders and ask them for a ZERO increase

jeffrey.kerekes — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:51:40 +0000

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Great Summary of the Budget Drivers & Forces

jeffrey.kerekes — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:16:14 +0000

Read this letter from Professor David Cameron about the budget drivers and forces effecting our 2010-2011 Budget in New Haven. It is a great summary of where we are and what we need to be concerned about.

City-wide Brainstorm

jeffrey.kerekes — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:51:53 +0000

Please submit your ideas for generating more revenue and decreasing spending. We will post a list in a brainstorm fashion where all ideas will get posted (except vulgar ones). We will not attribute the ideas so that the ideas can be judged on the idea and not who posted it. Hopefully the brainstorm will generate more ideas. If you are interested in helping putting dollars to these ideas, that would be great and let us know. Our email is on the the sidebar — tips at our URL.

Citywide Brainstorm Spreadsheet.

Freedom of Information Commission Hearing – Part 1

jeffrey.kerekes — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:48:53 +0000

There was a hearing at the State Freedom of Information Commission today. You can read the background in the New Haven Independent and The New Haven Advocate. Here is the sanitized version of the city’s projections. The attached version is different then the one Jeffrey saw in July 2008 and the one he requested under the FOIA. Notice that the City’s projections keeps taxes completely unchanged for five years. I don’t think anyone believes that taxes will remain completely flat for five years. Things inherently cost more each year. More updates forthcoming.

One Thing You Can Do Right Now To Improve Education

jeffrey.kerekes — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:24:15 +0000

Write an email to our state delegation. With one click, you can email them all. The link is just on our right hand side of this page. Here is the letter Jeffrey sent:

Help make Education actually educate our children!

Dear New Haven Delegation:

I am writing you from New Haven. As a progressive democrat, I am outraged by a system that continues to provide barriers to reforming education. For too long, we have accepted failing schools over special interests and have made excuses for non-performance. For instance, why on earth would we turn away some of the most talented young people in the world from teaching in our classrooms? Although not the first source for progressives, read this maddening WSJ article that is spot on: Teach for (Some of) America, Too talented for public schools: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124061253951954349.html#articleTabs=article.

Right now, you are in a position to start eliminating some of these barriers through your powers on the CGA. You can promote data transparency (S.B. 1014) which would allow a better understanding of which schools work and which fail. For too long, we allow people to manipulate fungible numbers. The second opportunity to be a true progressive for transformative education lies in letting smart people teach, no matter what undergraduate education they have pursued. S.B. 939 allows a friend of mine, someone who got a full scholarship to Yale Business School (SOM) due to academic achievement, and who has worked as some of the top companies in the world, to work in the classroom. He loves math and would enjoy teaching in New Haven schools but has not been able to do so despite several unsuccessful attempts to navigate the process. This is shear madness!

Here is a summary of each bill:

The first bill (S.B. 1014) promotes data transparency in schools by requiring that the Connecticut State Department of Education allow nonprofits and universities to use education data the state already collects to improve instruction and help parents make smart choices.

The second bill (S.B. 939) helps improve teacher quality. It removes roadblocks keeping excellent math and science candidates from teaching without a specific college major, instead giving them the option to prove their subject knowledge through a rigorous exam. This bill also establishes a teacher certification pathway so that Teach for America can continue to provide its teachers the long-term professional development and support that has proven so effective. The bill also aids interstate reciprocity for experienced teachers.

Thanks,

Jeffrey Kerekes

With A Shortage of Quality Teachers, Why?

jeffrey.kerekes — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:44:28 +0000

Read this interesting article from the WSJ, Teach for (Some of) America, which describes the barriers keeping out high energy, smart college students, from teaching in the poorest schools. Does this make sense to you? Is our school system itself the barrier to a quality education? Are these sorts of barriers happening here in New Haven? Believe it.