What a missed opportunity! We could have made the 2021-22 school year the time to fix our underachieving public education system. We could have utilized the wisdom we gained from a year of remote and hybrid learning to rethink how we deliver education. We could have made our schools work for kids, rather than having our kids work to support our failed education model.
The Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan document accurately reflects the requirements of the Connecticut’s American Rescue Plan Act Guidance, issued by the State Department of Education on June 3, 2021, https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Digest/2020-21/ARPESSERGuidance.pdf. Unfortunately, the Safe Return document provides little beyond a recitation of the state requirements (which are, in turn, little more than a restatement of the federal requirements).
Yes, after neverending masking and zooming and sanitizing, the 2020-2021 School year is almost over! However, don't start singing “no more pencils, and no more books” because school’s in for summer!
At a time when most states are substantially increasing education funding to remediate the educational loss occasioned by COVID-19 school closures and distance learning, Connecticut is going backwards. While most states recognize that federal stimulus funds, through the CARES Act, through the CRRSA Act, and now through the American Rescue Plan, were passed to supplement, not supplant, state funds, Connecticut is using that money to backfill its obligations.
The undersigned are organizations dedicated to equity in the education of underserved populations, including students of color, students with disabilities, rural students, and students living in poverty. We write because under the American Rescue Plan (ARP), signed by President Biden last week, Connecticut's schools are about to receive more than a billion dollars. That money needs to be spent wisely. To do so requires strong legislative action.
Special Education Equity for Kids in Connecticut (SEEK) is a statewide organization of parents, providers, attorneys and advocates working for high-quality education and civil rights for students with disabilities. We appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today on H.B. 6667. I am here to speak in favor of Section 11.
We cannot have effective social emotional learning is an atmosphere of fear, in an ethos of rejection, in a school acting like a law enforcement agency. Yet, in our effort to make schools safe, we have made them appear less safe. In our striving to minimize disruptions to learning, schools have become fundamentally disruptive. In our desire to end racism, schools have become a mechanism to preserve the caste system in America.
What follows is a section-by-section appraisal of those of the 30 recommendation areas contained in the Blueprint that fall within SEEK's mission. We ask you to consider modifying your recommendations in accordance with these suggestions.
Connecticut has 205 school districts, including 149 town-based districts, 17 regional school districts, 6 regional education service centers, 3 chartered high schools, and 23 public charter schools, as well as school districts run by state agencies and a Technical High School System. Of the 166 town-based and regional school districts, 21 of the largest and all of the urban school districts have a majority of Black and Hispanic students.
Transitioning into the adult sphere can be a tricky venture under the best circumstances, and even more so for individuals with a disability. Covid-19 has abruptly transformed the landscape of transition for such individuals even further.