State Education Commissioner To Conduct Public Forum At Newtown High School

By MARTHA COVILLE

Published: Feb 01, 2008 12:00 am

Mark K. McQuillan, the Connecticut State Education Commissioner, will host a public forum at Newtown High School on Thursday, February 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The forum is part of Mr McQuillanâs statewide âListening Tour,â during which he will discuss proposed changes to the stateâs high school graduation requirements. The session will include a question and answer period, to gauge public interest in, and take input on, the secondary school reform proposal.

The State Board of Education has adopted a broad outline of legislative recommendations for secondary school reform and has authorized the public participation process to refine and shape its final proposal to the Connecticut General Assembly.

The proposal is based on the recommendations of the State Board of Educationâs Ad Hoc Committee on Secondary School Redesign and recommends new state requirements for high school graduation, including: an increase in minimum diploma credits to 24; a core curriculum of required courses;Â the embedding of 21st Century learning skills such as communication and teamwork skills into model curricula; state-administered end-of-course examinations; locally administered end-of-course performance tasks; student success plans with career path options, and a senior year demonstration project.

Input from parents, students, educators, board members and business and community leaders will help to inform the commissioner and state board as they make final recommendations to the legislature. It is anticipated that the board will first ask the General Assembly in its 2008 session to fund a feasibility study to determine the costs â both to the state and to local and regional school districts â for the new graduation requirements. It is expected that the board will make its recommendations including cost considerations to the 2009 session of the General Assembly. If the proposal is enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor, the new requirements would affect public school students entering high school in 2011 and graduating in 2015.

For additional information contact the State Department of Education at 860-713-6543.

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To the children and their parents: I have delayed this message for eight months because I was in a dark place following the last two of my nine surgeries, in December and February. I apologize for the lack of clarity that resulted. Now again in the light, I want to express my sincerest and deepest gratitude for the life you have given me. For the honor and privilege and indescribable responsibility you have bestowed upon me, as your children’s pediatrician. Twenty five years ago, I was brought to Sandy Hook to practice alongside a friend and colleague. We built something together. And then life, in its stark and brutal efficiency, took that away. A spinal cord injury following the first of those surgeries almost broke me. Just months after that, our community also fractured. The deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School occurred soon after my paralysis. 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State Education Commissioner To Conduct Public Forum At Newtown High School

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