State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, representing Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton, used a raft of statistics to blast the state”™s education record recently.
Boucher serves as ranking member of the state Legislature”™s Education Committee and Higher Education Committee.
“A report card on the progress of Connecticut students is out, and what it reveals should make every Connecticut resident and business owner sit up and take notice,” Boucher said in a statement.
Boucher cited the National Assessment of Educational Progress, saying only half of all Connecticut students are reading at grade level and fewer than one in three performs at grade level in math. Additionally, only about one in four African-American students reads at grade level when they graduate. One in four Hispanic students reads at grade level upon graduation and about one in 10 Hispanic students performs at grade level in math.
“Here in Fairfield County and throughout Connecticut, education drives job growth,” Boucher said. “The development of a skilled workforce enables Connecticut businesses to compete. To fill their labor needs, Connecticut employers are free to seek out talent from all over the world. When just 50 percent of Connecticut students are reading at grade level and less than 33 percent are performing up to par in math, area employers should be justifiably concerned about hiring locally.”
Her stated goal is “making certain that our young people enter the workforce with the professional and technical skills they need to succeed. To reach that goal, we can start at the State Capitol with a concerted effort to get government out of education”™s way.”
She suggests “elimination of burdensome state education mandates” as a top priority in Hartford.
“Leave high-performing schools alone and reward academically advanced students with access to scholarships to our state universities,” she said. “Doing so will help retain talent right here in Connecticut. Emphasis on local control, flexibility, accountability and creativity can produce better future report cards.”
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