Special Election Results, Public Hearing on Regionalization, and CTE Month

This weekly segment by Democrats for Education Reform CT looks at the top education stories Democrats are watching, providing bite-sized analysis and links to recent articles. On the roster this week: the results of the special elections in Connecticut, public hearings on regionalization, and celebrating career and technical ed.

Last Night’s Special Elections

Democrats retained majorities in the House and Senate after last night’s special elections, which resulted from the resignations of 5 legislators who joined the Lamont administration. We saw Democrats hold two Senate seats with wins for M. Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) and Derek Slap (D-West Hartford). Democrats also maintained Democratic control in one House District with a win for Anthony L. Nolan (D-New London). However, Republicans were able to score the surprise of the night by flipping the 6th Senate District, where Gennaro Bizzarro (R-New Britain) defeated State Representative Rick Lopes. Republican Joe Zullo (R-East Haven) also flipped the 99th House District, but it has already been trending Republican. Even with these two losses, Democrats retain solid majorities of 91-60 in the House and 22-14 in the Senate. Although these low-turnout affairs do not necessarily provide insight into the broader political climate, it's important for Democrats to keep recruiting great candidate and turning out voters.

• Special elections announced (CT Mirror, from January)

• Outcomes of the Special Election (CT Mirror)

• District-by-district coverage of the elections (Hartford Courant)

Public Hearings on Regionalization

This coming Friday, the Education Committee will hold a public hearing on the topic of regionalization, looking at four bills that touch upon the issue (the Governor’s bill, the Governor’s budget bill, Senator Looney’s bill, and the bill from Senators Duff and Osten). Our Playbook this week unpacks the details of the Governor’s proposal and how it compares to the other bills.

• A Look At The Governor’s Consolidation Proposal (DFER Playbook)

• Gov. Lamont on Favoring a "carrot, not stick" approach to regionalization (Hartford Courant)

Highlighting Career and Technical Ed

February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month®. And while Education Secretary Betsy DeVos headed off to Virginia to celebrate, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten came to Hartford to tour A.I. Prince Technical High School. She highlighted it as a model for the nation of how education can prepare students for college and careers.

• Betsy DeVos Celebrates CTE Month in Virginia (US Dept of Ed)

• Randi Weingarten’s visit (Hartford Courant)

• About CTE Month (Association for Career & Technical Education)