Author: Shawn Kornegay


Fixing Connecticut School Finance: The Time is Now

January 4, 2021

The COVID pandemic has laid bare the extent of inequalities across Connecticut’s cities, towns, and school districts and the children and families they serve. Connecticut has long been one of our nation’s most racially and economically segregated states, while also one of the wealthiest. In the past decade those inequities have worsened along both economic and racial lines. In 2021, Connecticut continues to face the interrelated challenges of segregation and school funding equity and adequacy. Connecticut must do better.





What Higher Ed Needs to Know About Miguel Cardona, Biden’s Pick for Education Secretary

December 23, 2020

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has selected Miguel A. Cardona, Connecticut’s commissioner of education and a longtime public-school educator, as his nominee for secretary of education. Like many education secretaries before him, Cardona has a background predominantly in elementary and secondary education. According to his online biography, he began his career as an elementary-school teacher before ascending to school principal, assistant superintendent, and statewide commissioner, a post he has held since last year.



Citing Friendship, in Academia and Beyond

December 22, 2020

Friendships are powerful and positive – especially friendships between members of historically marginalized groups like women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals. In a paper recently published by the journal Human Resource Development Review, lead author Kristi Kaeppel ’20 Ph.D., a graduate assistant with the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning; adjunct professor of philosophy at UConn Stamford and School of Business academic advisor Emma Björngard-Basayne ’15 MA, ’18 Ph.D.; and Grenier argue that workplaces that value and promote friendships can enhance the well-being of their workforce – to the benefits of both the individuals and the institutions.


Steady Habits: Could Cardona Take Connecticut Education Experience to Washington?

December 21, 2020

Miguel Cardona, Connecticut’s education commissioner and Neag School alumnus, is on a short list of candidates to become education secretary in the Biden administration. Politico reported Saturday that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has given its “enthusiastic endorsement” to Cardona in a letter to the President-elect. As The Mirror’s Jacqueline Rabe Thomas reported today, if he got the job, Cardona would be in charge of getting the majority of the nation’s students back into schools – something Biden has promised in his first 100 days.


Schoolchildren using computers

UConn Researchers to Reimagine Dual Language Education

December 18, 2020

The University of Connecticut has been awarded a $179,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education for a new research project centered on reimagining dual language education. The project’s purpose is to improve the ability of dual language programs to promote the equitable bilingualism and biliteracy development of all students through a greater focus on sociocultural competence.


Unpacking a Misplaced Response to Calls for Police Abolition in Hartford

December 18, 2020

“On the anniversary of Juneteenth, hundreds of mostly young, Black protesters went directly to the Hartford mayor’s brownstone house in downtown with a simple demand: abolish police,” co-writes Robert Cotto, a Neag School doctoral student. “Despite their demand, the mayor’s response was a mismatch. Instead of defunding, abolishing, or even tangibly reducing the size of the police, the mayor recommended building more affordable housing in the suburbs. Rather than racial and economic justice for the Black and Puerto Rican people in Hartford now, the response was clear: I will not help you change policies, but I will help you leave.”