“While constructs of equity and adequacy are realities we face everyday,” Nathan Quesnel responded, “I am disappointed and puzzled by the characterization of East Hartford Public Schools and teachers made by Secretary DeVos.”

Preston Green III, a professor of educational leadership and law at the University of Connecticut, took his criticism of the burgeoning charter sector a step further, likening the industry to Enron and the subprime mortgage market.

The administration’s budget proposal includes money to expand school vouchers and charter schools, but also appears to cut some education funding. I spoke earlier with Preston Green. He’s a professor of Educational Leadership and Law and the University of Connecticut and I asked for his initial takeaways, based on what we know now.

“In one sense it makes sense to me politically that the small-government arm of the Republican party would be focused on reducing overall federal expenditures, especially in places like education that are supposed to be reserved for the state,” said Shaun Dougherty, a CTE researcher and education-policy professor at the University of Connecticut who authored the Fordham Institute report.

Elizabeth Howard, an associate professor of bilingual education at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education, characterized the gains English learners made in the Portland study as “huge.”

Education policy makers understand that the world of work has changed, and that for long-term success, some college-level education is going to be required for most people to earn a living wage. Career-tech schools with strong academics show that “there are multiple pathways to it,” says Shaun Dougherty, a professor at the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education.

The West Hartford Education Association named Luis Ramirez, a social worker at Smith STEM school for the past six years, the teacher of the year during a recognition dinner.

Solomon Schechter Day School students Olivia Boustani and Jeremy Eisen were privileged to present at the annual University of Connecticut Teaching and Learning with iPads Conference last week.

Longtime city educator and Bulkeley High School Principal Gayle Allen-Greene said Thursday that she is retiring after 37 years in the Hartford public schools.

Armed with a new plan about how to make New Haven “the City That Reads,” Mayor Toni Harp is putting a call out to big-buck not-for-profits to help pay the freight.

Harp and leaders of a 36-member blue ribbon panel released the plan — a report on how to bring all students to grade-level reading and make all citizens more literate — at a Wednesday afternoon press conference at City Hall.