A Connecticut education reform group launched Thursday a three-week statewide media blitz to line up public-policy support for its efforts to improve the classroom.
ConnCAN says it will rely on TV, radio and billboard ads to promote its “Get Smart Connecticut” campaign.
The nonprofit group declined to disclose its campaign budget.
“We will inform residents and lawmakers about steps we can take immediately, especially in the face of Connecticut’s glaring budget crisis, to get our state’s schools back on the right track,” said ConnCAN CEO Alex Johnston.
ConnCAN vows to press Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and state lawmakers to embrace two priorities in the upcoming legislative session.
One is to fix what it describes as the state’s antiquated school funding formula that leads to wasteful spending and shortchanges Connecticut’s most disadvantaged students.
The other is to take immediate action to end “last in-first out” provisions that require districts to lay off teachers based solely on seniority without regard to any factors of job performance.
The group says it also wants to reform binding arbitration to ensure that future collective bargaining agreements better account for the interests of children.
