In Feud With Betsy Devos, <br>Connecticut Senator Murphy <br>Is Captured by Teachers

Senator Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat, has become the foremost critic of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ever since, while advocating a few weeks ago the transfer of federal money from public schools to charter schools, she used a weak anecdote to criticize East Hartford’s struggling school system.Mr. Murphy says the Trump administration just wants to enrich billionaires who own charter school companies. Only a third of the nation’s charter schools, however, are operated for profit. Most require approval by state governments and operate within the general rules of public education. So Senator Murphy’s charge about billionaires is just demagoguery to rile up his liberal base.Charter schools and school choice may not be the best answers to the problems of public education, but neither is denouncing them the best answer. Indeed, a bigger problem with public education, especially in Connecticut, may be that it really isn’t public at all.Little government spending on education in Connecticut ends up with billionaires. Since most spending in education goes for personnel, most spending ends up with teachers who are members of the unions that constitute the largest faction of the Democratic Party, Mr. Murphy’s political party.Connecticut law requires teacher compensation to be determined by collective bargaining and binding arbitration of union contracts, mechanisms that remove most school spending and even working conditions from the ordinary democratic process. Because teacher unions are the most fearsome special interest in the state, teacher evaluations are exempted from disclosure under the state’s right-to-know law, alone of all government employee evaluations.Further, to ensure that any economies in education are used only to increase teacher compensation, Connecticut law even forbids school systems from reducing spending when their enrollment declines. As a result, because of the choice charter schools offer, Connecticut residents may have more influence with them — even charters owned by billionaires — than they have with nominally public schools.Of course the whole Trump administration seems to be owned by billionaires. But there is no antidote in a senator owned by the National Education Association.* * *WELCOME, GOVERNOR SCOTT: Visiting Connecticut again this week to recruit businesses to move to his state, Governor Scott of Florida is doing Connecticut and Governor Malloy a favor.For in emphasizing the dismay that Connecticut’s chronic tax and budget problems are causing businesses, Mr. Scott is strengthening the position of Mr. Malloy and the Republican minority in the General Assembly that government spending should be cut and taxes not raised again.After many years of decline, it will be better if Connecticut disappoints its amply compensated government and welfare classes than if the state keeps weakening its productive sector.Mr. Malloy’s rebuttal to the announcement of Mr. Scott’s visit was weak, though. A statement from Mr. Malloy’s office said: “It’s no wonder that Governor Scott would look to Connecticut and be envious of what we have here. We foster a high quality of life, schools that are among the best in the nation, and an incredibly skilled and knowledgeable workforce, and we’re home to some of the best employers in the world.”Some Connecticut schools may be better than schools elsewhere, but the Hartford school integration lawsuit is dragging on after two decades, still consuming billions while providing little integration or educational improvement. The latest school financing lawsuit is dragging on after 12 years with a recent court finding that Connecticut long has been giving high school diplomas to illiterates.Mr. Powell is managing editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.

In Feud With Betsy Devos, <br>Connecticut Senator Murphy <br>Is Captured by Teachers

In Feud With Betsy Devos, <br>Connecticut Senator Murphy <br>Is Captured by Teachers

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