December 20, 2013

Rutigliano, Trumbull Delegation Applaud State IT Education Grant

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TRUMBULL- State Reps. David Rutigliano (R-123), Tony Hwang (R-134) and Lawrence Miller (R-122) along with Governor Dannel P. Malloy and State Department of Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor, today announced $81,641 state grant for Trumbull to bring more computers into classrooms and increase Internet bandwidth. This investment provides vital support to students, teachers, and school districts as local efforts accelerate to complete the transition to the federal mandated Common Core State Standards and the accompanying computer-based Smarter Balanced assessments.

Rep Hwang said, “This state grant will go a long way towards improving information technology in Trumbull schools. Our children will be able to receive state-of-the-art educational technology enhancements to better compete in a fast changing global marketplace. I support this grant and respect that while we must always use fiscal restraint with state funds, the pursuit of excellence in education is a proper and judicious expenditure.”

Rep. Rutigliano said, “This money added to the recent technology improvements approved by the town council and board of finance, will help further the much needed technology updates in our schools.”

“It requires constant work to keep up with technological developments and federal requirements to maintain our schools as the best learning institutions they can be, and this grant offers essential support for Trumbull’s teachers, administrators and students,” said Rep. Larry Miller.

Since Common Core’s passage three years ago, local school districts have been working to design local curriculum which best suits the educational needs for Trumbull children, not a federal one-size-fits-all solution.

The new tests the Smarter Balanced Assessment System, which will be replace both the CMT and CAPT assessments, will be administered on computers or other computing devices. These new technology upgrades will allow for this assessment transition.

In 2014-15, every public school district will administer the Smarter Balanced Assessment System and the state will sunset the administration of the math and English language arts CMT and CAPT tests. Districts will, however, continue to administer the science CMT and CAPT assessments.