The Connecticut General Assembly adjourned its 2012 regular session at midnight on Wednesday, bringing to a close a whirlwind three months of legislating that saw many controversial but notable bills passed that will bring significant changes to the state of Connecticut.
"Over the course of the last 16 months we have pushed more change through these two chambers than has occurred in Connecticut in a long, long time," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in his closing remarks to the legislature, delivered shortly after midnight. "Positive, meaningful change."
Among the notable bills approved by the legislature this session include:
- An act in Connecticut.
- An act in the state.
- An act .
- A sweeping that changes the current teacher tenure and evaluation programs and makes it easier to remove teachers deemed ineffective, adds an additional 1,000 pre-school seats earmarked for the most disadvantaged children, expands funding and access to charter schools in the lowest performing districts and additional funding for magnet schools, technical high schools and agricultural science schools, and provides for "turnaround programs" for 25 chronically underperforming schools.
"That’s a lot of change. It’s required a lot of tough decisions to be made. Along the way it’s ruffled a lot of feathers. That’s because change is hard," Malloy told the legislature during his closing remarks. "But change is also necessary. While the world changed, and while states around us changed, Connecticut stood still. Thanks to the men and women in this chamber, that’s no longer the case. Now Connecticut is changing, too — for the better."
