Robert Cotto Jr.

I am at the State Board of Education tonight in North Haven, CT. On the agenda are a Declaratory Ruling regarding the distinction of initial approval and funding of a new Capital Prep Charter School and two reports on investigation of Hartford and Bridgeport Public Schools.

Dearest Legislators, It has come to my attention that you plan to override Governor Healey's July veto of nearly $20M in charter school tuition reimbursement. As this represents millions of dollars to some of the most needy districts in the state1, this is very helpful. Thank you! Many of you are no doubt under the impression that this money goes, as is intended by state law, to the school districts themselves. This is, however, is the case only for regional school districts. For municipal school districts, because charter school tuition reimbursement isn't designated as going to schools "without additional appropriation," the money goes to the city or town general fund. Cities and towns have long since passed their budgets. Unless someone takes additional action, these funds you intend for schools will not go to schools. Were it possible for you to pass these funds with language so designating them, that would be most useful. If not, perhaps you could ensure that the Department of Revenue generates updated cherry sheets, and you could ensure the cities and towns in your districts are aware of where the money should go? With very sincere thanks, Someone who wants to ensure the Worcester Public Schools gets their $2M

#mapoli

who-cester.blogspot.com/2025/10/dear...

Opinion | Medicaid Work Requirements Will Devastate People With Invisible Disabilities ME/CFS and long COVID patients must qualify as 'medically frail'

Medicaid Work Requirements Will Devastate People With Invisible Disabilities www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...

Today I got the flu and COVID-19 (Novavax) vaccines. I also picked up Halloween candy with a coupon.
💉🩹😷🎃🐈‍⬛🍫

Three Ways of Looking at Black–White Mortality Differences in the United States Everyone agrees that US Black deaths happen earlier than white deaths on average, but it is surprisingly challenging to find the best ways to summarize, quantify, and compare this gap. This review arg...

"Systems that adjust to increasing lifespans in general with penalties for early withdrawal but fail to reflect subpopulations’ longevity differences are not “actuarialy fair” (Sanchez-Romero et al. 2020) and can function to redistribute wealth from nonwhite to white populations..."

Three Ways of Looking at Black–White Mortality Differences in the United States Everyone agrees that US Black deaths happen earlier than white deaths on average, but it is surprisingly challenging to find the best ways to summarize, quantify, and compare this gap. This review arg...

"On the other hand, precisely because one million additional votes would create a changed electorate, the voting patterns of that electorate cannot be easily estimated from the voting patterns of the electorate in which Black lifespans are cut short." www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Capitalizing on the Closure of a Latino School: The Case of Capital Prep Schools, Inc., – Part 2 The Barnard-Brown School where Capital Prep Magnet School is now located – 1304 Main St., Hartford, CT. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the proposal to make a new Capital Prep charter school i…

"Political actors closed this school and gave the building to Capital Prep to expand as an interdistrict magnet school...for numerical desegregation...this landmark school was taken from the mostly Puerto Rican and Latino children and families..."

learningfromthecity.blog/2023/05/27/c...

warm fall day

lovely afternoon

In Southern California, Small Groups of Activists Quietly Undermine ICE Operations Organizers confront ICE wherever they can be found, from the hotels where agents sleep to the streets they patrol.

“Word had spread through social media that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had reportedly checked into both hotels. Within the hour, a small contingent of local residents had arrived at both establishments. They were there to make sure ICE agents didn’t sleep.”

We should of course flood them with “you don’t know what you’re talking about” letters.

I CALLED IT: Boston Globe editorial board has their pro-voucher piece in today!

Stop lying, guys. It isn’t just your usually boogie man of the teachers’ union who know that vouchers are a terrible idea!

#MAEdu

Good morning!

Kids and the elderly are going hungry and we can’t fund pediatric brain cancer research, but we can afford all this…

Minnesota students stage walkout to call for gun control after Annunciation shooting Faith leaders also called for an assault weapons ban at a State Capitol news conference.

Part of student walkouts across the country yesterday www.startribune.com/live-minneso...

Trump’s Team Is Struggling to Get Their “Drug Boat” Story Straight It’s disturbing how the details keep changing.

Trump’s Team Is Struggling to Get Their “Drug Boat” Story Straight newrepublic.com/post/199985/... via @newrepublic.com

WARNER: Do you accept the fact that 1 million Americans died from covid?

RFK Jr: I don't know how many died

W: You're the secretary of health and human services. You don't have any idea how many Americans died from covid?

RFK Jr: I don't think anybody knows that

W: How can you be that ignorant?

At a conference with Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health & Health Equity Solutions this morning. The purpose is to learn more from various experts in Connecticut about changes in federal law that reduce public support for food and health coverage (i.e., SNAP, Medicaid).

Opposition to RFKJr is ramping up.
Joint statement from Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and 21 other organizations 👇

The cover of Mommy's Night Before Christmas, written by Katie L. Carroll and illustrated by Phoebe Cho. The cover shows a white woman with a bun standing outside a house decorated for Christmas. She peers up at the moon where Santa is on his sleigh being pulled by reindeer.

The cover of Daddy's 12 Days of Christmas, written by Katie L. Carroll and illustrated by Phoebe Cho. The cover shows a family of 2 dads and 5 kids singing Christmas carols in the snow.

Last day to celebrate Christmas in August with my picture books Mommy's Night Before Christmas and Daddy's 12 Days of Christmas for $2.99!

Mommy's Night Before Christmas➡️ books2read.com/u/bQoXz0
Daddy's 12 Days of Christmas ➡️ books2read.com/u/bzN2Nn

Sale extended to September 5th to get a great deal on my Christmas picture books!

#kidlit #picturebooks

So our military just bombed a boat in international waters and extrajudicially killed suspected drug traffickers without so much as a conversation, let alone a trial?
Then posted it on social media?

And we’re all supposed to just trust their account?

What was that sci-fi short story called about the smart house that went on long after its inhabitants died? Who wrote it?

😎

Concern over low birth rates was what the theocracy in Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale used to come to power.

Good morning!

sunset

bright half moon