By Chris Powell Back in the 1950s many Connecticut cities had populations about 50% larger than they are today. In his address to the General Assembly as it reconvened this month, Governor Lamont said he wants them to grow back to their old size. He’s right that the cities are where most of any populationContinue reading “To regrow Connecticut’s cities, first understand their decline”
Author Archives: cxpowell
Tong seeks a new euphemism for nullifying immigration law
By Chris Powell Describing Connecticut as a “sanctuary” state and its cities as “sanctuary” cities isn’t helping illegal immigrants anymore, Attorney General William Tong told a forum at the University of Bridgeport last week. “Sanctuary” has no particular meaning in law, the attorney general said, and has started to “inflame” the public. He would preferContinue reading “Tong seeks a new euphemism for nullifying immigration law”
Connecticut’s prosperity depends on more housing
By Chris Powell Will Governor Lamont and the new session of the General Assembly do much about the state’s severe shortage of housing? The governor and legislators say they want to bring down the state’s high cost of living and make the state more affordable, and housing expense may be the biggest part of theContinue reading “Connecticut’s prosperity depends on more housing”
Connecticut’s social promotion makes public education a costly fraud
By Chris Powell Social promotion in Connecticut’s schools isn’t just informal policy and practice, implemented by winks and nods. This week Marc E. Fitch of the Yankee Institute’s Connecticut Inside Investigator reported that many school systems, including those in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, and Middletown, follow written policies virtually prohibiting giving students failing grades. Hartford schools obstructContinue reading “Connecticut’s social promotion makes public education a costly fraud”
Hartford schools obstruct investigation of graduate’s illiteracy
By Chris Powell Fifty years ago, during the bad old days of the state Department of Children and Families, when it was called the Department of Children and Youth Services, a clumsy mechanism of unaccountability was used by the political hacks who ran the agency. (For years the only qualification of the department’s commissioner wasContinue reading “Hartford schools obstruct investigation of graduate’s illiteracy”
Connecticut mustn’t worry about illegal immigrants until they kill
By Chris Powell Charged with the horrifying immolation murder of a woman sleeping on a subway car in Brooklyn on Dec. 22 is a man from Guatemala who entered the country illegally and was deported in 2018 but who entered illegally again and found his way to New York, where subsidies for illegal immigrants areContinue reading “Connecticut mustn’t worry about illegal immigrants until they kill”
‘Rubber rooms’ in schools: Where are all the messed-up kids coming from?
By Chris Powell A member of Enfield’s Board of Education is sore that the school system has eliminated a hundred staff positions as well as sports for many students but is increasing the number of school “seclusion rooms” at a cost of about $4,000 each. The rooms, whose walls are padded, are used for theContinue reading “‘Rubber rooms’ in schools: Where are all the messed-up kids coming from?”
Holiday congestion at Tweed indicates airport’s potential
By Chris Powell Amid the crush of holiday travel last week few people were calling the revival of Tweed-New Haven Airport a great success. Passengers and neighbors alike were sore about the traffic jams on the narrow streets of New Haven’s eastern neighborhood abutting the side of the airport where the terminal is. The streetsContinue reading “Holiday congestion at Tweed indicates airport’s potential”
Reconsidering fluoridation; and are we having fun yet?
By Chris Powell About 90% of Connecticut residents and 63% of U.S. residents are served by fluoridated water. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to become secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, considers fluoridation unsafe and aims to stop it. Kennedy has his eccentricities but that doesn’t make him wrongContinue reading “Reconsidering fluoridation; and are we having fun yet?”
Puzzle isn’t Musk but Biden; and state should take over failing city schools
By Chris Powell Democrats in Connecticut and throughout the country are seeking laughs by asserting that the political noise being made by zillionaire Elon Musk shows that he is not just an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump but the de-facto president-elect. Musk is an odd duck in some respects. But he seems to have gotten richContinue reading “Puzzle isn’t Musk but Biden; and state should take over failing city schools”
Chris Powell column 