by LAURA GLESBY New Haven Independent
While low test scores and attendance rates speak to profound challenges in New Haven public schools, the daily perseverance of dedicated staff and a curriculum overhaul are just some of the reasons for hope.
Mayor Justin Elicker offered that message in his annual State of the City speech before the Board of Alders on Monday evening, during which he declared that New Haven’s status is “bright.”
The annual executive-branch address was Elicker’s fourth since first taking office right before the start of the pandemic. It also came at the start of what is shaping up to be a hotly contested mayoral election year, as Elicker seeks a fourth two-year term and as Democratic primary challengers criticize his administration on a host of fronts, with a focus on low reading levels and high absenteeism rates in the city’s schools and on continued online-only meetings of the Board of Education.