By reading messages sent to the press by the Hartford Public Schools, you would think that standardized testing had some kind of positive, meaningful impact on children’s education. No fewer than four messages have been sent, hyping the release of the district’s 2012 CMT and CAPT scores:

Send on July 17, 2012
Sent on July 17, 2012

Sent at 1:10AM on July 18, 2012
Sent at 1:10AM on July 18, 2012
Sent at 1:38PM on July 18, 2012
Sent at 1:38PM on July 18, 2012
Sent on July 19, 2012
Sent on July 19, 2012

It is uncommon for the Director of External Communications to send four messages in a week, nevermind within three days, all on the same issue.

While the Hartford Public Schools bounces around to avoid stepping on the toes of the Connecticut State Department of Education, residents are left wondering about matters that are not divorced from education, such as what specifically is in store for Milner, what is happening to the School Governance Councils now that the full-time facilitator’s position has been replaced with a part-time one, or even what the leadership at each school will look like for the 2012-2013 academic year.