Please accept my very best wishes to each of you for good health, happiness and good fortune throughout the New Year.

This year promises to be eventful: not only is 2012 a leap year, but three separate months include Friday the 13th! This year will also feature a presidential campaign and election, with all the excitement associated with that.

More immediately, and much closer to home, I'm looking forward to my second legislative session as Senate chair of the Education Committee. When the General Assembly reconvenes in a few weeks it will have in hand reports from no fewer than three separate task forces, each with a completed review and recommendations about key elements of our public education system.

One of these groups will have addressed the state's achievement gap: the widely disparate education received and performance attained across our state seemingly dependent upon geographic, racial, ethnic and socio-economic characteristics of students. My committee will address its recommendations during the session so all Connecticut students have comparable opportunities to achieve while in school, so they can compete and succeed thereafter.

Another task force - for which I serve as co-chair - has been looking into the state's Education Cost Sharing grant program (ECS) through which the bulk of state aid for education is distributed to local governments and school districts. No one expects money to serve as an end in itself with regard to education, but at the same time adequate funding is an undeniably essential ingredient in terms of providing staff, conventional education materials, and other resources.

This aspect of education has emerged front and center during the current economic downturn.

A third task force has been meeting to focus on the state's vocational/technical high school system. It was created earlier this year with two primary objectives: to maintain and strengthen the existing system and its network of apprenticeships and work-study programs with local, private businesses and to develop stronger ties between the regional vo/tech schools and nearby community-technical colleges.

The vo/tech high school system remains a key factor in Connecticut's economic development and will play a vital role in our state's complete economic recovery. Those who fill tomorrow's jobs must not be brought up using yesterday's standards; if Connecticut is to compete for those jobs in the 21st century and provide prospective employers with a highly qualified and experienced workforce, these schools will have to prepare students to step into those jobs seamlessly.

Publication of this piece coincides with a series of workshops Governor Malloy arranged late last month. As the governor describes it, "We cannot prosper if we do not produce a workforce equal to the task of keeping Connecticut's companies competitive. And we cannot fulfill our moral obligation to give every student a genuine chance to succeed… if we do not make fundamental reforms to our schools."

Among the topics championed by the governor:

• Enhanced access to early childhood education

• Remedial assistance to low-performing schools

• Exploration of alternative school models

• Emphasis on first-rate teachers and administrators

• Performance-based accountability from all professional educators

I welcome and applaud the governor's leadership in this policy area and pledge to work within my committee - in partnership with his administration - on effective legislation to move Connecticut toward public education that's second to none.

Andrea Stillman represents the 20th senatorial district, which includes New London, Waterford, East Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Salem and Montville.