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Connecticut students, educators, and taxpayers deserve better than the broken status quo at our Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU).

A pattern of entitlement among unaccountable administrators, wasteful spending, and mismanagement have led to the prospect of disastrous cutbacks for students and faculty. Where is the Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR), the entity tasked with oversight of the CSCU system? Why did it take years of inaction for Gov. Ned Lamont to finally call for an outside audit of the CSCU system and its chancellor Terrence Cheng? How can we know taxpayer funds aren’t continuing to be misused?

Getting answers for taxpayers, implementing concrete reforms, including real oversight, and holding those responsible accountable must be a priority for the legislature in the upcoming legislative session starting in January.

For years, those tasked with oversight of this unaccountable body, especially the Board of Regents, have sat idly by while Cheng was treated to cushy perks and treated taxpayer dollars meant for education like a personal piggy bank.

In addition to Cheng’s generous salary of $403,000, his compensation also includes a brand-new car and a separate $25,000 “housing and entertainment” allowance. Cheng has continued to live primarily in New York and makes a 90-minute commute to Hartford. That alone should not be problematic, many Connecticut residents commute to New York and vice versa.

But unlike those thousands of hardworking Connecticut citizens, Cheng used state college system funds to pay a chauffeur to drive him on his commute. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Reporters have uncovered a pattern of skirting spending rules and reporting requirements — from misusing his state car, frequently blowing past a $50 per-person cap with expensive meals, charging alcohol to his expense account, and keeping insufficient records.

The complete abdication of responsibility for those charged with overseeing the state college system is even more unacceptable now that educators and students face significant budget cuts – a direct consequence of years of tolerance for mismanagement and waste.

The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems found in a recently released report that CSCU, “has consistently fallen short in addressing its dire fiscal situation, suggesting sweeping reforms in order for the system’s long-term sustainability.”

This is on top of tuition increases in recent years. Chancellor Cheng and his complicit Board of Regents recently approved a 5% tuition price hike for students, the recipients of the bill for their inaction and failure.

The complete lack of accountability within the CSCU system goes deeper than fiscal management. Other reports have revealed that state college administrators spent time and resources looking for loopholes to let them extend grants, internships, and paid opportunities to illegal immigrants without disclosing their citizen status. While hardworking Connecticut citizens are being squeezed by inflation and one of the highest tax burdens in the nation, unaccountable administrators were trying to turn education dollars into new taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants.

The Board of Regents has been either incompetent, inattentive, or both. They have not acted nearly swiftly enough or aggressively enough to bring scrutiny and accountability to the CSCU system.

For this reason, the Board of Regents itself may need to be audited — in addition to the legislature exercising full accountability for the CSCU system itself in the upcoming session.

We must know how those tasked with overseeing our state colleges and approving tuition increases are allocating resources and making budgetary and management decisions. And we must know why it took so long, and ultimately for others to start asking questions, for the out-of-control situation to come to light. The legislature should consider whether structural reforms need to be made at a higher level — to how an unaccountable body of political appointees are left to oversee such an important institution of education in our state.

The misuse of taxpayer funds and ideologically charged behavior of those tasked with working for the taxpayers follows a pattern I’ve worked to expose and reform across various quasi-public boards and government agencies.

When I realized the Board of Pardons and Paroles was engaged in a reckless spree of commutations that included a number of violent criminals, I led the charge to expose them that forced the governor to replace the board chair. Now I’m leading the push to structurally reform the parole board to uphold public safety and protect victims.

Before that, I led the crackdown on mismanagement at the Port Authority. I demanded a public hearing to disinfect the mess with sunlight and wrote legislation to strengthen the independent watchdog office that reviews and vets contracts. I also helped expose abuse at Whiting Forensic Hospital and corruption at the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC), resulting in jail time for those responsible.

Real reform is always achievable. But it requires relentless leadership that cuts through the noise to deliver results and put our citizens and taxpayers before business as usual in Hartford.

As I have in the past, I will be ready to hold Hartford accountable to taxpayers. This time, to work with my fellow legislators, educators, students, and others to ensure taxpayer funds meant for educating the next generation are spent for that purpose, not lavish perks for unaccountable administrators or ideological pet projects.

Heather Somers represents the 18th District of Connecticut in the State Senate.

The claim: Video shows drone crash in New Jersey

A Dec. 16 Facebook reel (direct link, archive link) includes a video of emergency vehicles surrounding what appears to be an aircraft resting on a guardrail on the side of a highway.

“Drone Crashes!” reads the post’s caption, which includes the hashtags #newjersey and #ufo.

The post was shared more than 1,000 in two days. The footage and a similar claim were also shared on Instagram.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

Our rating: False

The video does not show a drone crash. The footage is from a Dec. 12 plane crash near the border of New York and Connecticut, according to media reports.

Video shows aftermath of plane crash near New York

A deluge of reports of drones flying unusually in the northeastern U.S. began circulating in mid-November, with more than 5,000 sightings reported as of Dec. 17. The sightings have sparked concerns about national security and airspace safety, but federal authorities have said there is no public safety risk.

The video shared on Facebook, however, does not show a crashed drone. Rather, it shows a small plane that crashed along Interstate 684 in Westchester County, New York, on Dec. 12, killing one person and injuring another, according to various news outlets. Footage and images from the scene match the scene shown in the Facebook video, showing the same small white plane in the same position on the side of the highway.

Fact check: No, that’s not a crashed drone. It’s a TIE fighter replica

A Federal Aviation Administration report about the incident said the pilot reported engine issues before the crash.

The New York State Police posted about the crash on X, alerting drivers to traffic closures on Interstate 684. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also issued a statement about the accident on Dec. 12, which confirmed one person died and another was injured.

White Plains is about 100 miles north of New Jersey, where the Facebook video claimed the crash happened and where witnesses have been reporting supposed drone sightings since mid-November.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who posted the Facebook video but did not immediately receive a response.

Lead Stories and PolitiFact also fact-checked the video

Our fact-check sources

• FAA, Dec. 12, FAA Statements on Aviation Accidents and Incidents
• FAA, Dec. 13, FAA Accident and Incident Notification(s): Notice(s) Created 13-DEC-24
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Dec. 12, Statement from Governor Kathy Hochul
• New York State Police, Dec. 12, X post
• Connecticut State Police, Dec. 13, Troopers Assist National Transportation Safety Board with Aircraft Accident on I-684 in Greenwich
• CBS News, Dec. 13, One dead in small plane crash along I-684 in New York’s Westchester County

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