State superior court judge Thomas Moukawsher has just appointed himself czar of Connecticut’s public schools.

As this Hartford Courant article reports, Moukawsher yesterday “ordered the state to come up with a new funding formula for public schools”; “directed the state to devise clear standards for both the elementary and high school levels, including developing a graduation test”; “ordered a complete overhaul of Connecticut’s system of evaluating teachers, principals and superintendents”; and “demanded a change in the ‘irrational’ way the state funds special education services.”

Further: “Moukawsher’s mandates come with a tight deadline: The remedies he is ordering must be submitted to the court within 180 days.”

As the reporter observes, “It is unclear how the state Department of Education, the legislature and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will come up with solutions, within six months, to complicated problems that have plagued public education in Connecticut for decades.” Yes, indeed.

Perhaps because the proceeding was televised, Moukawsher took three hours to read his entire 90-page order. (I’ll add a link to the order when I find one.)