My name is Susan Kniep.� I am the former Mayor of East Hartford, and currently, the President of The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations.�

I question if the Resolution before you is to address racial imbalance in the Hartford school system or to improve educational opportunities for students who live in Hartford.��

In June of 2007, the Supreme Court limited the use of race in assigning students to schools in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle. In November of 2007, Connecticut�s State Education Commissioner said he would like the legal authority in the form of legislation to force suburban districts to accept students of color from Hartford.� Although the Resolution before you speaks to Voluntary Interdistrict Programs, the Resolution appears open ended in that there is no guarantee that the State legislature will not pass legislation in the future forcing suburban towns to open their school systems to students from other towns or to force the construction of Magnet Schools.�

The Sheff Region encompasses many towns and involves many taxpayers.� It includes Avon, Bloomfield, Canton, E. Granby, East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Manchester, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, South Windsor, Suffield, Vernon, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor and Windsor Locks.�� Yet, there is nothing offered in the Resolution detailing the costs involved or the anticipated generator of the dollars needed.�

But let�s review the failures of the State regarding the first Sheff out-of-court settlement and look at the problems which surfaced.�

The Courant reported that CREC in November, 2007 testified that students were traveling two hours one way to reach suburban schools, that each school year CREC projects a multimillion dollar deficit for its eight interdistrict magnet schools and must lobby for funding, that there is a lack of transportation funding for buses to transport out of Hartford to the suburbs, that Hartford parents cannot travel to the suburban schools for teacher conferences or to develop a relationship with that suburban school, and that funding was needed for social workers and behavioral specialists who can help students make the transition from Hartford to Suburban schools.� CREC also testified that their plea for more funding frequently went unanswered.� CREC also testified that an impoverished student in the sixth grade transferring from Hartford to a suburban school could be reading at the second grade level, and there should not be an expectation that the student will function at the appropriate grade level for at least four years.� CREC suggested those students need individual education plans and that tutors were needed to help students catch up with their suburban peers.� �And now you want to implement an expanded program requiring a greater number of resources and again you fail to address the funding issue.

In April of 2007, the Hartford Courant disclosed that since the 2003 Sheff settlement nine schools were created in Hartford and that the population of white students ranged from a low of 4% to a high of 19% who enrolled in these new schools from suburban towns.� The reasons for the low ratio and I quote �the city�s struggle with crime, including a spate of shootings along with Hartford�s troubled history of subpar public schools.� And most importantly, all of the city�s new magnet schools with the exception of one failed to meet the standards of the federal� No Child Left Behind Act.��

I would suggest that you table this plan until you present a detailed expense and revenue report intended to facilitate your proposals as noted within this resolution.�

Further, if your goal is to improve the educational opportunities for Hartford students than do it!� Determine why Hartford has a high drop out rate.� Why test scores are so low and Hartford schools are deemed to be �subpar�.� �Determine who is failing the students in Hartford; i.e. the teachers, the administrators, their parents, etc.� Determine why students in the sixth grade are reading at a second grade level.� Ask where all the money has gone that state and local taxpayers have poured into the Hartford school system. ��And more importantly, with nine new Hartford schools determine why only one has met the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act. �

Give Hartford�s Superintendent of Schools Mr. Adamowski the money and the resources to improve Hartford�s school system under strict audit guidelines.� �This would include police intervention to provide a safe learning environment and to get tough on teenage crime.� Provide social workers to address family related issues and encourage parent participation in the Hartford schools.� �Give parents whose children academically qualify a voucher to access a school of their choice - public or private.�� Interview every teacher within the Hartford School system to determine if they themselves need to improve their academic standing and provide the resources.� Interview the faculty of successful Charter/Magnet Schools in other towns and states and incorporate their best practices standards.� And finally, hold an open forum with parents, corporate leaders, teachers, administrators, and elected officials to define the problems and seek remedies to make Hartford�s school system one which everyone can be proud of.� ��

In summary, Hartford students deserve a school system within their community which will provide them with an exemplary education.�

In conclusion, the ultimate question of the State legislature is could the basis of the Supreme Court decision in 2007 serve as a catalyst by Connecticut suburban towns to challenge the Resolution before you in court.� ��

*************************************

Education funding gets day in court

Coalition's appeal set to be heard Tuesday

By Eileen FitzGerald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated: 04/20/2008 07:43:05 AM EDT

http://www.newstimes.com/ci_8992861

DANBURY -- A coalition of town leaders will take a big step in a lawsuit against the state to garner more education funding with an appeal of a lower court ruling Tuesday before the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The ruling decided that students don't have a right to an adequate education, according to the state constitution.

Appellate courts in more than 20 states, including those from New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, have recognized the existence of such a right.

It's the new theory in education funding -- that states should adequately fund schools to meet the needs of children so they can reach the goals expected of them rather than satisfy the more familiar -- but less encompassing -- requirement to provide an equitable education.

The lawsuit was filed more than two years ago by 15 students and their families and the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding. The coalition wants to lessen the reliance on local property taxes and substantially shift the school funding burden to the state.

The plaintiffs charged that the state's failure to suitably fund its public schools has irreparably harmed thousands of children. Three of the complaints address adequacy of funding and one is on equity in funding.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton was president of the coalition last year and continues to serve on its steering committee.

He said Tuesday's arguments are important, but just part of a bigger message.

"It's a big step in a long process. It's the only way the state is going to step up to the plate and fund education adequately," Boughton said Friday.

"The state put up a significant increase last year but this year they didn't follow through. This is the only way the state will increase funding," Boughton said. "Danbury and every other city will not be able to sustain this level of spending. We don't have any more money to give schools."

Boughton said legislators need to feel the heat.

"This year, I am giving the (Danbury) schools a $5.7 million increase but there is no way they will get close to that next year," Boughton said, adding that future shortfalls could mean layoffs, bigger class sizes and a stop to important programs.

"The state is going to have to recognize its responsibility here," Boughton said.

The state makes requirements of educators but doesn't fund them and fails to give the towns adequate money to meet the needs of the students, he said.

"Adequacy affects all students," said Dianne Kaplan deVries, the coalition's project director. "You need resources from the state, and leadership. It's not just about the money. An adequate system is also an equitable one, so the kids in Danbury would have the right to the same high-quality education as those in Greenwich."

Regardless of the outcome of the hearing, which is expected to be decided by the fall, the coalition will continue to trial.

"We are unique in Connecticut. We get a lot of attention," deVries said. "Connecticut is always known for our fine schools. We have some of the best public schools in the nation but we also have some of the worst public schools in the nation and we are a system with only 500,000 students."

Judge Simon Bernstein, who served as a delegate to the Connecticut Constitutional Convention of 1965 and was the principal proponent and drafter of the education clause of the Connecticut constitution, will attend the hearing.

The 95-year-old, who will travel from his home in Florida, is among about a dozen individuals and groups who have filed friend of the court briefs in support of the coalition. Others include the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the Workforce Alliance, the Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP, the Center for Children's Advocacy and the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund.

Yale Law School students, organized as the Education Adequacy Clinic under the supervision of Professor Robert Solomon and other Yale Law School faculty, are handling the case.

Third-year law student Neil Weare and second-year law student David Noah will face an Associate Attorney General in Tuesday's oral arguments.

The lawsuit has already made a difference, deVries said.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell created the Governor's Commission on Education Finance in 2006 and proposed substantive increases in education funding that were passed by the 2007 legislature, she noted.

For more information, visit www.ccjef.org/about.htm

Contact Eileen FitzGerald

at eileenf@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3333

IFYOUGO

WHAT: Oral arguments before Connecticut Supreme Court

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 10 a.m.

WHERE: Supreme Court, 231 Capitol Ave., Hartford

********************************

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Connecticut Public K-12 School Rankings are based on the CT Mastery Test (CMT) and the CT Academic Performance Test (CAPT) provided by the CT State Department of Education. There are two sets of rankings:

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