CCJEF is a broad-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that seeks to achieve an adequately and equitably funded PK-12 public education system that is based on the learning needs of students and the real costs of delivering high-quality education in every community. For an overview, see CCJEF, Who Are We?
- “State Moves to Dismiss Long-Standing Challenge to Education Funding,” Rabe Thomas, The Mirror, 4/11/13
- “Governor Malloy of Connecticut Opposes School Funding Lawsuit,” Ravitch Blog, 4/11/13
- “The Dan to Dannel Transformation on the Most Important Education Lawsuit in Connecticut History,” Pelto, What, Wait? Blog, 4/5/13
- “A Clear Choice on Public Education,” Ricciotti, CT Post, 3/29/13
- “Spend the Money Where It’s Needed Most,” Bailey, CT Post, 3/29/13
- “Malloy Reverses Earlier Commitment to School Funding Case,” Lecker, Stamford Advocate, 3/22/13
- “It’s Only the Most Important School Funding Case in Our Lives,” Pelto, What, Wait? Blog, 3/23/13
- “Conflict on State School Board,” Editorial, Stamford Advocate, 3/18/13
- “Fighting Children in the Courtroom,” deVries, CT News Junkie, 3/11/13
- “A Return to School Segregation?” Lecker, Stamford Advocate, 3/8/13
- “Sandy Hook Shows Teachers’ Enduring Values,” Bosso, Courant 12/17/12
- “This Time, Connecticut,” Editorial, The Day, 12/15/12
- “Leaping To Reform Without First Looking,” Lecker, Stamford Advocate, 12/14/12
- “Beware of Foundations Bearing Gifts,” Littman, CT News Junkie, 12/14/12
- “Turkey Last Week, Another In The Oven?” deVries, CT News Junkie, 11/30/12
- “Schools Woefully Underfunded, Formula Broken,” Pelto & Lecker, Courant, 11/23/12
- “Municipal Lobby Calls For Increase In Education Funding,” Stuart, CT News Junkie, 11/13/12
Update on CCJEF v. Rell
Jan 2013—State filed two motions: (1) motion to dismiss the case, declaring the case moot or else not yet ripe for litigation and seeking to remove CCJEF as a plaintiff; (2) motion to modify the scheduling order, which currently has trial scheduled for July 2014. Feb 2013—Plaintiffs’ reply brief was filed. Summary, with links to legal filings, at “Fighting Children in the Courtroom,” 3/11/13. Parties await Hartford Superior Court status conference with the judge.
Property Taxes and School Finance Reform
Testifying before the General Assembly’s bipartisan MORE Commission (Municipal Opportunities & Regional Efficiencies) on March 26, 2013, Connecticut Conference of Municipalities Executive Director & CEO Jim Finley provided strong evidence that CT cities and towns are over-reliant on property taxes and that the present local revenue system for supporting the public schools and all other municipal services is not sustainable. “Education finance reform is the key to property tax reform,” Finley argued. See PPT slides 14-22, in particular, or check out the CT-N video of the MORE Municipal Tax Authority Working Group session.
Author of Connecticut Constitution’s Education Clause Turns 100
Judge Simon Bernstein, who wrote the education clause of the Connecticut constitution and successfully advocated for its adoption by the Constitutional Convention of 1965, celebrated his 100th birthday on January 17, 2013. His actions brought about the state’s guarantee of a free public education for every child, a fundamental right that in 2010 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled includes the right to a quality (adequate) education. Honored with proclamations issued by Gov. Malloy, the General Assembly, and the Town of Bloomfield, Judge Bernstein’s remarkable life is celebrated in a recent CT News Junkie article.
CCJEF Mourns With Its Newtown Members
To bereaved families of Sandy Hook Elementary School and residents of Newtown, the entire statewide membership of the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding extends heartfelt sympathy at this time of anguish and grief. We share your profound sorrow at the unspeakable loss of beautiful young lives and beloved faculty and staff.