The Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches issued the following press release following the decision in CCJEF v. Rell.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE            FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Monday, March 22, 2010                John Brittain, 832-687-3007
 
 
CT Supreme Court Supports NAACP Move, Education Funding Coalition Lawsuit

HARTFORD – The Connecticut Supreme Court today voted in favor of  a lawsuit filed by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, which claimed unequal education on behalf of schoolchildren and parents. The State NAACP had filed a friend of court brief in support of the CCJEF in its case against the State and its Governor, M. Jodi Rell.

“The NAACP has stood behind the Coalition’s efforts to ensure adequate education for each and every child in the state,” NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile said. “And we stand ready to fight for the right of every child to graduate from high school, succeed in college and compete in our global economy.”
 
Connecticut is home to the worst achievement gap between poor and non-poor children, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The State has also been slow to satisfactorily address the Connecticut Supreme Court’s order to reduce the ethnic and racial isolation and unequal educational opportunities outlined in the Sheff v. O‘Neill case.

John Brittain, Chief Counsel and Senior Deputy Director Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, lauded the Supreme Court decision. “Article 8 of the Connecticut Constitution states that children have a fundamental right to an adequate education,” Brittain said. “This decision marks the first time that the Supreme Court has acknowledged this right in broad terms, and adds to decisions such as Sheff and Horton v. Meskill in extending the right to adequate education.”