Policy & Research
Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card – 5th Edition
MARCH, 2016
The fifth edition of Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card examines school funding fairness in the midst of a slow economic recovery from the Great Recession. The National Report Card measures the fairness of the school finance systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The central purpose of the Report Card is to evaluate the extent to which state systems ensure equality of educational opportunity for all children, regardless of background, family income, where they live, or where they attend school.
Source: Bruce Baker, Theresa Luhm, Danielle Farrie and David Sciarra (2016). Education Law Center, Rutgers University.
Is School Funding Fair? America’s Most Fiscally Disadvantaged School Districts
MARCH 2016
This report identifies the most fiscally disadvantaged school districts in the country—those with higher than average student needs in their labor-market location and lower than average resources when state and local revenues are combined.
Source: Bruce Baker, Theresa Luhm, Danielle Farrie and David Sciarra (2016). Education Law Center, Rutgers University.
Adequacy & Equity Defined
This CCJEF policy brief explains in practical terms what CCJEF means by “adequacy” and “equity” in the context of PreK-12 public education in Connecticut.
ADEQUACY COST STUDY FOR CONNECTICUT
In late 2004, CCJEF commissioned a study by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates (APA) to estimate the cost of an adequate education in Connecticut and give recommendations for reforming the state’s school finance formulas.
Estimating the Cost of an Adequate Education in Connecticut, June 2005
Major Issues in Financing PreK-12 Public Education: Achieving a Balanced Local-State Relationship
September, 2014
In preparation for the 2014 elections, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities [CCM] issued this report to candidates detailing flaws in Connecticut’s school funding system and why a new formula is needed. The report specifically highlights the tax burden on municipalities and what the CCM believes the state – local relationship should look like for education.
Source: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (2014). Major Issues in Financing PreK-12 Public Education: Achieving a Balanced Local-State Relationship. New Haven, CT: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Available from http://ccm-docs.org/CB_Education/Education.html.
Cheating Our Future: How Decades of Disinvestment by States Jeopardizes Equal Educational Opportunity
June, 2015
This report from the Leadership Conference Education Fund and Education Law Center examines the deficits in school funding and resources, and documents the wide disparities in students’ educational opportunities from state to state. The report provides real-life examples and brief case studies of funding inequalities throughout the nation, and makes recommendations for how equal educational opportunities can be achieved.
Source: The Leadership Conference Education Fund and Education Law Center (2015). Cheating Our Future: How Decades of Disinvestment by States Jeopardizes Equal Educational Opportunity. Washington, DC: The Leadership Conference Education Fund. Available from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/state_edwatch/Resource-Equity-Report-2.pdf.
Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card – 4th Edition
June, 2015
The fourth edition of Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card examines school funding fairness in the midst of a slow economic recovery from the Great Recession. The National Report Card measures the fairness of the school finance systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The central purpose of the Report Card is to evaluate the extent to which state systems ensure equality of educational opportunity for all children, regardless of background, family income, where they live, or where they attend school.
Source: Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., & Farrie, D. (2015). Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card (4th Edition). Newark, NJ: Education Law Center. Available from http://www.schoolfundingfairness.org/National_Report_Card_2015.pdf.
LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY
CCJEF advocates for the Connecticut General Assembly to improve the condition of school financing in our state. These documents include testimony and memos to legislative committees on the adequacy and equity of state education spending.
2015
CCJEF testimony to the Education Committee on Governor’s proposed education funding.
2010
- Testimony to the State Board of Education on Money Follows the Child, January 20
Testimony on the State Board of Education’s consideration of a “money follows the child” funding model for state charter schools. - Testimony to Education Committee, March 15
Testimony on a number of bills raised in the General Assembly, concerning charter school funding, secondary school reform, the minimum budget requirement, accountability statutes, and reforms to close the achievement gap.
2009
- Testimony to Appropriations Committee, February 11
Testimony on education spending and finance formula reform in the next Connecticut budget. - Testimony to Education Committee, February 23
Testimony on a number of bills raised in the General Assembly, concerning topics such as education contingency funds, world language requirements, and charter schools and interdistrict magnet schools. - Testimony to Education Committee, March 9
Testimony on SB 830, “An Act Concerning the Governor’s Recommendations Regarding Education,” with recommendations for school finance reform and adequate funding. - Remarks at Capitol News Conference sponsored by CCM, April 8
Remarks on budget proposals by the Governor and the General Assembly’s Appropriation Committee, describing the dire short- and long-term consequences of cutting or flat-funding state education grants.
2008
- Memo to Education Committee, February 7
Memo describing the CCJEF v. Rell appeal and recommending school finance reforms. - Memo to 2008 General Assembly Members, February 12
Memo describing the CCJEF v. Rell appeal. - Testimony to Appropriations Committee, February 15
Testimony on the CCJEF v. Rell appeal and recommendations for reforming the state’s revenue structures to provide adequate education funding. - Testimony to Education Committee, March 10
Testimony on education funding in Governor’s proposed budget, proposed studies of the Open Choice Program and Interdistrict Magnet School Program, and funding of charter schools.
2007
- Comparison of Governor’s Commission and Legislature’s Implementer Bill, September 10
A side-by-side comparison of key provisions of the recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Education Finance (January 2007) and the 2007 Legislature’s Education Implementer Bill, H.B. 8003, Public Act 07-3.
2006
- Testimony to Education Regional Information Hearing, Ledyard, March 21
Testimony at regional meeting on inadequate education funding in Governor’s proposed budget. - Testimony to Education Regional Information Hearing, Ansonia, April 18
Testimony at regional meeting on inadequate education funding in Governor’s proposed budget. - Testimony to State Board of Education on Five-Year Plan, July 24
Testimony on Five-Year Comprehensive Plan, the State’s blueprint for education reform in Connecticut. - Testimony to Connecticut Civil Rights Advisory Committee, September 28
Testimony on “School Choice, Equal Educational Opportunity, and Connecticut School Finance Failures” and the benefits of adequately funded, integrated public school choice options.
OPINION PIECES
CCJEF maintains an active voice in education discussions in Connecticut by authoring op-eds and responding to articles and other opinion pieces.
- Letter to the Editor on underfunding of Bloomfield Public Schools, Hartford Courant, July 11, 2006
- Letter to the Editor in response to Yankee Institute op-ed on “race-based racketeering”, Connecticut Post, July 31, 2007
- Letter to the Editor on the Hartford Reform Plan, Hartford Courant, Aug 28, 2007
- Broken Schools: State’s unfair funding system creates the problem, New Haven Register, February 8, 2009