It would be great if education was about children and ensuring they learn.
Instead, education seems to be about money - who has it, who gets to spend it, who gets to make a profit on it. And to heck with those who don't have it.
Instead, education seems to be about money - who has it, who gets to spend it, who gets to make a profit on it. And to heck with those who don't have it.
11
You put a bunch of Asian immigrants kids in any school district and they preform and the odd thing about it is they do so regardless of how much they spend in the next school district.
25
Politicians have ignored the core issue for a generation. Income inequality and poverty are the main drivers of poor student performance. Countries in Scandinavia with high scores in Math and Reading have little to no poverty. A child born into poverty enters kindergarten with greatly diminished vocabulary skills and diminished exposure to cultural, scientific and artistic knowledge. It is easy to blame bad teaching for poor student performance. As an experiment, allow students in Bridgeport to attend schools in neighboring Fairfield and Fairfield students to go to Bridgeport. The students from affluent families will continue to do well and meet targets in Reading and Math and the poorer students will continue to struggle.
15
Equal education does not guarantee equal opportunity. Two children given exactly the same education will not gain the same benefit. There are too many factors in a successful outcome, even defining a "successful" outcome, that the state cannot control. Even in a nurturing home with equal parental involvement, like results among siblings are not guaranteed. I am all for sound public education, but this judge's goals are unrealistic and unobtainable. We need thinking outside the box, for those children determined to succeed yet constrained by poor home environments. The solution must come from the successful members of undervalued communities who can offer advice and council without the perception of patronization. Yes, equalize public spending per student. But that alone will never equalize the results of cookie cutter education.
13
Judges may know about the law, but what do they know about education? What is his basis for claiming that teacher evaluations are "useless"? We all agree that the judicial system is as "broken" as our schools. Does that mean that judges are "useless" too? Would it work if a group of educational experts were called upon to to make recommendations for improving the judicial system? "Broken"schools are "broken" because our capitalist system creates significant swaths of poverty, deprivation and anomie. The "holistic" solution is to adopt educational practices that work in social and economic systems that are more socialistic. But we continue to delude ourselves that its always more money that's going to make a lasting impact, and I'm saying this as a retired educator.
12
Rich versus poor. It is not only in education in the United States. It's health care, safety in communities, and quality of basic services like water, sewer, power, and utilities.
We as a nation were able to work together on these issues in the 60's and 70's, but then we got the Republican's Morning in America, where the rich simply deserve to be rich, so the poor must be kept down.
We as a nation were able to work together on these issues in the 60's and 70's, but then we got the Republican's Morning in America, where the rich simply deserve to be rich, so the poor must be kept down.
6
The lack of parenting far exceeds the lack of money.
27
Fight inequality! Eliminate tenure for teachers!
4
I don't know how to fix the problems of poor schools in neighborhoods of poverty & breakdown of civil life ... and I suspect no one else has any workable answer either ... that doesn't improve the neighborhoods and opportunity for all the people there.
There is abundant evidence that just throwing more money "at schools" in traditional ways in these neighborhoods usually spends the money to no real effect. The buildings may be nicer, there may be more toys in the buildings, but educational outcomes don't improve much.
Money might be better spent trying to fix the underlying problems; recognizing that kids living in chaotic dangerous environments with little hope, mostly don't learn.
There is abundant evidence that just throwing more money "at schools" in traditional ways in these neighborhoods usually spends the money to no real effect. The buildings may be nicer, there may be more toys in the buildings, but educational outcomes don't improve much.
Money might be better spent trying to fix the underlying problems; recognizing that kids living in chaotic dangerous environments with little hope, mostly don't learn.
8
Even schools within a city can be selectively "broken". Sixty yearsago, I was bused to one of the best schools in Hartford, CT based on my abilities. Others were not so fortunate and attended "so-soe" schools. Some of this was done to spread us out; the rest was based on our IQ test results. The schools with lower standards were appropriate for future trade school attendance, as wel as those slated to drop out of school yet another failure of our culture to focus on those who were not quite "up to par".
This judge has spent ZERO hours as a classroom teacher. He is a perfect person to redesign key elements of the system by judicial fiat!
Ugh...
Ugh...
13
The schools aren't failing these students. They fail due to the value system of their communities.
It is simply impossible to teach those who resent education and the simple authority required in a classroom.
As has been shown in many urban centers, infusions of cash and resources cannot overcome the culture of failure and disrespect for education and educators.
Success only is achieved when the school becomes a de facto parent of the students, wherein every aspect of their lives is controlled and provided by
the school. Yet another level of social dependence is their lives.
Early childhood education is essential. But it seems unable of overcome the effects of the twisted value system as adolescence proceeds.
These communities are in denial of this issue and wrap themselves in a cloak of victim hood.
Recent efforts to "mainstream" disruptive & belligerent students into classrooms with motivated
students are insane. A lose lose scenario for all.
It is simply impossible to teach those who resent education and the simple authority required in a classroom.
As has been shown in many urban centers, infusions of cash and resources cannot overcome the culture of failure and disrespect for education and educators.
Success only is achieved when the school becomes a de facto parent of the students, wherein every aspect of their lives is controlled and provided by
the school. Yet another level of social dependence is their lives.
Early childhood education is essential. But it seems unable of overcome the effects of the twisted value system as adolescence proceeds.
These communities are in denial of this issue and wrap themselves in a cloak of victim hood.
Recent efforts to "mainstream" disruptive & belligerent students into classrooms with motivated
students are insane. A lose lose scenario for all.
14
No one has commented on the object of the educational system, the student. A recent TED talk by the head of Kahn Academy talked about teaching to mastery and not to the test. This is step one. Step two is that a student does not move on to the next level until mastery is attained. Only then will we attain mastery. Time or age does not yield mastery. Not all students learn at the same pace, yet we require they all progress at the same pace. If we fund a child through 12 grades, every child will have a high school education. If we fund 12 years of education we have 12 years of attendance. We may not have any years of education. The old adage of leading a horse to water is maybe overused, but education at a grade level should not be watered down. Each grade should have its mastery inherent in the graduation from that grade.
7
No state has addressed educational inequality in an effective manner.
The fundamental reason is the same in all: funding. Property taxes won't support education in the places where it is needed most, where it would be most expensive to meet the needs. Instead, the money is available where it is least needed, and provides the fullest possible advantages to those who already have the fullest possible advantages in life.
That is American politics in a nutshell.
The fundamental reason is the same in all: funding. Property taxes won't support education in the places where it is needed most, where it would be most expensive to meet the needs. Instead, the money is available where it is least needed, and provides the fullest possible advantages to those who already have the fullest possible advantages in life.
That is American politics in a nutshell.
11
History of Education prof Diane Ravitch recently summarized the conclusion that her research had forced upon her, to wit: Efforts at educational reform aimed at eliminating the achievement gap are doomed to failure until the problems of poverty and segregation are solved.
It would appear that the CT courts reached a similar conclusion.
It would appear that the CT courts reached a similar conclusion.
11
More money for school districts performing poorly will not solve the problem. Bureaucrats in the state legislature and the the administrators in education ,from the commissioner down to the principals of schools, are the real source of the problem for multiple reasons. For educators, an advanced degree is all that is necessary to attain one of those important positions and with all the bogus courses that colleges offer, it's nearly impossible not to get that degree. I have always said that if you can"t teach effectively then become an administrator. In my 45 years of teaching those are the people who continue to run our schools. Until that changes, all the money in the treasury will not solve the problem.
5
Research indicates that teachers have the greatest impact on a student's achievement. If they follow best practices they are likely good teachers. However, it's also true that ~75% of a student's achievement is due to factors outside the classroom and school (parenting, income, community, culture, etc.). Since poverty cannot be fixed by the schools, then schools need to double down on things they CAN control such as classroom management and improving the learning environment. There is no simple solution since poverty is multi-faceted.
4
A nice, follow-up editorial to Kate Zernike's Sept. 8 NYT article: "An F-Minus for America's Schools From a Fed-Up Judge." Always trying to fill the gap of essential services that children of lower-income families do not get at home is
an unfair burden on schools that budget upwards for the privileged yet down for the needy: a management problem mirroring the bloated, well-paid administrative bureaucracy rampant throughout the country. From Big-Pharma
to state legislatures to university administrations to local school boards, we award "managers" distant from core problems while disempowering those in
the trenches. And who suffers? The next generation of course, while "the spoils" go to the top. Is this the root of the problem in America's skewed meritocracy, where the so-called "educated and skilled" settle into jobs removed from even recognizing how dire it is for solid education and skills to be passed-on to the next generation? How does one achieve a position at the NYT, writing sentences like "The monthly school board meeting so consumed with squabbling that no real business is conducted until nearly midnight. A task force on graduation requirements that speaks in generalities, about things like 'mastery' being more important than 'seat time,' and then ends up weakening the state tests." ?? (Could you find those two supposed sentences' main-clause, subject-verb agreements without caving in to what follows the relative pronouns in each?)
Hmmm...education vs. privilege.
an unfair burden on schools that budget upwards for the privileged yet down for the needy: a management problem mirroring the bloated, well-paid administrative bureaucracy rampant throughout the country. From Big-Pharma
to state legislatures to university administrations to local school boards, we award "managers" distant from core problems while disempowering those in
the trenches. And who suffers? The next generation of course, while "the spoils" go to the top. Is this the root of the problem in America's skewed meritocracy, where the so-called "educated and skilled" settle into jobs removed from even recognizing how dire it is for solid education and skills to be passed-on to the next generation? How does one achieve a position at the NYT, writing sentences like "The monthly school board meeting so consumed with squabbling that no real business is conducted until nearly midnight. A task force on graduation requirements that speaks in generalities, about things like 'mastery' being more important than 'seat time,' and then ends up weakening the state tests." ?? (Could you find those two supposed sentences' main-clause, subject-verb agreements without caving in to what follows the relative pronouns in each?)
Hmmm...education vs. privilege.
5
I think that the problem starts in the home. Poorly educated parents suffering from poverty usually can not give their children the support and guidance they need to do well in school.
From some of the pictures of the school grounds, it appears that the schools are not managed as well as they should be.
It looks liket morale is shot.
Poverty can be a killer to advancement.
How about some schooling for the parents?
From some of the pictures of the school grounds, it appears that the schools are not managed as well as they should be.
It looks liket morale is shot.
Poverty can be a killer to advancement.
How about some schooling for the parents?
6
If you truly want to fix the problem of the US school system you must tackle Teachers Unions and dysfunctional families. What good is throwing money at the problem if it is only going to reward incompetent teachers who are just interested in padding their compensation, benefits and pensions. And even if you could eliminate the Unions and hire/fire teachers on competency rather than seniority you would still be faced with many kids from single-Mom families which do not have the support structure in place to nurture learning.
7
States across the country are in the process of destroying the public school system. With the growing use of vouchers, so-called "choice" and for-profit charters, they have created an exit for the privileged while leaving vast numbers of poor and challenged students in largly re-segregated and underfunded schools. Conservatives like to say that allowing schools to compete against each other is the solution. ......but they have never explained how society is supposed to deal with the consequences when millions of students have the misfortune to remain in the "loser" schools in this competetive scheme!
9
We've been throwing money at children for 30 years and have nothing to show for it. The problem starts at home.
10
So....what do you do about it?
2
As a high school teacher in the state of Connecticut, each year I use our state's educational system to illustrate the terms de facto and de jure. While it is, of course, not a set of laws on our books that separates students by skin color, it sure seems that there is de facto segregation in the Nutmeg State.
3
So-called, self-described, alleged "judge" Thomas Moukawsher is an utterly lawless, leftist lunatic who "thinks" that somebody gave him the authority to run schools for an entire state. Funny, also, that Moukawsher "thinks" that he is "competent" to run the schools of an entire state.
6
Get rid of school districts. Have one education system where every student receives the identical amount of funding. This would be a step in the correct direction.
3
Part of the judge;s prescription for improvement, teacher evaluations, which are based on test scores and observations are largely meritless. Exams really only measure who comes from a wealthy, stable home; who is not an immigrant still learning English. Observations are largely subjective, even those structured by the Danielson rubric. Moreover, those observations are just a slice of classroom practices and rarely, if ever, give a holistic sense of how a class functions.
If pay for performance ever becomes the norm for public schools, the teachers in the wealthy districts will be rewarded--those children have the support they need at home, and they've had it all their lives. Children in urban districts very often live in complicated circumstances--poverty, homelessness, they live in substandard housing, their neighborhoods have (more) incidents of violence.
We are kidding ourselves if we think that we can 'bonus' our way to higher educational achievement. Such incentives have already led to cheating scandals in education. We can look to Wells Fargo to see how strict, high expectations led thousands of employees to misuse customer accounts in order to keep their jobs and bonuses.
First, we need to fund urban schools equitably. That may mean less money for those wealthy, largely white suburban schools. Moreover, we need to address the community issues that hobble students' ability to attend school and succeed.
If pay for performance ever becomes the norm for public schools, the teachers in the wealthy districts will be rewarded--those children have the support they need at home, and they've had it all their lives. Children in urban districts very often live in complicated circumstances--poverty, homelessness, they live in substandard housing, their neighborhoods have (more) incidents of violence.
We are kidding ourselves if we think that we can 'bonus' our way to higher educational achievement. Such incentives have already led to cheating scandals in education. We can look to Wells Fargo to see how strict, high expectations led thousands of employees to misuse customer accounts in order to keep their jobs and bonuses.
First, we need to fund urban schools equitably. That may mean less money for those wealthy, largely white suburban schools. Moreover, we need to address the community issues that hobble students' ability to attend school and succeed.
3
This is a complex issue that cannot be defined just by the amount of money given to a school system. As others have suggested, it is much more than just the schools. It's about community, parental involvement, home situations, and yes schools too. Some have suggested that wealthier districts are getting more funding from the State than poorer districts. This is not the case. You can get data about how much money each district got from local, state, and federal for education using this link: http://ctschoolfinance.org/data/connecticut-local-school-district-expend.... It is also shows it broken down by percentages. If you want to combine that with the per pupil expenditures, you can find that here: http://www.courant.com/data-desk/hc-in-perpupil-spending-connecticut-ran.... Connecticut spends far more on a per pupil basis than most of the country. And on a per pupil basis, poorer districts are funded much more by the State than by local funding. This is not just about how much money is spent on each district. Money (and schools) alone will not solve this problem.
10
Once more we see politicians being told that schools can be educationally fixed if you throw more money at them. Trouble is that the academic performance of a school and its children has nothing to do with money and everything to do with attitude.
This was proven in the late 1970s by the Vietnamese refugees who arrived mostly in California. Their children and grandchildren proceeded to be graded right up there in every school that they attended. Indians are doing the same right now in US schools.
Until the grandparents, parents and the children themselves start to care about good grades no amount of money will change anything.
This was proven in the late 1970s by the Vietnamese refugees who arrived mostly in California. Their children and grandchildren proceeded to be graded right up there in every school that they attended. Indians are doing the same right now in US schools.
Until the grandparents, parents and the children themselves start to care about good grades no amount of money will change anything.
6
After giving more and more money to the poor towns in Massachusetts at the expense of the "affluent towns", our legislature finally woke up and listened to reason. They developed a balanced formula that includes the needs of all students (including the middle class). They stopped starving the "wealthy" suburban districts in an effort to normalize the test results of underprivileged children. A minimum amount of state aid (~$2500) is now given to every student regardless of the parents income. This is a minimal effort, but it did a lot to help our town achieve fiscal solvency. The formula can not work in only one direction. Compassion and financial support should be shared by all.
17
I applaud the judge's ruling, but what are the consequences if his requirements are not put into place? Does he have any power of enforcement?
Nothing is being said about the Core Curriculum that is pervasive in the United States.
Yesterday, I dedicated a good amount of my time assisting two nieces and a nephew with homework assignments that are way beyond their reach. Why is a third grader being taught economic concepts that I never studied until college? Why is a 13-year-old in the eighth grade being taught calculus concepts that have no apparent relevancy? At the same time, basic math skills are missing.
Teachers are not allowed to do what they think is right. Instead, they have goals and objectives and if the children don't achieve, they are penalized even in special ed where students have particular disadvantages.
This whole system is misguided.
Yesterday, I dedicated a good amount of my time assisting two nieces and a nephew with homework assignments that are way beyond their reach. Why is a third grader being taught economic concepts that I never studied until college? Why is a 13-year-old in the eighth grade being taught calculus concepts that have no apparent relevancy? At the same time, basic math skills are missing.
Teachers are not allowed to do what they think is right. Instead, they have goals and objectives and if the children don't achieve, they are penalized even in special ed where students have particular disadvantages.
This whole system is misguided.
22
Hear, hear!
2
As stated by other commenters, you can't fix schools until you're willing to fix communities. Unfortunately, many state legislators aren't willing to invest in communities or public schools. They much prefer to follow the Jeb Bush/ALEC model of privatization. Here's the plan:
1. Starve certain schools of resources
2. Create bogus accountability standards
3. Give high-stakes, invalid tests and grade schools according to those tests
4. Blame the teachers and unions for low scores and school grades
5. Let parents "choose" to escape these bad schools by going to a charter (probably managed by a for-profit company), a voucher school (mostly religious and not requiring certified teachers), or an online school (with lots of potential for profit-making).
In Florida, the current chair of a house education subcommittee is the brother-in-law of the owner of the state's largest for-profit charter school. Two legislators work for the same charter company. The chair of the senate education committee has a charter school. The incoming speaker of the house is the husband of a charter school owner. Another senator is a lawyer representing charter school organizations. I'm sure there are more connections.
Maybe the New York Times should do an investigation into who's funding these state legislative races. I guarantee there's a very clear connection between campaign donations and state education policies.
1. Starve certain schools of resources
2. Create bogus accountability standards
3. Give high-stakes, invalid tests and grade schools according to those tests
4. Blame the teachers and unions for low scores and school grades
5. Let parents "choose" to escape these bad schools by going to a charter (probably managed by a for-profit company), a voucher school (mostly religious and not requiring certified teachers), or an online school (with lots of potential for profit-making).
In Florida, the current chair of a house education subcommittee is the brother-in-law of the owner of the state's largest for-profit charter school. Two legislators work for the same charter company. The chair of the senate education committee has a charter school. The incoming speaker of the house is the husband of a charter school owner. Another senator is a lawyer representing charter school organizations. I'm sure there are more connections.
Maybe the New York Times should do an investigation into who's funding these state legislative races. I guarantee there's a very clear connection between campaign donations and state education policies.
63
Many do not know that Connecticut has an additional challenge in its school districts: Connecticut abolished county government in 1960. Having school districts based on towns and cities exacerbates the stark differences in places like Fairfield and Bridgeport, which are geographically close but worlds apart.
In my opinion we will never have good schools in this country as long as we have a two-tiered system whereby the well-off get a good education and the poor don't.
And the two-tiered system will continue to exist as long as we have private schools. Many of our leaders' education includes schools like Andover or Groton and that is no coincidence. As long as the rich have the option of sending their children to private schools, the public schools will languish like neglected orphans. If the rich had to send their children to public schools, those schools would flourish as private money poured into them. I believe, unfortunately, that the two-tiered system will continue to exist until that faraway day when American wakes up and closes its private schools.
And the two-tiered system will continue to exist as long as we have private schools. Many of our leaders' education includes schools like Andover or Groton and that is no coincidence. As long as the rich have the option of sending their children to private schools, the public schools will languish like neglected orphans. If the rich had to send their children to public schools, those schools would flourish as private money poured into them. I believe, unfortunately, that the two-tiered system will continue to exist until that faraway day when American wakes up and closes its private schools.
2
The children of wealthy parents and the children of poor parents both have the opportunity to learn. Some children from both camps choose not to. Don't blame the teachers, and don't blame the schools. Also, don't blame the children. What the heck: don't blame anyone!
Encourage (vote for) legislators to plan for the future, not the past. Earmark for governmental regulatory support so that those industries will thrive. Include consideration for the lives of people doing the work, Perform task analyses on the jobs needed to sustain the industries. Include consideration for the lives of people doing the work, Teach those skills to the children. Include consideration for the lives of people doing the work.
Encourage (vote for) legislators to plan for the future, not the past. Earmark for governmental regulatory support so that those industries will thrive. Include consideration for the lives of people doing the work, Perform task analyses on the jobs needed to sustain the industries. Include consideration for the lives of people doing the work, Teach those skills to the children. Include consideration for the lives of people doing the work.
2
Years ago I was in a Sociology class in a community college in Chicago, & the subject of poorly performing schools came up. Many of the students in my class came from those schools and all had the standard complaints about teachers, out of date textbooks and few computers. Then a young Russian woman spoke up. She had gone to school in Uzbekistan, her grade school classes had to share a few Soviet era texts, teachers were often short of chalk, paper and pencils, and many classrooms were missing windows. And when she was 11 and her family emigrated to the United States and she was tested... she placed three grades ahead of her age group.
13
She managed the same way poor Catholic schools manage.
9
The Connecticut constitution devotes only 23 words to elementary and secondary schools: “There shall always be free public elementary and secondary schools in the state. The general assembly shall implement this principle by appropriate legislation.” Judge Thomas Moukawsher thinks the Connecticut general assembly should enact legislation to force local school districts to run school the way he thinks they should be run. For example, he thinks schools overspend on special education and that teachers should be compensated for teaching talent rather than seniority. His ideas may be good ones, but shouldn’t he step down from the bench and run for the general assembly if he wants to sponsor legislation reshaping Connecticut’s public schools.
5
This story is worth pursuing nationwide, with local school boards throughout this country redistricting in ways that create a segregated school systems. The boards in these areas will say that all schools are created equal in the district, but one school in the district becomes the "white school" with all the bells and whistles, while other schools is the district become more "diverse." In time, the more diverse schools see their facilities and instructional systems starved of resources, while just across the tracks, they are building field houses, installing pools, and adding staff.
From the time of the civil rights movement in the 60's to now, one social experiment after another has been tried to bring Black school test scores up to the White level.
None have worked.
But, not to worry as you may be certain that more experiments are on the way, and will continue into the foreseeable future.
None have worked.
But, not to worry as you may be certain that more experiments are on the way, and will continue into the foreseeable future.
5
I own two houses in the same school district. Part of my taxes goes to our school district.
Why in the world would I want my taxes to go to another school district and have less for my children?
The US has a tradition of earning what you can and bettering yourself as you go along. Asking me to make your life better, or your children's, is not fair to everyone who has done what's necessary to get ahead.
Why in the world would I want my taxes to go to another school district and have less for my children?
The US has a tradition of earning what you can and bettering yourself as you go along. Asking me to make your life better, or your children's, is not fair to everyone who has done what's necessary to get ahead.
12
Because sometimes, sharing tax revenues with less well off communities is the right thing to do!
5
The judges ruling was about CT, but it speaks to the condition of education in much of the country. All should take note.
1
Hopefully, this judge's ruling/recommendations will lead to a broader based funding system that currently relies too often and too heavily on individual property taxes. The over zealous building of new, costly schools, escalating school staff salaries/health care costs and stagnant/fixed incomes have created an ever worrisome financial situation for any town's property owner. If more money is at least part of the answer, then a broader, regional/state/federal tax based system is at least part of the solution.
1
Several urban school districts in nj receive more money per pupil than the highly coveted suburban districts. Yet the education they provide is consistently abysmal. This is because the money is spent on administrators and school staff who are hired because of who they know on the school board and not because of the value they bring to the classrooms. The result is meaningless high school diplomas.
At the same time lets not kid ourselves. Even the wealthy suburban districts offer pitiful education compared to what most Western European schools provide. In their case, it is because of the American faddish approach to education instead of teachers individually monitoring every child and adjusting their teaching accordingly. The result is meaningless college degrees later on paid for by mom and dad.
Two different issues with the exact same result: poorly educated citizenry regardless of wealth.
At the same time lets not kid ourselves. Even the wealthy suburban districts offer pitiful education compared to what most Western European schools provide. In their case, it is because of the American faddish approach to education instead of teachers individually monitoring every child and adjusting their teaching accordingly. The result is meaningless college degrees later on paid for by mom and dad.
Two different issues with the exact same result: poorly educated citizenry regardless of wealth.
4
The judge was accurate in his diagnosis of the ills in Conn. K-12 education. But is that his job? Judges decide disputes. Here the plaintiff asked for more money for poor districts. The judge concluded that wouldn't solve the bigger problem HE identified and called for total school reform.
But in Conn., as in all of America, school policy is developed and enacted by the legislature, with input from the state Education Dept. It was not the judge's place to appoint himself as education policy dictator. He should instead have decided the issue: more money for poor districts--and possibly by way of a dictum he could have written his 90-page decision as an extended essay of his personal (non-binding) opinion.
Do we want to be governed by judges? Conn. has a General Assembly and a Governor to do that. However accurate the judge's diagnosis of the pervasive ills of Conn. K-12 education (and, admittedly, it was on target), he usurped the role of the General Assembly in this matter.
But in Conn., as in all of America, school policy is developed and enacted by the legislature, with input from the state Education Dept. It was not the judge's place to appoint himself as education policy dictator. He should instead have decided the issue: more money for poor districts--and possibly by way of a dictum he could have written his 90-page decision as an extended essay of his personal (non-binding) opinion.
Do we want to be governed by judges? Conn. has a General Assembly and a Governor to do that. However accurate the judge's diagnosis of the pervasive ills of Conn. K-12 education (and, admittedly, it was on target), he usurped the role of the General Assembly in this matter.
12
Based on the evidence, the judge found that the state of Connecticut violated its obligations under the state constitution with respect to how it was funding the state educational system. He explained why. You are objecting to a judge interpreting the state's basic law, it's own constitution. That is his job. You might disagree with his conclusions, but you cannot reasonably claim that he was not doing what he was supposed to do, which is interpret and apply the law.
4
One of the imperfections in American society is the way we finance k-12 education.
A nations long term strength is a function of how well it educates its children.
Our educational system is eroding our position in the world. It is an unsustainable model.
Politicians at all levels have failed to address this problem but thankfully the courts are gaining clarity and redirecting the debate and ultimately structural changes.
A nations long term strength is a function of how well it educates its children.
Our educational system is eroding our position in the world. It is an unsustainable model.
Politicians at all levels have failed to address this problem but thankfully the courts are gaining clarity and redirecting the debate and ultimately structural changes.
2
The disparity in educational outcomes are the primary result of the differences in academic abilities of our students. We are not all cognitively equal.
We've tried to changed everything imaginable for "progress" in the past 50 years and have blamed every possible social and political influence, but the fact remains, learning is an individual process and each of us is limited by our abilities.
We've tried to changed everything imaginable for "progress" in the past 50 years and have blamed every possible social and political influence, but the fact remains, learning is an individual process and each of us is limited by our abilities.
4
It will not matter how much money is thrown at the city schools - there is such poor school preparation of the city children that no amount of money is going to fix it.
Best solution I have heard - provide free, quality child care for all disadvantaged children from age 1 IF both parents agree to attend either a full time educational program if on any kind of public assistance or, if employed, attend an ongoing parenting class of at least 3 hours per week. It will take almost 20 years for this solution to work but it will improve the lives of these children, and maybe improve the lives of their parents as well.
Best solution I have heard - provide free, quality child care for all disadvantaged children from age 1 IF both parents agree to attend either a full time educational program if on any kind of public assistance or, if employed, attend an ongoing parenting class of at least 3 hours per week. It will take almost 20 years for this solution to work but it will improve the lives of these children, and maybe improve the lives of their parents as well.
8
Sure. Let's blame poor parents and single Moms. Of course we are not including the vast number of single Moms who can still martial resources to get their children to school on time, help with homework, and attend PTA functions. All of which is easier if you are not working two part-time jobs with no benefits and no opportunity to take time off without losing income. Good grief.
5
And it's OK for the state's judicial system to take ten years to hear a case and then ask the state to conjur up a remedy in 180 days?
Why not the other way around. 180 days to figure out we have a problem and 10 years to work on meaningful remedies?
Why not the other way around. 180 days to figure out we have a problem and 10 years to work on meaningful remedies?
8
"Physician, heal thyself". Where's the Times editorial about the stagnation on the educational equity litigation in New York State.
2
Itt is interesting that the esteemed. Editorial Board is trumpeting a court decision that says exactly the same thing that many conservatives have been saying for decades?
Are the members of teh Board their previous positions that have favored sweetheart union contracts over the education of students, particularly those that exist on the lower end of the economic spectrum?
Na,,,they'll foget this statement the next time a teacher's union contract rolls around!
Are the members of teh Board their previous positions that have favored sweetheart union contracts over the education of students, particularly those that exist on the lower end of the economic spectrum?
Na,,,they'll foget this statement the next time a teacher's union contract rolls around!
1
In NJ, we blazed this trail, bowing to a judicial ukaze (without the slightest actual support in the NJ Constitution) that we spend ungodly amounts of money on urban public schools. The results are in: there are no results. Well, no educational benefits, anyway. Otherwise, the results have been catastrophic. We now have the highest property taxes in the nation and among the highest income taxes. Meanwhile, other states with similar overall results, like MA and NH, spend between 15 and 23% less per kid.
In short, judges ought to be kept far away from school funding decisions; they're unqualified for the job.
NJ proves, spending means just about nothing. We spend three times as much as Bridgeport in Asbury Park and get even worse results. The buildings are nicer and the football uniforms are probably great, but 49% of the students graduate from high school. Not much of a return on investment for $33K per year per kid, eh?
To repeat: spending has NOTHING to do with performance. It's not society's fault that lots of these kids fail; it's their parent'(s') fault and their fault. More taxpayer money solves nothing.
Vouchers would. It's possible that the educational results would be no better - they would certainly be no worse - but the tax consequences would be salutary. For the benefit of students, parents, and taxpayers, equal vouchers are the way to go.
In short, judges ought to be kept far away from school funding decisions; they're unqualified for the job.
NJ proves, spending means just about nothing. We spend three times as much as Bridgeport in Asbury Park and get even worse results. The buildings are nicer and the football uniforms are probably great, but 49% of the students graduate from high school. Not much of a return on investment for $33K per year per kid, eh?
To repeat: spending has NOTHING to do with performance. It's not society's fault that lots of these kids fail; it's their parent'(s') fault and their fault. More taxpayer money solves nothing.
Vouchers would. It's possible that the educational results would be no better - they would certainly be no worse - but the tax consequences would be salutary. For the benefit of students, parents, and taxpayers, equal vouchers are the way to go.
28
As I read your comment, I was thinking, "When is this person going to get to talking point?" Finally you said it! Vouchers! First, Spending isn't everything, but it absolutely is the most important thing. That is a fact with over a century of hard, empirical data to support. So, what about vouchers? Some of us are old enough to know what the whole voucher plan is about. For those readers that are unsure, please read - http://tinyurl.com/jfhzp94.
Vouchers have never had anything to do with making public schools better. Anyone who says they do are either ignorant of their history and current performance, or lying to you.
Vouchers have never had anything to do with making public schools better. Anyone who says they do are either ignorant of their history and current performance, or lying to you.
4
Yes, unequal funding of school districts, now based on more money going to the wealthier districts because property tax values are higher, is the main problem. However, the U.S. should closely examine how Finland manages it public school system that appears to be the best in the world! This is no time for American exceptionalism, which in the case of our public school system is an abject failure.
1
Yes the urban and suburban populations of Connecticut are just like the Finnish population--THAT'S the model that will work...
4
Finland has a very homogenous population in comparison to the US, and engages in a "Nordic" social economy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_model
The US cannot achieve the Finnish success in education without achieving the Finnish success in nurturing an equitable society and community standards & support.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_model
The US cannot achieve the Finnish success in education without achieving the Finnish success in nurturing an equitable society and community standards & support.
2
There is nothing wrong with the schools or teachers. They are fine. The problem is the students: some are smart, most are not. Let us not waste any more money on schemes that deny this basic fact of nature.
7
Why did not Judge Moukawsher just rule that Bridgeport should be more like Lake Wobegon, where all children are above average?
An elegant solution with little cost to the taxpayers!
An elegant solution with little cost to the taxpayers!
3
I live in Texas but I was educated in Connecticut public schools. There is no question that Connecticut's educational system is unabashedly one of educational apartheid. It was when I lived there. No one even contested or denied that fact, even in public -- "We don't want those blacks from Bridgeport in our schools" is something I heard frequently. Apparently it has gotten much worse.
And I am ambivalent: I see the education of kids in Texas and I find it wholly inadequate, and I have been here long enough to know that the reason behind it is simple: every dollar spent on education has a racial subtext (well, that and an overemphasis on football). It used to be that racial subtext was oriented towards black children, but now it is Mexican children. There are many fine school districts in Texas, to be sure, but they are in rich white communities. "Those Mexicans" can take a hike, even though they represent virtually all the growth of labor in the near- and medium-term and are therefore the economic future of the entire state. Stupid and shortsighted.
But the punchline to this disgusting, immoral joke is this: people of Connecticut, including some of my own close relatives, think Texas and other southern states are intolerably racist and worthy only of their derision. They don't see the lives they destroy every day with their thoughtlessness and their big wallets and their refusal to understand that we are all in this together. And the joke is on all of us.
And I am ambivalent: I see the education of kids in Texas and I find it wholly inadequate, and I have been here long enough to know that the reason behind it is simple: every dollar spent on education has a racial subtext (well, that and an overemphasis on football). It used to be that racial subtext was oriented towards black children, but now it is Mexican children. There are many fine school districts in Texas, to be sure, but they are in rich white communities. "Those Mexicans" can take a hike, even though they represent virtually all the growth of labor in the near- and medium-term and are therefore the economic future of the entire state. Stupid and shortsighted.
But the punchline to this disgusting, immoral joke is this: people of Connecticut, including some of my own close relatives, think Texas and other southern states are intolerably racist and worthy only of their derision. They don't see the lives they destroy every day with their thoughtlessness and their big wallets and their refusal to understand that we are all in this together. And the joke is on all of us.
Ahhh Connecticut! A State which normalized "rich, richer, richest" amidst both hidden and obvious poverty. The State has far too many mediocre White and Black people in positions of power, both in their universities, government and non governmental organizations. There...I said it. And many Blacks in position of leadership do not want to do anything about the poverty among their own people. While racism persists across the board, and not just for Blacks, and must be confronted wherever it is..there is something about the Northeast and the Southeast where an odd kind of dissonance exists between need and actions across all groups. It feels like they have poor researchers and/or poor policies due to poor research and/or good researchers who simply collect data, analyze data, discuss data and publish data...while the data does not go anywhere concrete or practical. That is how you end up with Columbia University, an elite ivory tower, surrounded by squalor and violence, or Florida University that graduates idiots. Welcome to East Coast nightmare, and we got two New Yorkers, neighbors of Connecticut, running for the Presidency.
2
Going to a good public school shouldn't be dependent upon how much money one's parents can afford to spend for a place to live. It shouldn't depend upon how much one can pay in property taxes. A good education should be something that all students can take for granted. Having good teachers should not be a matter of chance. That too should be a given. There is no reason that this country cannot provide a good education for all students in grades K-12 and a good basis for that education with good publicly subsidized daycare facilities. Americans have got to get over the idea that having helping families with young children support themselves either with both parents working or one staying home is socialism or a waste of money. In today's economy both parents have to work in order to provide for the family, a unit this country claims to value.
Do businesses want employees that are capable of being critical thinkers, can take initiative when things go wrong, who can read and write technical instructions, who don't need constant supervision? If they do then they need to be supporters, financially and emotionally, of education. There are too many communities where corporations don't pay their fair share yet complain about the quality of education. Americans need to value education over sports. That means funding and updating school facilities, not just athletic fields. It's an insult to all students when the football team gets more than the classroom.
Do businesses want employees that are capable of being critical thinkers, can take initiative when things go wrong, who can read and write technical instructions, who don't need constant supervision? If they do then they need to be supporters, financially and emotionally, of education. There are too many communities where corporations don't pay their fair share yet complain about the quality of education. Americans need to value education over sports. That means funding and updating school facilities, not just athletic fields. It's an insult to all students when the football team gets more than the classroom.
23
Old story, same comment. Isn't the core issue that all children should have an equal opportunity to an equal quality education regardless of where they live? Politicians claim they support equal opportunity for all. Shouldn't it start with education?
13
This is a multilayered problem that starts in the home. About 50% of people read at a 9th grade level or lower. What is the adult reading level in poor districts? I'll guess it's 5th grade or lower. I wouldn't be surprised if its 3rd grade in places. How can a parent that reads at such a low level provide the needed mental stimulation for a child?
How can a parent nurture their child if they have to work three jobs? How can a kid have a normal life and develop proper social skills through play and interaction when there are bullets flying everywhere and gangs rule the streets?
Conservatives claim that throwing more money at the education problem wont solve it. That's like saying a blighted neighborhood still remains blighted after you cut the grass and repair the gutters. There is much more work that remains to be done.
Broken schools are the result of broken communities. Back in the 80's, Kansas City was ordered by a judge to equalize and desegregate the schools. We spent something like 1.5 billion dollars (in 1980's money) to build tremendous, well equipped schools in the poor areas. The school district fell apart. It went from 75,000 kids to less than 15,000 now. White participation is low single digits. The district is provisionally accredited and hanging on a thread. We get a new Superintendent every 18 months.
Public schools are the backbone of communities and we let them fall apart and privatize schools for profit. Neighborhoods do matter.
How can a parent nurture their child if they have to work three jobs? How can a kid have a normal life and develop proper social skills through play and interaction when there are bullets flying everywhere and gangs rule the streets?
Conservatives claim that throwing more money at the education problem wont solve it. That's like saying a blighted neighborhood still remains blighted after you cut the grass and repair the gutters. There is much more work that remains to be done.
Broken schools are the result of broken communities. Back in the 80's, Kansas City was ordered by a judge to equalize and desegregate the schools. We spent something like 1.5 billion dollars (in 1980's money) to build tremendous, well equipped schools in the poor areas. The school district fell apart. It went from 75,000 kids to less than 15,000 now. White participation is low single digits. The district is provisionally accredited and hanging on a thread. We get a new Superintendent every 18 months.
Public schools are the backbone of communities and we let them fall apart and privatize schools for profit. Neighborhoods do matter.
38
Mr Rozenblit, your penultimate paragraph aptly summarizes the reality that money alone cannot change the education, learning, and achievement gaps that pervade our communities.
If "we" are to fix the problem, then "we" must be defined holistically and every constituent member of "we" must understand his or her role in fixing the problem.
This most assuredly includes the people clamoring most loudly for the funding and the special services support.
If "we" are to fix the problem, then "we" must be defined holistically and every constituent member of "we" must understand his or her role in fixing the problem.
This most assuredly includes the people clamoring most loudly for the funding and the special services support.
2
Bruce Rozenblit - "Conservatives claim that throwing more money at the education problem wont solve it." then " Back in the 80's, Kansas City was ordered by a judge to equalize and desegregate the schools. We spent something like 1.5 billion dollars (in 1980's money) to build tremendous, well equipped schools in the poor areas. The school district fell apart."
So after spending 1.5 billion dollars in 1980's money the "district is provisionally accredited and hanging on a thread." How does throwing more and more money at a problem solve it? Could there be another way? Could the "conservatives" be right?
So after spending 1.5 billion dollars in 1980's money the "district is provisionally accredited and hanging on a thread." How does throwing more and more money at a problem solve it? Could there be another way? Could the "conservatives" be right?
4
I wonder what would have happened if they built great well equipped schools with strong teachers and forgot about the busing?
2
Can we send that judge to Ohio next, since our funding was ruled unconstitutional in the 90's and they've only made it worse since then, with charter schools?
36
I moved to NYS after over 30 years in Virginia...and learned about "home rule". CT is also a home rule state. Home rule is the basis of 21st CENTURY SEGREGATION. No plantations, but separate school, library, fire, road, and ambulance districts.
Home Rule is touted as giving citizens control at a local level. Having lived with it and without it, I conclude it is simply a mechanism to allow wealthy communities separate themselves from un-moneyed and keep the poor, poor.
Home Rule creates unfathomable waste and duplication. There is Village, Town, City, County, Burrough, AND State Gov'ts, each with their own mayors, supervisors, Governors, boards, road managers, planning boards, zoning boards, lawyers, judges, sherriffs, etc. Then separately, we have "districts" that control school, library, fire, ambulance, etc...all with their own feifdoms, budgets, boards, etc. Each of these Gov'ts and districts have their own elections, salaries and budgets. So, in our rural county, we have more than 7 different school districts represented...each with their own supervisor, bureaucracy, budget, egos, etc. No collaboration, cooperation, economies of scale...nothing
It is the most wasteful, arbitrary, ridiculous system I have ever witnessed. But, it serves the interest of very very wealthy enclaves who want to keep their children and money separate.
Home Rule is touted as giving citizens control at a local level. Having lived with it and without it, I conclude it is simply a mechanism to allow wealthy communities separate themselves from un-moneyed and keep the poor, poor.
Home Rule creates unfathomable waste and duplication. There is Village, Town, City, County, Burrough, AND State Gov'ts, each with their own mayors, supervisors, Governors, boards, road managers, planning boards, zoning boards, lawyers, judges, sherriffs, etc. Then separately, we have "districts" that control school, library, fire, ambulance, etc...all with their own feifdoms, budgets, boards, etc. Each of these Gov'ts and districts have their own elections, salaries and budgets. So, in our rural county, we have more than 7 different school districts represented...each with their own supervisor, bureaucracy, budget, egos, etc. No collaboration, cooperation, economies of scale...nothing
It is the most wasteful, arbitrary, ridiculous system I have ever witnessed. But, it serves the interest of very very wealthy enclaves who want to keep their children and money separate.
78
The reality is the very wealthy, whether in Virginia, New York, or Connecticut, do not live in areas the poor or middle class or even moderately wealthy can afford to live and they do not send their kids to the public schools. The other reality affecting the performance in the poor school districts is the kids don't get the support at home. A child who shows up to kindergarten having never experienced a book is not going to do as well as they child who already has a modest reading vocabulary. Educators are concerned about high school kids reading at a 3rd grade level when they get them? It makes sense when they were already 6 years behind when they entered first grade.
6
This is exactly the problem with education in NJ, too many little towns with their own school districts. The result is much money is spent on duplication from town to town but no one seems to want a regional school district. Although, the children in better schools can get a very good education in NJ.
Florida appears to be the opposite end where public education is quite dismal, but this is the south with a Republican Governor and Legislature and very little money or desire to spend on education.
Florida appears to be the opposite end where public education is quite dismal, but this is the south with a Republican Governor and Legislature and very little money or desire to spend on education.
Ditto in NJ.
I am an advocate of education, the path to freedom. I have followed our system for years. I have volunteered in K-12 schools and served as a Trustee at a private university. The only letter I've ever written to a governing body concerned education. It's been my observation that the most important outcome to a solid education is parental and community involvement. The Supreme Court of NJ ruled many years ago that State funds were to be shifted away from wealthier districts to economically depressed areas. At present, it appears that the level of State funding has made little, if any, difference in the educational outcomes. The wealthier districts continue to produce higher GPAs, better extra curricular programs, etc. In Camden, where I volunteer, there are kids beating the odds and they are the ones whose parents are making the effort to get their children to school every day, a behavior revealing their highest priority. Of equal importance, the surrounding Community has stepped in to help. The benefits to our society of educating children can not be underestimated. Throwing money at the "problem" is not the answer. Parental and community investment of time and love is the answer.
27
You are correct on many points but using the"throwing money" is just a way to say don`t waste money on some people. Applying mortar when building a brick foundation must be done correctly, carefully applied around each brick.
3
This writer is well meaning, and I would not argue her point that parental involvement matters, but the very phrase, "throwing money at the problem," is pernicious and spurious, implying that money does not matter or will be wasted in poorer districts. That one school has state of the art lab facilities and another lacks the money for basic equipment upgrades is patently unfair. More than this, it affects the ability of teachers to do their jobs and is dispiriting for students, who know quite a bit more than we may give them credit for about what their wealthier peers have access to.
3
It's not just a problem in Connecticut. It is also a serious problem in Illinois. Haven't heard Hillary or Trump discuss what they are going to do about this. Local, state, and federal politicians just don't care.
5
It is good that a judge in Connecticut affirmed the right of children living in poverty to have a proper education. It is tragic that we leave the decisions of how to make that happen in the hands of politicians who know little about education and care less about the poor, as the poor do not vote.
When the judge speaks of standards, the politicians think better tests, and find ways to bad-mouth teachers.
Since 1776, when an ad in a Baltimore newspaper announced a ship had come into port carrying potatoes, pork bellies and two two teachers, the profession of teaching has not been in high regard in this country. The American consciousness has considered teaching as "women's work" in the most pejorative sense of that hateful phrase. To turn that ship around requires acceptance that our public images and metaphors of teaching range from inadequate to stupid. "Teacher Appreciation Days" do not cut it.
Teachers and schools are required to take on so many functions in our society from caring for the severely handicapped to solving racial prejudice to feeding more people than McDonald's and the military, to assuring proper medical care, and preparing children for mindless standardized tests, and by the way providing a genuine education, that it is no wonder the negative images of teachers and schools remains dominant in this country. When expectations are that weird, the weirdness rubs off on the teachers and the schools.
When the judge speaks of standards, the politicians think better tests, and find ways to bad-mouth teachers.
Since 1776, when an ad in a Baltimore newspaper announced a ship had come into port carrying potatoes, pork bellies and two two teachers, the profession of teaching has not been in high regard in this country. The American consciousness has considered teaching as "women's work" in the most pejorative sense of that hateful phrase. To turn that ship around requires acceptance that our public images and metaphors of teaching range from inadequate to stupid. "Teacher Appreciation Days" do not cut it.
Teachers and schools are required to take on so many functions in our society from caring for the severely handicapped to solving racial prejudice to feeding more people than McDonald's and the military, to assuring proper medical care, and preparing children for mindless standardized tests, and by the way providing a genuine education, that it is no wonder the negative images of teachers and schools remains dominant in this country. When expectations are that weird, the weirdness rubs off on the teachers and the schools.
32
A holistic ruling on broken schools requires the parents, children and local community to be accountable for their roles in providing safe, nurturing and life long environments for the kids.
Good luck with that.
Perhaps the judge should have ruled that each child in an impoverished school district located in a high crime locale inhabited primarily by one parent "families" be assigned to live with surrogate parents in non impoverished district for proper upbringing. Reduce the biological "parents" to visiting privileges to monitor the surrogate's progress and to demand more support if they are dissatisfied. That way, the surrogate parents can read to the children when they are infants, teach them civility, instill in them a respect for learning, ... well, you get the picture.
While my heart breaks for kids trapped with non parents, surrounded by gang culture, destined to drop out well before the age of 18, my head absolutely tells me that this is a complex problem without easy solutions.
Money is not the issue.
Racial bias is not the issue.
Teacher burnout is an issue.
The lack of parenting is the issue.
Until the judges, the pundits, the demonstrators start dealing with the problem holistically, at the root of personal accountability and values, we will still have the educational and achievement gaps tomorrow that we have today.
Good luck with that.
Perhaps the judge should have ruled that each child in an impoverished school district located in a high crime locale inhabited primarily by one parent "families" be assigned to live with surrogate parents in non impoverished district for proper upbringing. Reduce the biological "parents" to visiting privileges to monitor the surrogate's progress and to demand more support if they are dissatisfied. That way, the surrogate parents can read to the children when they are infants, teach them civility, instill in them a respect for learning, ... well, you get the picture.
While my heart breaks for kids trapped with non parents, surrounded by gang culture, destined to drop out well before the age of 18, my head absolutely tells me that this is a complex problem without easy solutions.
Money is not the issue.
Racial bias is not the issue.
Teacher burnout is an issue.
The lack of parenting is the issue.
Until the judges, the pundits, the demonstrators start dealing with the problem holistically, at the root of personal accountability and values, we will still have the educational and achievement gaps tomorrow that we have today.
63
In case you haven't noticed this, children do not chose their parents or the community in which they are born.
In the absence of good parents, how does the nation care for its children?
You can yap about "proper parenting" and money not being important as conservatives and republicans often do.
But who protects the children from inept and negligent parents.
This ruling acknowledges the savage treatment of children who do not make choices about where they are born.
And we won't even talk about child health care.
Or the treatment of children by the police and criminal justice system.
In the absence of good parents, how does the nation care for its children?
You can yap about "proper parenting" and money not being important as conservatives and republicans often do.
But who protects the children from inept and negligent parents.
This ruling acknowledges the savage treatment of children who do not make choices about where they are born.
And we won't even talk about child health care.
Or the treatment of children by the police and criminal justice system.
6
And yet.....bad parenting and absent parents are a growing fact of life. We still need to educate the children of bad parents rather than just moralizing.
6
Public schools build shared experience. They have been pillaged by politicians and profit makers. Rebuilding a sense of community pride in every shcool's success would help heal some of the issues tearing us apart.
14
The headline focuses on the condition of schools, but the article rightly points to the society that allows us to short-change millions of Americans. This is not a new topic--plainly the Connecticut case has been working its way through the legal system for over a decade. And the problem was not new then. A good starting point for a plunge into this murky pool might be the work of Jonathan Kozol (e.g., The Shame of the Nation), and the work of the Center for American Progress.
Meanwhile, kudos to the Ed Board of the NYT for returning to this issue. A brain is a terrible thing to waste--multiply that by many millions, America.
Meanwhile, kudos to the Ed Board of the NYT for returning to this issue. A brain is a terrible thing to waste--multiply that by many millions, America.
14
"Society" isn't short-changing them. Their own parents are. Yes, it's a crime that a parent would waste his or her own child's brain.
8
I am not sure how much research was involved here. There is a great deal of research that shows that it is not the schools who keep students down, it is the environment in which they live in - from parents to out-of-school interactions. The real issue is how much community/social supports are in place. Please check the research that has been done since 2000, recently April 2016 Stanford, and the ongoing research. If you want to fix a problem, be honest about where it originates.
40
The Editorial Board concludes by recommending that "other states should examine their educational deficiencies in the holistic way Judge Moukawsher did." Does the Board really want courts to engage in the political process? Most people would think this is not the business of courts.
12
There are metro areas where per pupil expenditures are higher in poor, urban districts than in neighboring suburban, mostly white districts. The results in the large urban school districts are pretty much uniform, and the story seems never to change. And yet, the liberal solution is always to scold the suburban districts for robbing resources from the urban districts. This approach of course has been completely unsuccessful for decades, if the goal is to improve educational outcomes. If the goal is to allocate more funds to urban districts and call it a day, then the results, up north at least, are excellent. With the assumption of a reasonable, equitable baseline level of funding, other solutions need to be explored. They are out there, currently (some charters, some district schools) and historically (magnet schools, early desegregation efforts). I don't know why they are ignored in favor of perpetuating the same old narrative.
10
Poor neighborhood schools should start with equal funding period. It is incredibly callous to do otherwise as Connecticut is reportedly doing. Many states are probably doing the same.
Just before the current education "reform" took off, there was a flurry of articles in the NYT and elsewhere about research showing that the real problem was poverty. The solution was to address the grinding hopeless poverty that leads to ill health, poor nutrition, alcohol and drug abuse, and family instability. Children living like this have an extreme disadvantage when they come to school.
The government could address some of these problems with a reasonable minimum wage and policies that preserve or create jobs instead of destroying them. Universal healthcare, a humane welfare program, and non-discriminatory policing would also help emotional and physical health.
But instead of addressing any of this, teachers were demonized as the sole source of the problem. soon after the "poverty is the real problem" articles, "bad teacher" articles were everywhere. That was the warm up for an investment banker and billionaire funded push for school privatization and other profitable "reforms" to be rolled out and tested on many kids without any proof that of effectiveness and almost no oversight.
It didn't work. It cannot work. And poor children are subjected to even worse schools than they had before.
Fair and equal school funding is the least we can do.
Just before the current education "reform" took off, there was a flurry of articles in the NYT and elsewhere about research showing that the real problem was poverty. The solution was to address the grinding hopeless poverty that leads to ill health, poor nutrition, alcohol and drug abuse, and family instability. Children living like this have an extreme disadvantage when they come to school.
The government could address some of these problems with a reasonable minimum wage and policies that preserve or create jobs instead of destroying them. Universal healthcare, a humane welfare program, and non-discriminatory policing would also help emotional and physical health.
But instead of addressing any of this, teachers were demonized as the sole source of the problem. soon after the "poverty is the real problem" articles, "bad teacher" articles were everywhere. That was the warm up for an investment banker and billionaire funded push for school privatization and other profitable "reforms" to be rolled out and tested on many kids without any proof that of effectiveness and almost no oversight.
It didn't work. It cannot work. And poor children are subjected to even worse schools than they had before.
Fair and equal school funding is the least we can do.
17
Local funding of schools is the problem. We should get rid of the piecemeal local funding of schools and have state funding and statewide standards. Better yet we should have nationwide educational standards like other first world nations. Go Judge Moukawsher!!
13
Hmm, who will set those standards? Democrats? Republicans?
The federal and state governments do not need to be in local issues.
The federal and state governments do not need to be in local issues.
2
To the Editors,
Perhaps this would all be resolved if, one morning, without explanation, everyone's skin color turned "purple" and judgment based on "race" became a thing of the past.
It wouldn't eliminate poverty but it would put to bed the toxic effect "race" has had on everything done by the United States since 1776.
Otherwise, the lily white suburbs of my home state will stay that way while the "legislators' try to figure out some way of getting around Judge Moukawsher's decision. I mean, how long has it been since "Sheff versus O'Neil" with, apparently, NO change in the education system?
Perhaps this would all be resolved if, one morning, without explanation, everyone's skin color turned "purple" and judgment based on "race" became a thing of the past.
It wouldn't eliminate poverty but it would put to bed the toxic effect "race" has had on everything done by the United States since 1776.
Otherwise, the lily white suburbs of my home state will stay that way while the "legislators' try to figure out some way of getting around Judge Moukawsher's decision. I mean, how long has it been since "Sheff versus O'Neil" with, apparently, NO change in the education system?
8
It is not just the sate it is the whole counties austerity measures that have failed. Charter schools are not a answer all they do is steal from the poor and then divide races inside themselves. Pay your class room teachers more and forget increasing the administration micromanaging doesn't work either.
10
Is this parody ???
Any study of budgets in urban New Jersey school districts with show per pupil spending alone clearly fails to solve the problem. Teacher unions control the 'in school' programs while parents are unable or unwilling to supervise the students non-school hours. Until those latter problems are addressed, urban public schools are doomed no matter how much money is spent. Some charter schools do provide partial solutions but they require extraordinary management.
7
Unions have become the scapegoat for the crisis giving rise to this court ruling. The idea that unions somehow thwart needed reforms is a myth that goes hand in hand with the myth that "bad teachers" are to blame. Instead of bashing teachers and their unions, let's focus on the reasons why neither our young people nor their parents consider teaching a worthwhile career.
5
The answer to all this is simpler than most would like to believe.
1. Fund education on a statewide level.
2. Do not use property taxes as a funding mechanism.
3. Establish teacher pay on a statewide level. And increase it dramatically.
4. Eliminate local school boards. Why should there be any difference in the educational standards and approaches to teaching between Bridgeport and Fairfield? Or between any cities?
Local school boards are little fiefdoms where parents think they know what is best for their kids. But they are not professionals and they are essentially meddlers with big egos. The current property tax funding system simply perpetuates the inequities described. It is guaranteed to deliver different results. It's pretty obvious what is happening. It's called a racist, class society.
1. Fund education on a statewide level.
2. Do not use property taxes as a funding mechanism.
3. Establish teacher pay on a statewide level. And increase it dramatically.
4. Eliminate local school boards. Why should there be any difference in the educational standards and approaches to teaching between Bridgeport and Fairfield? Or between any cities?
Local school boards are little fiefdoms where parents think they know what is best for their kids. But they are not professionals and they are essentially meddlers with big egos. The current property tax funding system simply perpetuates the inequities described. It is guaranteed to deliver different results. It's pretty obvious what is happening. It's called a racist, class society.
19
No, it is not
The lack of family creates an environment no law or amount funding can fix
The lack of family creates an environment no law or amount funding can fix
4
The real problem in education is not the money, it is the way we knave been going about fixing it. Every parent and teacher knows each child is unique. The way to fix our educational system is instead focusing on overall programs to focus on how you make education work for every unique individual and the learning needs they experience across the broad spectrum of their uniquly configured learning strengths and weaknesses.
1
We need to abandon the idea that all people have equal abilities and that we will have equal outcomes if all have the same opportunities. There are really intelligent people and there are people who are not so smart. Obviously the more intelligent will likely be more successful in life and less likely to be impoverished than those who are not so bright.
17
Are you trying to say that all the children in the more affluent areas have greater abilities than those who are not and so everyone is where they should be?
Well, if we accept the idea that recognize that not children have equal abilities should we distribute them among the schools accordingly? Should we take the children of the successful but who have lesser abilities out of the affluent schools and place them where their are fewer opportunities? And vice versa?
Well, if we accept the idea that recognize that not children have equal abilities should we distribute them among the schools accordingly? Should we take the children of the successful but who have lesser abilities out of the affluent schools and place them where their are fewer opportunities? And vice versa?
The objective of equal funding for schooling is equal opportunity not equal outcomes.
3
Maybe but you need to capture that intelligence and cultivate it. And intelligence doesn't depend on race and class. We do a poor job educating kids with high IQs in this country - We have little funding for gifted programs, we have no mandates to educate gifted kids and we are abysmal at identifying gifted children of color or among the rural poor. So we don;t do much for these kids - and I don't think we do a very good job of teaching average IQ kids to the best of their ability either.
2
This judge hasn't called for anything more than the same old same old; "blame school system and the teachers." Educational inequality is a result of poverty. If he were to make a truly courageous ruling, he would have blamed the state legislators, for creating economically depressed areas which breed violence, drugs, malnutrition, mental illness, and poor living conditions; the true cause of inequity in schools.
Do you thing teachers and administrators go to work in poverty areas with the intent of doing harm? and in economically advantaged areas with the intent of doing good? And do you think its a national conspiracy? Wherever there is poverty there are poor schools. Hummm...
Do you thing teachers and administrators go to work in poverty areas with the intent of doing harm? and in economically advantaged areas with the intent of doing good? And do you think its a national conspiracy? Wherever there is poverty there are poor schools. Hummm...
22
Seems like another attempt at redistribution of income. The education solutions in this country should not involve throwing more money at it. Instead, it is critical to reign in the power and influence of the teachers unions so that more experiments can be tried.
8
It does no good to throw good money into a culture that looks its nose down at education. A cultural revolution is needed in minority communities
2
Equal funding of schools is not an income redistribution scheme. It is funding a public good (the Common Good) at the public's expense.
3
That leadership on education had to come from the judicial shames the legislative branch, which has long had access to the facts presented by Judge Moukawsher.
What needs more of the spotlight on 'fixing' than teacher evaluation is the poverty of school board policies that recognize that student achievement has been directly linked to family income.
Also missing in the 'conversation' is the recognition in organizations other than schools that about six per cent of problems are related to worker - teacher - performance, and ninety four per cent system problems, for which managers - administrators - in education are responsible.
In districts and schools that have addressed these key factors student achievement has made remarkable improvements, and is widely recognized through national and state awards. The only thing missing is the leadership to emulate these well documented examples.
What needs more of the spotlight on 'fixing' than teacher evaluation is the poverty of school board policies that recognize that student achievement has been directly linked to family income.
Also missing in the 'conversation' is the recognition in organizations other than schools that about six per cent of problems are related to worker - teacher - performance, and ninety four per cent system problems, for which managers - administrators - in education are responsible.
In districts and schools that have addressed these key factors student achievement has made remarkable improvements, and is widely recognized through national and state awards. The only thing missing is the leadership to emulate these well documented examples.
20
With an emphasis on the need for fixing the broken school education system the state judge in Connecticut has drawn attention to a highly neglected area of public policy. The judgment asks for the combined strategy of improving state funding that involves both the need of students as also the learning outcome appraisal on the one hand; and an equal emphasis on improving the teachers performance with regular appraisal mechanism in place, on the othe. This should serve as the template for improving education in other states also.
2
The way things are reflects the political system. The big powers are the teachers union and the upper-middle-class parents in rich towns. Everything revolves around their interests and needs - that's why the system is the way it is.
Changing things involves challenging their power. This is not really a realistic approach, as they are ready to fight to the end.
Changing things involves challenging their power. This is not really a realistic approach, as they are ready to fight to the end.
3
The editors have nailed the major and most impactful inequity in American society – which is not to say that there aren’t others. But this one is truly major. However, I wouldn’t single out Connecticut – we see it everywhere in America. We don’t provide equal chances to all Americans at moving up the economic ladder through effective education of our children. In fact, we condemn millions to remaining within an immense underclass that makes provision of services economically non-viable.
But our schools aren’t universally broken – they’re selectively broken. If you’re inner-city, poor, black or Hispanic, the likelihood is high that your children go to ineffective, in some cases dysfunctional schools. If you’re white and middle-class or upper-middle-class, the schools are far likelier to turn out kids who are basically indistinguishable from those who graduated high school with me, 43 years ago – like my neighborhood high school does.
To change this will require a massive redirection of priorities, because the only way to do it politically is to improve poor schools dramatically while not taking resources from better ones. THAT is Connecticut’s challenge, and America’s challenge. It’s about time we addressed it.
But our schools aren’t universally broken – they’re selectively broken. If you’re inner-city, poor, black or Hispanic, the likelihood is high that your children go to ineffective, in some cases dysfunctional schools. If you’re white and middle-class or upper-middle-class, the schools are far likelier to turn out kids who are basically indistinguishable from those who graduated high school with me, 43 years ago – like my neighborhood high school does.
To change this will require a massive redirection of priorities, because the only way to do it politically is to improve poor schools dramatically while not taking resources from better ones. THAT is Connecticut’s challenge, and America’s challenge. It’s about time we addressed it.
15
Stop trying to fix the schools problem. Fix the poverty problem, and the school problem will miraculously fix itself in one generation.
73
Fix the "parental inequality". Parents raise the standards of schools. Their absence in the school and their negligence at home create a vacuum that sucks the schools right down the drain.
15
Fixing the "schools problem" is deeply the crux of fixing the "poverty problem." America, the land of opportunity, with the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
1
No, fix the parenting problem. It ALL starts at home.
5
Discussing education, I'd appreciate a little tutoring on how the ratio of "spending per pupil" is calculated. Is it simply 'taxes raised' divided by 'number of students"? Or is the numerator a number based on actual dollars spent on educating students--that is, a number net of administrative costs? It is all well can good to beat our breasts and gnash our teeth at inequities (and show heart-tugging pictures of dilapidated classrooms and locker rooms), but without a more thorough vetting and comparison of the schools' budgets to determine where the tax-dollars are going, coming to any conclusion about fixing schools is a lot like getting a diploma without getting an education.
12
Barnet: a detailed school-by-school breakdown of budgets would hardly add to a big picture, which has been widely described. The Center for American Progress has had much to say on this. See also: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr
1
Barnet: In Illinois it depends on local real estate taxes. Which simply means that if you live in an area where houses cost more (a wealthy area), you will have better schools and if you live in an area that has mostly poverty, you will have very poor schools. Simple, isn't it.
4
My son goes to a public elementary school in New Haven, that consistently ranks among the top schools in the state - in fact every other public school in the city ranks way below the state average, and most are near the bottom. New Haven has essentially rebuilt every one of its public schools, so that none face the physical problems described for our neighboring town of Bridgeport. The teachers in New Haven get the same range of salaries, are equally good or bad as the case may be, and probably would be indistinguishable from those in wealthy towns such as New Canaan or Greenwich. So what explains the difference in student performance at my son's school and ones only a short distance away in the same city?
The answer is that my son's school is an anomaly based on the parents. I count almost all of the parents in my son's class as having higher education, almost all have finished college, and about 1/3 have advanced degrees - PhDs or MDs. The students come from stable families with plenty of outside opportunities. The PTA is active and pays for many programs that are not available to children in other schools, ranging from parent subsidized language classes to afterschool programs.
The answer is that my son's school is an anomaly based on the parents. I count almost all of the parents in my son's class as having higher education, almost all have finished college, and about 1/3 have advanced degrees - PhDs or MDs. The students come from stable families with plenty of outside opportunities. The PTA is active and pays for many programs that are not available to children in other schools, ranging from parent subsidized language classes to afterschool programs.
63
Many kids in Bridgeport come from broken families with one parent in prison and others working several jobs just to put food on the table. The conventional thinking that it just takes parental involvement does not apply. it takes a national ( education ) guard intervention for 12 years.
2
And all it takes is a few thugs, badly brought up nincompoops and arrogant idiots to move into these schools and the whole system gets disrupted. I used to believe in mixing schools up always to get rid of all isms. I now believe educated enlightened people are losing their influence, their space and the respect they deserve because every White trash, Black trash and Brown trash wants to move into these environments to take, take and take...with nothing to offer those who are "committed to learning, teaching and working together intelligently for betterment of society". I understand educated people wanting their own space...so their good values, their respectability and their stability are protected. Everybody wants to move into their neighborhood, their schools and their housing...but what do they have to offer to make sure the best is protected and promoted? Even a poor person can demonstrate respect for education. I grew up poor, did not even have more than two pair of shoes up until I was in college. My father was a truck driver. But we had culture and values. I was a valedictorian in my class, went on to getting my PhD at a top university and worked for major avionics and medical technology companies for many years...before I fell ill with Huntington's Disease.
You need only three difficult students to see the whole class go down.
You need only three difficult students to see the whole class go down.
7
Thats exactly the point - when all the schools are underfunded, it is left to the communities to make up the difference. The problem arises when the local school families can't.
3
Two trains of thought seem to permeate our community development of everything. One, the community has a vested interest in equality of education opportunity (this judge concurs) or two, it is survival of the fittest where resources flow to the ruling culture by delightful force in legislature.
Separate is unequal and it does not just have to be skin color that separates.
Is there any real interest in the community to see that each child gets a good education? Fix the broken system....
Or has the ruling culture decided to effectively educate their own and the hell with those others? What broken system....
Separate is unequal and it does not just have to be skin color that separates.
Is there any real interest in the community to see that each child gets a good education? Fix the broken system....
Or has the ruling culture decided to effectively educate their own and the hell with those others? What broken system....
6
This seems misguided. It appears the judge wants the state to function as education management. Actually, he seems to be demanding that the state micromanage the school system. It's not the state's job to decide which children receive special ed services and which services are most effective.
The judge is wading into the details of education that are managed by superintendents, principals and boards. The state cannot simply override them. That's a grave power grab.
The judge is wading into the details of education that are managed by superintendents, principals and boards. The state cannot simply override them. That's a grave power grab.
4
On the contrary, states have both the authority and the responsibility to oversee education statewide, as a matter of law and common sense as well. The state is accountable for curricula, funding, student evaluation, teacher licensing, teacher evaluation, special education standards and funding, bilingual education standards and funding, the list continues. Without activism and oversight at the state level, Massachusetts would not have achieved the leadership status it enjoys today in the field of education.
5
AACNY: "...a grave power grab..." that's what opponents of universal suffrage said. The advocates of slavery fought a bloody war over a similar sentiment.
4
Aa- hard to tell if you willfully misreading the info about the lawsuit and the editorial, but let's presume not. The judges ruling stated very simply that the state of Connecticut is required to provide equal opportunity access to education for everybody in the state not just the wealthy towns. The problem regarding special education, is that a lot more of the services are needed in urban districts. And unfortunately, The urban districts are getting screwed out of it. But that's only one aspect of the overall issue. You might want to look into it a little deeper before making pronouncements about state takeovers.
While funding and student performance get the majority of the sttention, I'd be curious to see the amount of parental involvement.
To the helicopter parents, there is no stone left unturned for their child's education, while the parent that doesn't value education, nor read to their child, nor provide anything other than tv , video games, and a phone, is holding back their child's potential from day one.
To the helicopter parents, there is no stone left unturned for their child's education, while the parent that doesn't value education, nor read to their child, nor provide anything other than tv , video games, and a phone, is holding back their child's potential from day one.
51
Galts, of course it's about the parental involvement! It must be nice sitting up in Sugarloaf sneering down at the masses below, however not all parents have the time energy knowhow or ability to get involved. It's the poverty stupid! Education is supposed to be the means out of that trap, remember?
1
the disparity in local school spending is much greater in my state of Virginia than Connecticut and so are the school outcomes. Kudos to this state judge for highlighting the extreme disparity there; no judge in my state has ever had the backbone to do this. A family member of mine teaches in New Haven public schools and has related the dysfunction there; a substitute teacher there is paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour. We need the best and brightest paid top salaries to teach in the tough and poor areas of the U.S. and we need to honor such dedicated teachers who work so hard to help all students achieve.
17
EQUAL ACCESS The Judge in Massachusetts rightly ordered that the state restore fairness to it's funding formula. Michigan may be the place that poisoned a mostly minority community with lead in its drinking water. But Massachusetts is the state where the state poisoned the educational system by taking millions from the poor districts to give to the rich. It looks as if the state intended to favor the 1% over the 99%. He also called for change in the pay scales for teachers based on how well they teach. The people who judge how well they teach are the school administrators, many of whom could not control their own classrooms, so they decided to take over the whole school. While at making corrections, the judge missed the boat by ordering the state to take in to account the environment in which the children grow up from prenatally to 5 years when ready to enter Kindergarten. Brain science has found that the time when a child's brain grows and changes the most dramatically is during the first year of life, but is still profoundly changed based on environmental factors from the prenatal period until the fifth year. Without such a mandate, funding formulas will be ignoring crucial advances in brain science. And education, after all, is ultimately about changing the brain for the better. As to paying teachers based on test results, that approach ignores brain science. Teacher can scarcely be held accountable for brain deprivation from the prenatal stage to age 5 years.
6
In settling disagreements with me and my two siblings, my father would sometimes leave everyone unhappy with the verdict. But looking back, this is often the mark of a wise judgement.
I applaud Judge Moukawsher for his willingness to focus on the interests of students and not align himself solely with the left or the right. Even as a conservative, I acknowledge that the way in which this country funds public schools only reinforces existing income stratification. Poor districts lack the funds to sufficiently educate their students thereby continuing the cycle of poverty.
But money without reform is a recipe for failure. We tried that in my home state of NJ. Due to a series of cases (called the Abbot Cases), the state has been forced for decades to send millions of dollars to poor districts like Camden and Newark. Though these schools now spend more per student than even some of the most affluent districts in the country, fewer than half of students even graduate even after decades of spending.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/06/06/School-Budgets-The-Wor...
Instead, Judge Moukawsher ordered that "teachers ... should be evaluated on how well they teach were instead being measured by “useless” evaluations and paid based on seniority" and standardized tests as requirements for student advancement.
It is ironic that the best evidence of compromise is in the court house rather than the legislature.
I applaud Judge Moukawsher for his willingness to focus on the interests of students and not align himself solely with the left or the right. Even as a conservative, I acknowledge that the way in which this country funds public schools only reinforces existing income stratification. Poor districts lack the funds to sufficiently educate their students thereby continuing the cycle of poverty.
But money without reform is a recipe for failure. We tried that in my home state of NJ. Due to a series of cases (called the Abbot Cases), the state has been forced for decades to send millions of dollars to poor districts like Camden and Newark. Though these schools now spend more per student than even some of the most affluent districts in the country, fewer than half of students even graduate even after decades of spending.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/06/06/School-Budgets-The-Wor...
Instead, Judge Moukawsher ordered that "teachers ... should be evaluated on how well they teach were instead being measured by “useless” evaluations and paid based on seniority" and standardized tests as requirements for student advancement.
It is ironic that the best evidence of compromise is in the court house rather than the legislature.
17
Yet, recent history has shown that those teacher accountability systems tied to test scores have been abysmal failures!
That's simply not the solution.
Given communities' lack of opportunity, job flight, lead poisoning in paint and water, crime, brutal policing, run-down housing and schools, and simply tough conditions, it's going to take far more than testing the kids and paying teachers that way.
We should be holding government officials, the 1%, and politicians accountable for the savage inequalities and poor social and economic conditions surrounding far too many of our schools!
That's simply not the solution.
Given communities' lack of opportunity, job flight, lead poisoning in paint and water, crime, brutal policing, run-down housing and schools, and simply tough conditions, it's going to take far more than testing the kids and paying teachers that way.
We should be holding government officials, the 1%, and politicians accountable for the savage inequalities and poor social and economic conditions surrounding far too many of our schools!
8
Poor performing schools are not funded "on the cheap." These schools often already receive far more support from states than do those in wealthier communities - so don't count on more money - the favorite liberal-minded solution - as a cure. That doesn't negate the oft sited argument which states that funding schools through local property taxes - an extraordinary regressive tax method - is bound to burden low income communities.
As in any multi-faceted problem there are no silver bullet solutions - and the problem of lousy results among poor minorities is about as complex a problem the nation has ever faced. Still - there is a fundamental problem all the smaller ones can be grouped under - and that is widespread, deep-rooted, and inheritable social disorder exhibited in all these poor communities. The education problems will never be fixed until the peculiar social problems and the causes are first identified.
As in any multi-faceted problem there are no silver bullet solutions - and the problem of lousy results among poor minorities is about as complex a problem the nation has ever faced. Still - there is a fundamental problem all the smaller ones can be grouped under - and that is widespread, deep-rooted, and inheritable social disorder exhibited in all these poor communities. The education problems will never be fixed until the peculiar social problems and the causes are first identified.
30
Wow! How quickly you moved from respect for the multi-faceted, often intractable, nature of the problems to singling out inheritable social disorder!
Think again about that-- much of the social disorder is a response to horrendous conditions and much of it is sustained externally. It's a symptom of other forces; it's also not the root cause of low educational achievement...
So much else is at work. The history of racism, discrimination in housing, rampant segregation of communities and schooling, lack of job opportunities (why bother studying if your older sibling graduated and couldn't find employment?), overcrowded classrooms in rundown buildings with outdated texts, unqualified teachers, violence, etc.
Money matters; the funding inequities are staggering, but the extra funds need to be handled wisely to reach the classrooms and the kids-- and provide support services for families right in the schools.
Think again about that-- much of the social disorder is a response to horrendous conditions and much of it is sustained externally. It's a symptom of other forces; it's also not the root cause of low educational achievement...
So much else is at work. The history of racism, discrimination in housing, rampant segregation of communities and schooling, lack of job opportunities (why bother studying if your older sibling graduated and couldn't find employment?), overcrowded classrooms in rundown buildings with outdated texts, unqualified teachers, violence, etc.
Money matters; the funding inequities are staggering, but the extra funds need to be handled wisely to reach the classrooms and the kids-- and provide support services for families right in the schools.
4
Its the poverty, plain and simple. And you're right liberals actually want solutions where as conservatives apparently don't want to do anything, especially in an educational garden spot like South Carolina. Pulleaze...
3
It's not all about money. Glastonbury, a Hartford suburb, spends $13,000 per student, Hartford $16,000. And yet Hartford consistently ranks at the bottom of the state performance rankings. Judge Moukawsher's ruling was a COP OUT - telling the state to fix the problem without the slightest suggestion of HOW. The real problem is parental involvement. And I have yet to see ANY plan that addresses that.
71
Yes, it's easy to dictate ideal solutions -- "education equality" -- but much more difficult, if not impossible, to achieve them. That's why more money is always proposed. It's become the educational panacea for a reason. Much easier than improving home lives, where words, desire to learn, emphasis on education, structure --all the things necessary for learning -- are missing.
8
He has, in effect, issued a ruling telling the state that they must turn dummies into smart people - and I don't mean the kids in the schools. How the state will manage to do this is an interesting question.
5
With some few exceptions, the schools with real success in inner cities and low income areas are the charter schools set up in cooperation with local school districts, with extended hours, uniforms, extensive tutoring. Unfortunately, the teacher's unions dislike them for obvious reasons, and have significant political sway. http://fortune.com/2015/04/02/urban-charter-school-successes/
13
-----------
Before falling for such propaganda, read Diane Ravitch's The Death and Life of the Great American School System
and
Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools.
Charter schools, in fact, do no better than public schools, and, often, do much worse! Indeed, most recent studies I've seen have shown the marked weaknesses of the charters. That's especially telling as many charters select which students they want and kick out those, such as lower-scoring students, they don't want.
There was one major study that showed positive effects, but it focused only on students who had been in the charter system for nine straight years--i.e., the ones who remained after the failures were pushed out.
Furthermore, the pedagogy and atmosphere in these schools are Draconian, abusive, and regimented. Teachers are mere technicians. Even if these schools could show positive results, the harm to students' well being and wholesome development would not be worth it. Add in the explicit threat to public education, a cornerstone of democracy, and you have a recipes for disaster!
The fact that charter schools are being pushed by right-wing corporate forces dedicated to privatization and the marketplace--and undermining unions and the public schools--should give thinking people pause. At root, the voucher-charter school movement is best understood as a political one not an educational one.
---------
Before falling for such propaganda, read Diane Ravitch's The Death and Life of the Great American School System
and
Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools.
Charter schools, in fact, do no better than public schools, and, often, do much worse! Indeed, most recent studies I've seen have shown the marked weaknesses of the charters. That's especially telling as many charters select which students they want and kick out those, such as lower-scoring students, they don't want.
There was one major study that showed positive effects, but it focused only on students who had been in the charter system for nine straight years--i.e., the ones who remained after the failures were pushed out.
Furthermore, the pedagogy and atmosphere in these schools are Draconian, abusive, and regimented. Teachers are mere technicians. Even if these schools could show positive results, the harm to students' well being and wholesome development would not be worth it. Add in the explicit threat to public education, a cornerstone of democracy, and you have a recipes for disaster!
The fact that charter schools are being pushed by right-wing corporate forces dedicated to privatization and the marketplace--and undermining unions and the public schools--should give thinking people pause. At root, the voucher-charter school movement is best understood as a political one not an educational one.
---------
8
This column correctly points to the need of addressing the inequality of our primary education system, but not with nearly the level of urgency the issue deserves.
We cannot heal racism in this country without healing economic inequality between races. The only effective under government jurisdiction is to insure that poor children receive an equal primary education as the children of the affluent.
The problem is that it is also expensive, and unlike quotas and rules against discrimination, it requires taking tax money from wealthy neighborhoods and investing it in poor ones. Even liberal parents tend to protest anything that threatens a status quo their children benefit from.
We cannot heal racism in this country without healing economic inequality between races. The only effective under government jurisdiction is to insure that poor children receive an equal primary education as the children of the affluent.
The problem is that it is also expensive, and unlike quotas and rules against discrimination, it requires taking tax money from wealthy neighborhoods and investing it in poor ones. Even liberal parents tend to protest anything that threatens a status quo their children benefit from.
5
The news of this judgement and your associated story comparing Fairfield and Bridgeport paint a skewed picture of our schools. The judge was on point: all Connecticut's schools are failing. I can say with experience that schools in wealthier towns including Greenwich and Stamford regularly fail their students. Not all students are taught to their potential, issues that impact their ability are ignored and many of our school buildings are a shameful shambles. Funding is a great place to start but the system is rotten to the core. We can expect two things: lawmakers will make changes and the school system will dress itself up in more phony measures and rhetoric. But don't expect anything to really change.
2
I started my career 30 years ago in CT's largest city. I met bright, lively, and motivated kids in my 6th grade classroom. But it became apparent that the challenges beyond the classroom had a huge impact on the children's ability to learn. Having spent 13 years there I could see the effects of low budget-decision making. Much of the efforts we used to educate the students came from state grants, which always come (perhaps rightly so) with "strings attached", so the district was confined to use the desperately needed money to somewhat address its needs. I've spent the last 17 years in a distrcit close to the CT/NY state line. Its quite different to work for a district inhabited by a populace that has benefited so greatly from the educational system and recognizes its value. They have the money to throw at any problem, however we are entering a new phase, in which the schools are now expected to do more with less.
I'm sorry the judge and most local school boards are resentful of having to pay me and my peers for decades of dedication and our advanced degrees. The state requires them and I had to pay for those myself. Seems only fair that I should be compensated, anyone in corporate America would be.
I'm sorry the judge and most local school boards are resentful of having to pay me and my peers for decades of dedication and our advanced degrees. The state requires them and I had to pay for those myself. Seems only fair that I should be compensated, anyone in corporate America would be.
101
Data Point:
" Finnish teachers earn very competitive salaries: High school teachers with 15 years of experience make 102 percent of what their fellow university graduates do. In the United States, by contrast, they earn just 65 percent."
" Finnish teachers earn very competitive salaries: High school teachers with 15 years of experience make 102 percent of what their fellow university graduates do. In the United States, by contrast, they earn just 65 percent."
27
@Len - However, in absolute terms, the teachers in Finland make much lower salaries than the teachers in the US.
The whole economies, in any case, are very different. I'll bet Finland doesn't have orthopedic surgeons who make $800K a year, either.
The whole economies, in any case, are very different. I'll bet Finland doesn't have orthopedic surgeons who make $800K a year, either.
6
I'm a member of the Board of Education in one of the towns that filed the suit. In fact, the only parents named in the original complaint whose children remain in public schools live in my district.
Judge Moukawsher is to be commended for not simply resorting to reallocating state funding. He was presented with adequate documentation to do just that, but he realized that actually addressing Connecticut's education deficiencies requires a broader effort.
One of the most ridiculous features of public education in Connecticut is that there are more school districts (over 170) than towns (169). Enormous resources are expended in superfluous administrative expenses at both the state and local levels. In addition many small districts have half empty buildings while larger ones struggle with schools that have too many children in facilities that have not been renovated in decades.
Legislatures tell me that Connecticut's vast overabundance of districts fosters local control, but that's nonsense. Take it from a board member, federal and state requirements, to say nothing of the difficulty of finding enough qualified volunteers to run for all those school boards overcome any residual local control benefits.
The real reason why Connecticut has not consolidated districts into a rational number (something less than 50, perhaps as few as 9), is (in the words of one of my suburban constituents) "we don't want to pay to educate those children" (who are mostly nonwhite and poor).
Judge Moukawsher is to be commended for not simply resorting to reallocating state funding. He was presented with adequate documentation to do just that, but he realized that actually addressing Connecticut's education deficiencies requires a broader effort.
One of the most ridiculous features of public education in Connecticut is that there are more school districts (over 170) than towns (169). Enormous resources are expended in superfluous administrative expenses at both the state and local levels. In addition many small districts have half empty buildings while larger ones struggle with schools that have too many children in facilities that have not been renovated in decades.
Legislatures tell me that Connecticut's vast overabundance of districts fosters local control, but that's nonsense. Take it from a board member, federal and state requirements, to say nothing of the difficulty of finding enough qualified volunteers to run for all those school boards overcome any residual local control benefits.
The real reason why Connecticut has not consolidated districts into a rational number (something less than 50, perhaps as few as 9), is (in the words of one of my suburban constituents) "we don't want to pay to educate those children" (who are mostly nonwhite and poor).
152
It's all public schools, not only Connecticut's. The only solution is that ALL public schools be funded by a FEDERAL property tax, not by state or local property taxes. Collect the money nationally, with wealthier school districts paying more because of their more valuable properties, but with ALL school districts receiving the same amount per student from the federal taxing authority, subject to differences in local costs of living to accommodate staff salaries. That is the ONLY way to assure that ALL students have access to equal public education. If local communities WANT to inject more money locally, fine, but it must come from additional local property taxes which may not be tax deductible.
31
The federal government has demonstrated that it is only interested in the bottom performers. Its efforts are all about lifting up these underperformers, which, while noble, does little to help higher achievers excel. It's at the local level that education systems can cater to top performers. We should do nothing to interfere with that.
In fact, given the nature of global competition, we should be placing more emphasis on top and middle performers, trying to move the middle group up. Our competitors are grooming their top performers. So should we.
In fact, given the nature of global competition, we should be placing more emphasis on top and middle performers, trying to move the middle group up. Our competitors are grooming their top performers. So should we.
3
Governor Christie, please read this!
5
So, tell me why the NYTimes editorial staff was so critical of Bernie. He seemed to be the only rational one shouting about this sort of gross inequality on the national scene, trying to get you to listen, and trying to get people to act now. Oh yes, there was also Trump -- but his answer was to reduce taxes on the rich -- a sure way to improve the lives of the poor kids who are growing up in horrible neighborhoods and in underfunded schools. Clearly we need more shouting about this so that maybe some of you sleepy heads will wake up before more decades of court cases reminds you of your journalistic duties.
56
"Hillary has been working to improve and support our public schools for decades:
As a young law student working for Marian Wright Edelman, Hillary went undercover to investigate “segregation academies” in Alabama.
As first lady of Arkansas, she chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Commission, fighting to raise academic standards, increase teacher salaries, and reduce class sizes.
As first lady of the United States, she chaired the first-ever convening on Hispanic children and youth, which focused on improving access to educational opportunities.
As a U.S. senator, she served on the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee, as a key member shaping the No Child Left Behind Act, with the hope that it would bring needed resources and real accountability to improve educational opportunities for our most disadvantaged students."
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2016/02/18/ending-the...
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/speeches/remarks-k-12-education-durham-no...
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/feed/how-our-education-system-leaving-mos...
As a young law student working for Marian Wright Edelman, Hillary went undercover to investigate “segregation academies” in Alabama.
As first lady of Arkansas, she chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Commission, fighting to raise academic standards, increase teacher salaries, and reduce class sizes.
As first lady of the United States, she chaired the first-ever convening on Hispanic children and youth, which focused on improving access to educational opportunities.
As a U.S. senator, she served on the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee, as a key member shaping the No Child Left Behind Act, with the hope that it would bring needed resources and real accountability to improve educational opportunities for our most disadvantaged students."
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2016/02/18/ending-the...
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/speeches/remarks-k-12-education-durham-no...
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/feed/how-our-education-system-leaving-mos...
15
@Len Charlap
I'll be voting for Hillary. And I think she will help once elected. But it was Bernie who made people to notice the importance about inequality.
I'll be voting for Hillary. And I think she will help once elected. But it was Bernie who made people to notice the importance about inequality.
1
The problem goes way beyond what the state can do although inadequate and unequal school funding must be addressed. Children coming from homes with single parents, exposure to drug and alcohol abuse, poor nutrition, crime ridden neighborhoods, unemployed, uneducated and undisciplined mothers, fathers and relatives, dilapidated and rodent plagued housing puts these kids in an extremely disadvantaged position from the get go. These issues have their roots in the closing of shops and factories over the last 50 years that once provided people with an opportunity to make a living that could support a family. Today the options for city residents are social service programs that provide food, housing and utility assistance. Better school funding is a very small part of the needed fix. What do you do about these other problems?
94
You've perfectly captured the true scope of the problem. In Rochester, the City school district is all but totally dysfunctional, and the cast of characters involved can't stop pointing their fingers at each other long enough to face the reality, the enormity, of the real problem and call it out for what it is--children growing up in entrenched, generational poverty and everything that goes with it.
43
Connect the dots. Racism and polarization and the rest of what ails us most are all tied to the impulses created by the presence of privilege. Privilege is the child of evil beginning with selfishness. This is preaching and I have already lost those who believe we can solve things without individual change and, yes, repentance. But that is the bottom line. The good news is that this requires no religion at all. Just a little consciousness. And time creates a slight opening of minds.
11
It's completely possible to have low income schools perform at the level of high income schools, but not on the cheap. Low income parents are often different from high income parents and may lack the time, money, and/or knowledge to fulfill many basic parenting responsibilities. In order to match the achievement of high income children, the children of low income parents may need the school to function like an extra parent and take care of the basic needs of clean laundry, nutrition, medical care, eye care especially easy access to glasses, school supplies, tutoring, after school care, essentially the services that high income kids take for granted as given via their parents. This does not address the stress that comes from poverty, both parents and child, but it does remove many of the functional blocks of learning. For example, kids skip school because they have no clean clothes. Free onsite laundry solves that issue. Many of the obstacles that poor kids face are pretty basic easy fixes such as that, but they do require a greater investment of time and money. The teachers and administration of a low income school simply can not close that gap without greater support. I taught at a low income school and the tidal wave of need is such that staffing a low income school equally with a high income school leaves the low income school understaffed. I quit after 11 years because it's exhausting disheartening work that is constantly criticized.
217
It is not completely possible "to have low income schools perform at the level of high income schools." The blank slate theory of academic performance has been tested and re-tested and re-tested and has been shown conclusively to be false. Most (more than half) of any individual student's academic performance is due to his/her innate talents and personality traits. The law of large numbers means that this 50% explanatory power increases to 90-95% in performance across different schools with differing selections of students. So the hard truth is that it is not possible, and has never been done despite decades of enormous expense and effort, to have low income schools to perform at the level of high income schools. Has never been done, and no magic wand will change that.
14
I don't think the answer is to continue to put schools in the role of surrogate parents; that ultimately exacerbates the problem. We have to attack poverty once and for all. It won't fix the problem in a generation, but ultimately it's the only solution.
11
"the children of low income parents may need the school to function like an extra parent and take care of the basic needs of clean laundry, nutrition, medical care, eye care especially easy access to glasses, school supplies, tutoring, after school care, essentially the services that high income kids take for granted as given via their parents."
This is the common retort of the left that everything can be fixed if we only spent more money, right ? And I'm sure that it would come as no surprise that all these extra employees to provide "clean laundry, nutrition, etc." would most likely be unionized like the teachers.
But you miss the point of the Judge's ruling. Yes, the financial disparity between wealthy and poor districts is an issue. But as almost 50 years of experience in NJ after the Abbot Cases suggests, it's NOT all about money. Starting in the 1970's, the liberal NJ Judges ordered the state to pay poor districts like Newark and Camden enough to elevate their spending to that of affluent districts. However, much was spent on adminstration with almost no improvement for students in decades !!
Instead, the Judge in CT is ordering that along with the money comes reforms in teacher evaluation and the requirement that students demonstrate proficiency in standardized tests in order to advance.
Money without reform is just paper down the drain.
This is the common retort of the left that everything can be fixed if we only spent more money, right ? And I'm sure that it would come as no surprise that all these extra employees to provide "clean laundry, nutrition, etc." would most likely be unionized like the teachers.
But you miss the point of the Judge's ruling. Yes, the financial disparity between wealthy and poor districts is an issue. But as almost 50 years of experience in NJ after the Abbot Cases suggests, it's NOT all about money. Starting in the 1970's, the liberal NJ Judges ordered the state to pay poor districts like Newark and Camden enough to elevate their spending to that of affluent districts. However, much was spent on adminstration with almost no improvement for students in decades !!
Instead, the Judge in CT is ordering that along with the money comes reforms in teacher evaluation and the requirement that students demonstrate proficiency in standardized tests in order to advance.
Money without reform is just paper down the drain.
13
Would that this state ruling applied to all states. Every point in the judge's opinion is meritorious, the more so since he spares no one. Whether the state, in particular its legislature, responds constructively remains to be seen. Permit me the skepticism that the state government will ignore the court, which can make nothing happen. The denizens of the suburbs are not likely to encourage a re-allocation of resources. Watch to see how liberals get conservative in a hurry.
16
Sadly, yes. I'm a liberal, but even I am disgusted with"limousine liberals"...those that foist changes onto other families while insulating theirs in private schools and gated communities.
I believe it was this mentality that contributed to the effort to sink the efforts to integrate in the 1960's, a great opportunity lost!
I believe it was this mentality that contributed to the effort to sink the efforts to integrate in the 1960's, a great opportunity lost!
5
Bridegeport is the educational Aleppo of CT.
Conventional calculations of budgets and practices don't apply. It requires a war time intervention. Serious boots in the ground.
Conventional calculations of budgets and practices don't apply. It requires a war time intervention. Serious boots in the ground.
2
Public schools are broken - because they are "public". Until you figure that out, they will stay broken. And if you cannot imagine a world without public schools - you're broken.
6
So, what's the alternative to "public" schools -- to allow public property to be taken over, i.e., stolen, by rent-seeking, empire-building privatizers? It seems to me that making more millionaires and billionaires via the kleptocratic practice of turning public assets over to private companies (such as the ones managing and promotibng charter schools) and their shareholders would be diametrically opposed to solving the problems associated with income and wealth inequality.
30
Yeah, Karlos, and that's also the problem with our police, fire depts, army, roads, etc., etc., etc.
4
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No, not broken. Instead, we believe in public education as a cornerstone of democracy.
We believe in democratically-elected and publicly-accountable school boards rather than leaving this central social function to the whims and vagaries of the market place.
We view people as members of a community, of a polity, rather than as consumers, with ego-driven needs picking schools like one picks clothes out at the mall!
We believe we're stronger together, working together, and living together rather than leaving schooling up to individual commercial entities plaguing people with false claims of success, false advertising, and hucksterism run amok.
Privatization is a recipe for even worse Balkanization and segregation.
Private schools are valuable, and make an important contribution, but that's different from privatizing the system itself!
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No, not broken. Instead, we believe in public education as a cornerstone of democracy.
We believe in democratically-elected and publicly-accountable school boards rather than leaving this central social function to the whims and vagaries of the market place.
We view people as members of a community, of a polity, rather than as consumers, with ego-driven needs picking schools like one picks clothes out at the mall!
We believe we're stronger together, working together, and living together rather than leaving schooling up to individual commercial entities plaguing people with false claims of success, false advertising, and hucksterism run amok.
Privatization is a recipe for even worse Balkanization and segregation.
Private schools are valuable, and make an important contribution, but that's different from privatizing the system itself!
----------
i am suprised in this article race isnt listed. Bridgeport is listed as 45% white and 30% African American. it therefore seems that Class may play a much bigger factor in education than race. This article proved that show that if you are poor, no matter what your color, then you are severely disadvantaged in education and hence life. Poverty treats all equally it seems.
55
The rich Connecticut school district spent $16,000 per student. The "poor" one spent $14,000. Are we seriously supposed to believe an additional $1-2,000 per student will have a substantive impact?
55
You are correct! If both school systems spent the same amount, more learning would go on in the "rich" district because the children are relatively well behaved, and they are not the products of the welfare society. Poor women are rewarded by the government for cranking out ever more inferior children who are mostly destined to fail in scvhool and in life, although they will vote Democrat. It is like an agricultural subsidy, the more children the welfare woman cranks out, the more money she gets, and the more children she produces. Want to fix the school systems? Give the welfare woman with one child the a single monthly large flat sum of money as a reward for producing one child which she can not support. If she produces a second child, reduce the welfare payment by 10%. And subtract another 10% each time the welfare mother produces another child. Almost immediately the number of out of wedlock / welfare births would plummet. Welfare mothers would have more time and energy to help the one child. The shcools would not be awash in the children of single parent families living in poverty. We would also need a lot fewer welfare workers and welfare administrators who could then get other jobs. Win / win.
13
----
I was going to flag your post for its offensive, class and race stereotyping, but decided not to.
It's better left up as an example of the persistence of the thoroughly discredited right wing claims about poverty, welfare, and child rearing. You're living in a time warp. Your argument is the type that patronizing conservatives of the 1970s and 1980s used to spew.
Time to catch up, read the academic literature, and you'll soon discover how misguided and unfounded those views are. The urban poor do not have more children to get more welfare; indeed, birth rates have been falling, it's been a quarter century of strict welfare limits, including lifetime limits, and yet poverty and low score persists.
But so do rundown schools, racism, lead poisoning, lack of jobs, brutal police occupation, lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms, inflated rents and food prices, and crime.
What's amazing is how many kids survive such conditions, doing well, graduating, and many even going to college.
-----
I was going to flag your post for its offensive, class and race stereotyping, but decided not to.
It's better left up as an example of the persistence of the thoroughly discredited right wing claims about poverty, welfare, and child rearing. You're living in a time warp. Your argument is the type that patronizing conservatives of the 1970s and 1980s used to spew.
Time to catch up, read the academic literature, and you'll soon discover how misguided and unfounded those views are. The urban poor do not have more children to get more welfare; indeed, birth rates have been falling, it's been a quarter century of strict welfare limits, including lifetime limits, and yet poverty and low score persists.
But so do rundown schools, racism, lead poisoning, lack of jobs, brutal police occupation, lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms, inflated rents and food prices, and crime.
What's amazing is how many kids survive such conditions, doing well, graduating, and many even going to college.
-----
4
Let's say YOU took a 12% pay cut. How much money would you lose each year? Would it make a "substantive impact" on you and your family?
1
Thank you to the Court for this decision and to the Times for reporting and highlighting it. Now if we would do something to address this fundamental and longstanding problem throughout the country!!! This has been going on across the country for a very long time...
4
A couple prior commenters noted how similar the cost per pupil is between the "have" and "have-not" school systems in Connecticut, but this is specious reasoning: Giving two kids the exact same pair of shoes is treating them equally; making sure you give them both the correct size of shoe is equitable.
Students from impoverished communities require more assistance to achieve the same goals or learn at the same pace as more affluent, more fortunate students. This isn't even debatable. The Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, and Waterbury school districts are starving for resources while drowning in high-risk, high-need students and their accompanying paperwork. Help is badly needed.
Students from impoverished communities require more assistance to achieve the same goals or learn at the same pace as more affluent, more fortunate students. This isn't even debatable. The Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, and Waterbury school districts are starving for resources while drowning in high-risk, high-need students and their accompanying paperwork. Help is badly needed.
41
@Brian - So if we have illiterate, violent high-school students, our first impulse is to fill out lots of forms? I think I see the problem...
5
Far from historic, this is clearly an empty rolling, by a judge who has no ideas on what to do to "fix" the perceived problem.
So he tells the CT legislature to pass legislation to improve education. Well, that is what the legislature has been doing for 200 years.
The fact is that the difference in funding per pupil between so called poor towns (like Bridgeport) and so called rich towns like Fairfield are very similar ($12,000/year vs $14,000 year). And even the poorest school system in CT spends way more per pupil than the national average.
CT does not have a school funding problem. It has demographic problems. You can take the $2,000 from Fairfield and give it to Bridgeport (reversing their funding), and it will make absolutely no difference in the outcomes.
It is Fairfield families that make the difference. Not the $2,000.
So he tells the CT legislature to pass legislation to improve education. Well, that is what the legislature has been doing for 200 years.
The fact is that the difference in funding per pupil between so called poor towns (like Bridgeport) and so called rich towns like Fairfield are very similar ($12,000/year vs $14,000 year). And even the poorest school system in CT spends way more per pupil than the national average.
CT does not have a school funding problem. It has demographic problems. You can take the $2,000 from Fairfield and give it to Bridgeport (reversing their funding), and it will make absolutely no difference in the outcomes.
It is Fairfield families that make the difference. Not the $2,000.
96
"Families" or money and fantastic privilege hoarded on one side of the county line?
1
Apparently, 52 years has not brought improvement.