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The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education
Funding (CCJEF) has filed a class
action complaint in state court against
Governor Jodi Rell and other state officials,
alleging that Connecticut schoolchildren are
being
denied suitable and substantially equal educational opportunities under the
State Constitution. CCJEF represents dozens
of
school districts and their school children, including children in the
sixteen lowest performing districts. The complaint asserts that full-day
kindergarten and high quality preschool are educational inputs that are
"essential components of a suitable educational opportunity." Other essential
educational inputs include programs and services for at-risk students, highly
qualified teachers, and a rigorous curriculum.
The plaintiffs place the blame for the unsuitability and inequality of Connecticut
schools on the state’s flawed educational funding system. Among other deficiencies,
the state’s per pupil foundation amount was frozen at $4,800 in 1992, and then
subsequently adjusted only a minor amount on two occasions.
In its request for relief, the plaintiffs ask the court to order the state
to create a new educational funding system that will pass constitutional muster.
They also want the court to appoint a special master to make recommendations
regarding any such funding proposal. Because plaintiffs deem high quality early childhood
education to be an essential component of suitable educational opportunity,
it is anticipated that they will ask the court to require the state to make
full-day kindergarten and voluntary pre-k available to all children.
The plaintiffs in the suit are represented by the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization,
a clinical program of Yale Law School. Ellen Boylan, Esq., of Starting at 3,
consulted with CCJEF on the handling of preschool issues in the complaint.
For more information about the preschool issues in the lawsuit, contact Dan
Goldman at (973) 624-1815, ext. 25, or by e-mail at dgoldman@edlawcenter.org.
Prepared: December 6, 2005
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