[Youth-list] Proposed 2nd Sheff agreement

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     (http://www.courant.com/)    
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_http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctsheff0607.artjun07,0,3419488.story?coll=hc-headlines-local_ 
(http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctsheff0607.artjun07,0,3419488.story?coll=hc-headlines-local)  


State Revising Its Response To Sheff 

New Measures Aim To Desegregate City  Schools 

By  ROBERT A. FRAHM
Courant Staff Writer

June 7 2007

After  setting enrollment quotas that went unmet, failing to reduce racial  
segregation in Hartford schools, state officials have tentatively agreed  to 
take aggressive measures to comply with a court desegregation  order.

The proposed revision of an agreement in the Sheff v.  O'Neill lawsuit calls 
on the state to spend millions of dollars more over  the next five years to 
subsidize magnet schools, charter schools and other  programs designed to 
bolster integration, officials said  Wednesday.

The tentative settlement, which requires approval by the  legislature and the 
courts, would extend a 4-year-old court-approved  agreement that expires at 
the end of this month.

The state and the  Sheff plaintiffs signed the original 2003 settlement in 
hopes of reducing  the racial isolation of blacks and Hispanics in Hartford 
schools. That  settlement had called for creation of new, specialty magnet schools 
in  Hartford that, in theory, would draw a mix of white students from the  
suburbs and minority students from the city. But none of the nine schools  
created since then has reached its goal.

Some of those schools  remain almost entirely black and Hispanic.

"We admit we didn't get  where we wanted to," said George A. Coleman, deputy 
state education  commissioner.

Problems with busing, delays in construction of new  buildings, and 
Hartford's troubled history of sub-par public schools have  hindered efforts to lure 
enough white students to the city's new magnet  schools. In addition, Sheff 
plaintiffs said the state has been too passive  in its efforts to promote 
integration.

The proposed agreement,  Coleman said, "looks at greater involvement of the 
state ... assuming  responsibility for creating better options" for  
desegregation.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said Wednesday they would  not comment on the new 
agreement until it is approved by the  legislature.

The Sheff plaintiffs filed the suit in 1989 and won a  court order in 1996 
requiring the state to alleviate racial isolation in  Hartford's public schools. 
But progress remained slow even after the two  sides signed the 
court-approved settlement in 2003.

Under that  settlement, officials agreed to use voluntary enrollment in city 
and  regional magnet schools, along with a program allowing Hartford children  
to enroll in mostly white suburban schools, to bolster the level of  
integration. The goal was to place at least 30 percent of the city's  children in 
integrated schools by this year, but the state is barely  halfway to that target.

A key feature of the newly proposed  settlement is a partnership between 
Hartford and the Capitol Region  Education Council, also known as CREC, to run the 
city's magnet schools.  For years, CREC has operated its own regional magnet 
schools and,  educators say, has a solid track record of managing successful 
magnets.  

The tentative agreement also:

Calls for additional means of  promoting desegregation, including voluntary 
enrollment of Hartford  children in new or expanded charter schools and state 
technical high  schools.

Would create an "information service center" to advise  families on options 
for enrolling in magnet schools, charters, suburban  schools or other racially 
integrated programs.

Sets new integration  goals, starting in the 2008-09 school year, when the 
target is to have 22  percent of the city's children in integrated schools. By 
2012, the goal  would rise to 41 percent.

Seeks new state money to support the  expanded programs, starting with an 
additional $4.9 million in 2007-08 and  climbing to $43.2 million more in 
2011-12, the final year of the  agreement.

Contact Robert A. Frahm at rfrahm at courant.com.  
Copyright 2007, _Hartford Courant_ (http://www.courant.com/)    
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