[Youth-list] HARTFORD Mayor on Regional School System.Courant

Mon Nov 19 06:34:01 PST 2007

courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-commentaryperez1118.artnov18,0,721214.s
tory 
Courant.com
Schools Should Be Under One District
Segregation, Quality Problems Could Be Solved Across 29-Town Hartford  Region
By EDDIE PEREZ 
November 18, 2007 

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It is time to make a radical departure in how we as a state address the  
historic and continuing segregation of our schools in Hartford  County.

Over the years, Connecticut has made numerous decisions on  housing, land 
use, education funding and taxation that have isolated students of  color and 
poor students in certain schools and school districts. Eleven years  after the 
state was ordered to desegregate the Hartford schools, they remain as  
segregated as when the Sheff v. O'Neil case was decided.

The state has  spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a voluntary magnet 
school program, and  yet the progress toward desegregation is barely noticeable. 
If we are truly  committed to our court-ordered obligation to break down the 
barriers of  segregation in the Hartford region and are committed to making 
all of our  schools high-performing, we need to take bold action. 

We should create a  Hartford County School District that includes all 29 
towns in the county.  

This district should have as its core missions the management and  creation 
of high-performing schools in every community and the elimination of  the de 
facto segregation we now experience. In this new district, any school  that 
doesn't meet clear accountability measures for academic performance and  
integration would be closed or reconstituted, and the students in those schools  would 
be given priority to attend any other school in the district, including  
magnet and charter schools.

For this new school system to succeed, the  municipal cost of school 
operations and capital expenditures must be funded  fully by the state. Hartford 
County towns annually spend more than $1.5 billion  operating public schools — a 
cost of about $11,000 per student. Towns  participating in this new school 
district would be relieved from funding schools  through the local property tax.

For many towns this would mean cutting  the average homeowner's property tax 
bill by as much 50  percent.

Additionally, tens of millions of dollars would be saved by the  streamlining 
of dozens of redundant school district bureaucracies, the  elimination of 
duplicate buildings and the efficient use of excess capacity. The  best public 
schools and facilities would constitute the backbone of the  integrated school 
system. Those that need help would have adequate resources  devoted to their 
improvement and those that fail to meet standards in a defined  period of time 
would be closed.

In a Hartford County School District,  inclusive and capable governance would 
be a critical component of garnering  public support. The regional school 
board would have an appropriate mix of  elected and appointed members 
representing the diversity of our communities, all  committed to high-achieving public 
schools. 

Additionally, every school  would have a local governance committee. Parents 
would be urged to participate  and become fully invested in the success of 
their child's school. District  schools that are already successful would have 
the autonomy to continue their  success.

Connecticut cannot rely on a court order to fashion a  comprehensive solution 
to economic and racial isolation and its effect on  achievement and the 
future economic prospects of our region. 

In  Hartford, we are pushing forward with our plan to close the achievement 
gap and  restructuring to create a system where parents and students can choose 
among a  portfolio of high-performing schools. Without a comprehensive 
regional solution,  the integration order by the court in Sheff will not become a 
reality and  Hartford's momentum for positive educational reform could be 
stalled.  

Fundamental change is necessary if we are to fully integrate our schools  and 
provide the high-quality public education the students of our city and our  
state deserve. This change is long overdue. 

Dr. Janice M. Gruendel
Governor's Senior Policy Advisor on  Children and Youth
Co-Chair, CT Early Childhood Education Cabinet
Member,  Youth Vision Team & PK-16 Council
Home office:  203-481-9940
Blackberry: 203-824-4766
Mail to: 28 Juniper  Point
Branford, CT 06405

"The people  of Connecticut, and history, will judge us by whether we 
accepted our  stewardship simply to preserve the comfortable status quo or whether we 
seized  it with boldness of purpose. I, for one, am emboldened." Governor M. 
Jodi Rell,  CT State of the State message, 2005

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