File Photo
Back in 2007 when State Rep. Lonnie Reed was the chair of the Branford Representative Town Meeting’s (RTM) Education Committee, she pressed for the town to join a major statewide lawsuit that if successful would more fairly and equitably fund the state’s public schools.
Yesterday Superior Court Judge Kevin Dubay ruled that the lawsuit will finally head to trial, sooner rather than later.
Judge Dubay, who sits in Hartford, rejected the state’s latest effort to delay the trial for 16 months. The judge said there might be a short delay to accommodate summer vacations. He has since announced Sept. 9 at the date for trial. He voiced concern that the state’s Attorney General’s office seemed unable to adhere to deadlines. (Click here to read that story in the Connecticut Mirror.)
According to the Connecticut Mirror’s data, Branford’s estimated gap for the 2013 – 14 school year between what the town currently receives from the state’s education grant and what the formula suggests the town should get is $4,269,321. Branford now receives about half that funding. Scroll to the end of the Mirror story to see Branford’s financial situation in relation to other towns.
After the RTM approved Branford’s participation in the lawsuit in 2007, the town’s top education leaders, along with then First Selectwoman Cheryl Morris and Reed went to the state Capitol to press their argument for a more equitable distribution of funds. Click here to read that story.
With Permission
Reed ( pictured here with Branford students at the statehouse) is now serving her third term in the Connecticut House of Representatives, where she is House Chair of the Energy & Technology Committee. In an interview she said that “one of the central issues for Branford is the very small amount of ECS [Educational Cost Sharing] money we get for each child from the state [about $400 per child per year]. As a legislator it is something I have been fighting to change.” She said she had now come to the conclusion that the court, not the legislature, is the place to resolve the issue.
The lawsuit “is not just about failing schools,” she said. “As Branford has evolved, our diversity has increased, and our challenges are more interesting and it is one of the strengths of the town that we have such diversity, but it also creates challenges. The whole special education funding, the unfunded mandates, all of the things we inflict on this town and other towns like Branford, really felt unjust to me. It goes to the heart of the matter of what about our kids?” A community forum to discuss diversity in Branford will take place on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. at the Blackstone Library.
The lawsuit was brought by Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (CCJEF,) which represents cities,(including New Haven,) towns, parents and children across the state. Law students from the Yale Law School’s Education Adequacy Clinic, along with attorneys from the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City are preparing the case.
“The state sought to delay this trial by another 16 months, so as to wait out the November gubernatorial election and then have another go at trying to moot out the case,” Dianne Kaplan deVries, executive director of CCJEF, said in an interview yesterday with CT News Junkie. “Yet next year there would have been still another motion seeking to delay the trial. No more excuses: it’s time for trial.” Click here to read that story.
In 2010, the Connecticut Supreme Court held that Connecticut’s Constitution guarantees public school students an adequate education, an education that works. The state’s highest court then sent the case back for trial and motions have been going back and forth since then. (Click here to read that story.)
In December, Judge Dubay rejected the state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit altogether. The Attorney General’s office represents the state. It argued that education reforms in 2012 and changes to the funding formula last year were sufficient to satisfy the Supreme Court’s concerns. In a 31-page decision, the judge rejected those arguments, saying, in effect, that the purported impact of the 2012 legislation on the constitutionality of Connecticut’s education system was an issue for trial.
The judge has also rejected the state’s effort to exclude the (CCJEF) from the case. He said the organization met the legal requirements for standing, and thus had the right to bring this lawsuit. The membership includes several dozen cities and towns from across the state.
Reflecting on these recent developments in the case, Rep. Reed recalled her years when she worked for U.S. Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson.
“He had a great expression that came back and feels very meaningful in this context. He used to say if you are in on the takeoff you need to be in on the landing. That is how I feel about this lawsuit. We were in on the take-off. We need to be in on the landing. I don’t want us to be left out from the conversation.”
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