HARTFORD -- A decade-old lawsuit went to trial on Tuesday at Superior Court in Hartford.
Delayed for 10 years, the lawsuit was filed by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding against the state over education funding for urban public school districts.
The landmark lawsuit questions whether Connecticut’s method of funding public schools is unconstitutional because it fails to provide equal money to provide equal opportunities to students in low-income areas like Bridgeport and New Britain.
A coalition of municipalities, school boards and education groups sued the state in 2005, alleging Connecticut wasn’t providing full funding to cities and towns under the state’s education cost sharing program. The coalition says vast differences in test results, graduation rates and other factors between rich and poor towns show the funding system isn’t fair.
"Minority students failing, falling below proficient at four times the rate for white students," CCJEF's attorney, Joseph Moodhe, said.
The group argued that those districts work with insufficient resources in overcrowded classrooms.
However, the state disputes the group's claims that the state needs to spend an extra $2 billion a year on schools, and says Connecticut is meeting its constitutional responsibilities for school funding.
"The wealthier the district the less aid it receives, the poorer the district the more aid it receives," Joseph Rubin, the attorney for the state, said.
Rubin pointed out that the 30 lowest-performing districts receive more than a half billion dollars in additional funding from the state. He claimed the achievement gap is shrinking with graduation rates climbing in struggling districts.
The trial is expected to last several months until May.
