cea 6 ensuring

8/3/2019 CEA 6 Ensuring

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22 ensuing th fai distibution o rsoucs

a vieW from the cLassroom

ensuing th aiistibutiono soucs

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ensuing th fai distibution o rsoucs 23

ensuing th fai distibution o rsoucs

Whn so any chilrn sar school wihou h arly-chilhoo ooruniisxrinc by ohrs, an achivn ga is born. Conncicu schools in-hri his ga an sriv o clos i. Bu Conncicu achrs, who ar ask oconsa or hs irncs, us o so vn whn rsourcs ar win-ling. Survys o Conncicu achrs inica ha ach yar any snhunrs o ollars (so in xcss o $1,000) ou o ock o rovi basicrovisions in hir schools: ar, ncils, lab arials, books, color cois,nobooks, as, cour rivs, an vn lunchs or suns.

Whn h nubr o chilrn in a class xces anagabl nubrs, achchil rcivs lss iniviualiz atnion. Eciv achrs hav class sizsha nabl h o arss ach chil’s uniqu nes an inuiiv qus-ions. dwinling rsourcs an sa rucions rc barrirs o larning,scially in isrics acing h gras nancial an socioconoic chal-lngs.

Equalizing ucaional ooruni was rcisly h goal bhin h sa’sEucaion Cos Sharing (ECS) gran rogra. Unorunaly, h ro-gra rains signicanly unrun, shifing h coss o local ror axayrs. I w ar o e h consiuional goal o nsuring subsanially qual ucaional ooruni, w us corrc h ECS gran orula by rsoring ky acors nvision in is original sign.

I Conncicu is ruly going o rovi subsanially qual ucaionalooruni an coninually nhanc is conoic coiivnss, i isincubn on h sa o e is nancial coin o aqualy anquiably un is schools. In shor, ucaion us bco a or signi-

can sa riori i w ar vr o grow jobs.rsoucs o Small Class Siz

T rsarch is in, an sa olicis o ruc class siz woul irovucaional ooruniis signicanly whil roviing a subsanial rurnon h sa’s invsn.75 Rucing class siz will go a long way owarrucing h achivn ga in h criical arly gras. 76 T bns o rucing class siz ar vn srongr or chilrn o color, rsuling in grarooruniis or collg.77 T osiiv cs ar no jus in h arly gras. A suy by h U.S. darn o Eucaion oun ha sunachivn was or srongly link o sallr classs in h ur gras

han in lowr gras.78

Rucing class siz os or han jusboos sun achivn. Rsarchrssay ha a olicy o rucing class siz“aars o b or cos-civ hanos ical an ublic halh inrvn-ions …[an]… ay xr a grar osi-iv iac on ublic halh oucos

han coarabl invsns in icalcar.”79 Rucing class siz also irovshigh school grauaion ras,80 whichbrings aiional bns, such as wrincarcraions an highr uur arnings. Consiring ha i coss or osn a sun o rison81 han i os o princon,82 invsing in class sizrucion has a clar ayo.

during his i o scal uncrain, class sizs hav incras in any isrics, aricularly hos srving lowr-inco suns an chilrn o color. Tis rn us so. Larg class sizs xan h achivn gaan viola h sa’s consiuional obligaion o qualiz an axiizucaional ooruni or all.

CALL TO ACTION

Increase state funding of local education expenses equitably and target

a portion of additional resources toward meeting and sustaining smaller

class size goals.

Stat funing equity

Any incrass in sa ai shoul b arg quiably. CEA urgs lawak-rs o ser h ECS orula back owar is inn rsul, rivn by Hor-on vs. mskill, o qualiz uning bas on isrics’ abili o ay.

CALL TO ACTION

Increasetheper-pupilgrant(alsoknownasthe“foundation”)levelto

reflect the real cost of adequately educating students and index the

amount to adjust for changing costs over time.

Use more current and accurate data to determine town wealth and

measuresofpersonaland/orhouseholdincome.

Usefreeandreduced-pricelunch/breakfasteligibilityasamore

accurate measure of poverty in schools.

cLosinG the

achievement

Gap requires

fixinG theresource Gap.



24 ensuing th fai distibution o rsoucs

Useascheduledphase-inapproach(intheabsenceoffullfunding)to

increase funding over time rather than impose freezes or other arbitrary

and politically driven limits on funding changes.

On ajor cos o schooling is h unun ral scial ucaionana. Conncicu lawakrs us rcogniz ha h rsonsibili oruning scial ucaion ulialy alls o h sa, aricularly or chil-rn whos ucaion coss xce local r-uil xniurs. T unr-

icabl naur o xcss scial ucaion coss lacs an unair burn onlocal bugs an, in an nvironn o scal ausri, squezs ou unsor rgular rogras.

CALL TO ACTION

Setagoalofreimbursingdistrictsfortheexcesscostofprovidinga

student with special education when such costs exceed local per-pupil

expenditures. The current threshold of 4.5 times local per-pupil expendi-

tures is unfair and unsustainable for local districts.

RejectproposalstofoldspecialeducationintoECS,aswasdonenearly

20 years ago, thereby diluting its impact.

cea 6 ensuring

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