A state-appointed task force began meeting last week on ways to fix Connecticut’s school aid system, less than two months after a group of education and municipal leaders demanded in a lawsuit that the state set up a more equitable finance formula.
The 25-person panel named by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell includes several people involved in the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, which is leading the legal challenge.
Coalition members argue that local taxes pay for too much of what gets spent on schools in Connecticut, which, in turn, allows for funding gaps between schools in low- and high-wealth communities. The group wants a new finance formula based on estimates of what it costs to provide an adequate education. (“Coalition of Conn. School Leaders and Mayors Plans Finance Lawsuit,” Nov. 16, 2005.)
Backers of the suit said they were encouraged by the action, but have no plans to drop the suit.
