Every Child Deserves a Quality Education
Every child in America deserves the right to grow to be literate, to perform mathematical functions, to understand our history, and to be able to function as a citizen. Education is so important to us, that, like most countries, we require children to attend school. Schools function best, and our kids are most successful, when parents are partners.
Our State Constitution Requires It
Here's what the Connecticut Supreme Court said in March of 2010: "[The Connecticut State Constitution] entitles Connecticut public school students to an education suitable to give them the opportunity to be responsible citizens able to participate fully in democratic institutions, such as jury service and voting. A constitutionally adequate education also will leave Connecticut’s students prepared to progress to institutions of higher education, or to attain productive employment and otherwise contribute to the state’s economy. To satisfy this standard, the state, through the local school districts, must provide students with an objectively ‘‘meaningful opportunity’’ to receive the benefits of this constitutional right." (CONNECTICUT COALITION FOR JUSTICE IN EDUCATION FUNDING, INC., ET AL. v. GOVERNOR M. JODI RELL ET AL. (SC 18032), March 30, 2010.)
But We're Not Getting the Job Done
The United States spends more per child on education than any other country, but our school performance lags behind two-thirds of the developed world. At the same time, Connecticut unfairly burdens our local property taxes with more than its fair share of supporting our local schools. Whether we are in Avon marching to increase our taxes to keep our schools strong, in West Haven struggling to keep a high performing innovative school open or facing 100+ teacher layoffs in New Britain, we all know that something is wrong with the way we fund and operate our schools.
Parents - More Power Than We Know
Connecticut’s parents are taxpayers, voters, “consumers” of the educational system and our children’s first and most important teachers. Our children won’t succeed, and our schools won’t work, without active informed parents. Connecticut Parent Power has worked to expand the voice of parents in local schools by bringing parents together and providing parents with the tools and information you need to act.
This year, Federal, State and Local governments are under great financial distress. Nearly every school district across the country is making major cuts. Our local, state and federal officials need, more than ever, to hear from parents about what is working for our children and what isn't. Elected officials need parents to be involved in the way schools spend money, as well as participate in the debate about the way that Connecticut schools are funded.
What Parents have Won - and What's Ongoing
In the spring of 2010, our leaders in Hartford passed a major bill aimed at improving Connecticut’s school systems. Connecticut made a second attempt at getting more federal support with a Race to Top application. And our congresspeople in Washington began to debate a new federal approach to supporting our nation’s local schools.
What's Ahead
The issues before us are substantial and getting accurate information is hard. Over the rest of 2010, CT Parent Power is working to help promote discussions about these key issues:
- Funding: How can we fix Connecticut’s broken school funding system?
- Teachers: Are they overpaid and overprotected? Or are they the unappreciated front line in an increasingly difficult job?
- Parents: Research shows that involved parents improve the academic success of our children, yet we often find ourselves marginalized by our schools. What are our rights and our responsibilities, and how can we work most effectively in our schools?
- Cooperation: We're a small state with a proud tradition of localism, but we increasingly struggle with the costs of providing the kind of education we value. Are there ways we can collaborate to save money and improve the effectiveness of our educational system?
What's your priority for fixing our schools?
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in joining the CT Parent Power’s Schools team to make sure all our kids get a quality education.
