Report finds massive disparity of school funding between communities of color, white communities

A new report says Connecticut is cheating students of color out of half a billion dollars a year.

In Connecticut, about half the kids are students of color. But most of them are crammed into just nine school systems and each of those students gets $2,300 less each year than kids in mostly white districts.

This is according to a new report by the School and State Finance Project.

“It means that, not only does your school have less funding in order to provide what you need — so, high-quality teachers, high-quality school facilities, high-quality books and materials — it also means that your school is facing greater challenges,” said Katie Roy, School and State Finance Project director.

There was a lawsuit over this issue. In 2016, a judge ordered Connecticut to completely rework how schools get money. But two years later, the state Supreme Court overturned the ruling.

“Basically what that ruling said is that, the job of Connecticut’s legislature is to provide a ‘minimally adequate’ education to Connecticut public school students,” Roy said.

The study says it would cost an extra $639 million a year for everyone else to catch up to mostly white school systems.

Last year, hundreds protested a plan to consolidate school systems.

Watch John Craven’s full interview with the author below: