I would like to offer my sincere thanks to President Obama, Congressman Murphy and others for their courageous decision to approve what, for New Britain, will mean $4.3 million that will class sizes down by calling back teachers who were to be laid-off.
Their decision to approve the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act was against the backdrop of very ugly, partisan attacks, so Obama, Murphy and others deserve credit for sticking to their principles and doing what is right for New Britain, Newington and our communities' children.
As I said in my follow-up to my earlier post, the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act does not allow the state to retain this increased funding in the state budget - something I was advocating against, in any case. However, this law did place in the Governor the sole power to decide how this increased education funding is to be distributed among the state's school districts.
The law gave Gov. Rell two choices: using the same formula as the Education Cost Sharing Grant (ECS) or the federal Title I grant formula. The ECS and Title I grant systems have different missions and, as it turned out, using the Title I formula to distribute the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act education funding would have been much better for New Britain. If Gov. Rell chose to use this formula, New Britain would be receiving around $5.7 million in increased education funding. While all school districts are struggling, New Britain's is in a desperate position, so using the Title I formula was just the right thing to do.
However, Gov. Rell, instead, chose to use the formula that set the funding for New Britain at $4.3 million, $1.4 million less. Rell's decision also negatively affects New Britain kids by denying the state vocational-technical high schools, which includes Goodwin Tech in New Britain, $2 million, and by denying the Capital Region Education Council (CREC) almost $700,000 that would have been used to operate inter-district magnet schools that New Britain kids attend.
New Britain is not alone in being disadvantaged by Gov. Rell's decision. All of Connecticut's major cities took a hit (rough estimates):
Meanwhile, her action appears to have provided more funding for some of the wealthiest towns in the state.
It is not surprising that Gov. Rell would choose to send less funding to the cities, since she has consistently opposed funding for the PILOT (Payment In-Lieu of Taxes). PILOT provides funding to municipalities, like New Britain (and Newington), that have a lot of hospital, college and state facilities that are exempt from property taxes. Because PILOT funding is important property tax relief for cities like New Britain, I have advocated for increasing it, while Gov. Rell has insisted that it be cut.
That said, the $4.3 million increase won by Congressman Murphy and President Obama will go along way to averting a crisis in New Britain's schools. They and others deserve a lot of credit and thanks.
Of course, there is still a lot more to do to ensure New Britain's kids a quality education. As I wrote in a previous post, better policies are needed at the state level...
In the meantime, much thanks are in order for the leadership of President Obama, Congressman Murphy and others for what the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act does for our local schools and kids.
Their decision to approve the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act was against the backdrop of very ugly, partisan attacks, so Obama, Murphy and others deserve credit for sticking to their principles and doing what is right for New Britain, Newington and our communities' children.
As I said in my follow-up to my earlier post, the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act does not allow the state to retain this increased funding in the state budget - something I was advocating against, in any case. However, this law did place in the Governor the sole power to decide how this increased education funding is to be distributed among the state's school districts.
The law gave Gov. Rell two choices: using the same formula as the Education Cost Sharing Grant (ECS) or the federal Title I grant formula. The ECS and Title I grant systems have different missions and, as it turned out, using the Title I formula to distribute the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act education funding would have been much better for New Britain. If Gov. Rell chose to use this formula, New Britain would be receiving around $5.7 million in increased education funding. While all school districts are struggling, New Britain's is in a desperate position, so using the Title I formula was just the right thing to do.
However, Gov. Rell, instead, chose to use the formula that set the funding for New Britain at $4.3 million, $1.4 million less. Rell's decision also negatively affects New Britain kids by denying the state vocational-technical high schools, which includes Goodwin Tech in New Britain, $2 million, and by denying the Capital Region Education Council (CREC) almost $700,000 that would have been used to operate inter-district magnet schools that New Britain kids attend.
New Britain is not alone in being disadvantaged by Gov. Rell's decision. All of Connecticut's major cities took a hit (rough estimates):
| Hartford | -$7,897,080.24 |
| New Haven | -$3,993,381.15 |
| Waterbury | -$3,497,923.42 |
| Bridgeport | -$2,861,758.38 |
| Stamford | -$1,884,272.46 |
| New Britain | -$1,431,451.33 |
| Norwalk | -$1,214,856.11 |
Meanwhile, her action appears to have provided more funding for some of the wealthiest towns in the state.
It is not surprising that Gov. Rell would choose to send less funding to the cities, since she has consistently opposed funding for the PILOT (Payment In-Lieu of Taxes). PILOT provides funding to municipalities, like New Britain (and Newington), that have a lot of hospital, college and state facilities that are exempt from property taxes. Because PILOT funding is important property tax relief for cities like New Britain, I have advocated for increasing it, while Gov. Rell has insisted that it be cut.
That said, the $4.3 million increase won by Congressman Murphy and President Obama will go along way to averting a crisis in New Britain's schools. They and others deserve a lot of credit and thanks.
Of course, there is still a lot more to do to ensure New Britain's kids a quality education. As I wrote in a previous post, better policies are needed at the state level...
even after having increased state education aid to New Britain by 27% over the years, this year, I have been advocating both for reforms that would increase support for local schools and for using last year's budget surplus to increase state education funding for distressed municipalities like New Britain...and in New Britain City Hall...
New Britain schools are in an especially bad position - mostly because of years in which City Hall has refused to provide much, if any, over the barest possible minimum and has refused to accept increased state support under the state inter-district magnet school program...to bring the improvements that are needed. We need to come together as a community to get this done.
In the meantime, much thanks are in order for the leadership of President Obama, Congressman Murphy and others for what the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act does for our local schools and kids.
