Conversation on integration just the beginning

As state lawmakers prepare for the start of the next legislative session, however COVID-changed that might be, they need to prepare to take on big issues. Voters have added to Democrats’ majority in both the state House and Senate in each of the past two election cycles, and members can’t take that as a sign to stand pat. There are serious discussions at hand.

Many elected officials took part in marches and demonstrations aimed at ending systemic racism last summer. When it comes to the actual work of integrating communities and giving everyone a fair shot, it will take much more than marching.

No issue raises hackles quite like housing. While momentum has been growing behind the “Desegregate Connecticut” agenda that takes aim at community zoning codes, local officials have pushed back against the idea that their policies are discriminatory. No one wants to be seen as part of the problem, and the tradition of local control in Connecticut means important issues have a way of staying as they are for years, or generations, at a time.

State Sen. Will Haskell, recently elected to a second term representing some of the wealthiest towns in the state, said he was interested in inviting backers of Desegregate Connecticut legislation such as Sen. Saud Anwar, of South Windsor, to Fairfield County to talk with local officials about zoning. There are vast differences across the state in terms of affordability, and legislators should be aware of how prospective legislation would affect various towns.

So dialogue is an important first step. Fairfield County is the economic engine of the state and also the main driver of inequality. That’s not a value judgment so much as a recognition that many towns are all but out of reach for anyone outside the highest income brackets, even as those towns require the same service workers and support positions as any other community. But people who fill those jobs are forced to commute from elsewhere.

Schools, too, are a major question. Driven by town borders, school populations are not as diverse in Connecticut as they are in much of the country, which has the effect of separating populations from a young age and setting in motion patterns that can last a lifetime. Efforts to integrate school populations between cities and suburbs have met stiff resistance in the past, but it’s a fight that needs to continue.

There is also a question of fairness. Should good schools only be available to children of well-off families? Most people would say no, but that’s the reality in too much of Connecticut.

Ultimately, officials on every level should understand that maintaining the status quo is untenable. We can’t call ourselves a progressive state when the most desirable towns with the best school systems are off-limits for all but the wealthiest. School integration and zoning reform should be a priority for the new session of the General Assembly, along with difficult issues such as COVID relief and balancing the budget against unprecedented headwinds.

Having a conversation about zoning is the right place to start. But it can’t be the end of the road.

We can’t call ourselves a progressive state when the most desirable towns with the best school systems are off-limits for all but the wealthiest.