Can’t keep doing this

Local school districts cannot give children what they cannot afford to provide. Federal and state mandates have pulled back as inexorably as an outgoing tide, but they have not come back in.

In the 1960s and ’70s, Connecticut was a leader in the movement to ensure that children and teenagers with special education needs ranging from minor to profound got the instructional help they needed. Federal programs were beginning to require states to mandate special education, and that it be done as close to home as possible. The ideal was for a student to go to school in his or her own district with whatever classroom, instructional and transportation modifications would make that work.

That was a revolutionary step that bettered the school years and future ability to earn a living of millions of children. It changed who is in our schools in a way that profited all children by making inclusion just an ordinary way of interacting.

It never came cheap, however, and the comments at Monday evening’s meeting, hosted by Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom for elected officials and members of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, serve as a reality check. Local school districts cannot give children what they cannot afford to provide. Federal and state mandates have pulled back as inexorably as an outgoing tide, but they have not come back in.

Connecticut may cherish its municipal school systems, but it needs to find financial solutions that are proportionate to a town’s ability to pay.

Stay tuned for more from this group, which thus far has agreed on the problem of unfunded mandates and the continuing need to do the best for all children. They have agreed to meet again and seek long- term public policy solutions. Those should include a review of the requirements and an open mind about shared solutions and resources.