Education aid a game with no winners

Try to follow the bouncing ball that is the Education Cost Sharing formula.

Try to follow the bouncing ball that is Connecticut’s Education Cost Sharing formula.

2005: Years of frustration over irrational distribution of ECS funds inspires rare collaboration between municipalities. The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, which represents 16 towns and cities including Danbury, Bridgeport, Norwalk and New Haven, sues the state over how it doles out the cash. Also on the list is Stamford, under the watch of Mayor Dannel Malloy.

Sept. 7, 2016: Judge Thomas Moukawsher mandates a remedy for unfair distribution of funds be launched withing 180 days.

Sept. 15, 2016: It’s only eight days later, but lawmakers are already flailing as the clock ticks toward the deadline. Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen announces the state is appealing the ruling, slamming the brakes on reform.

June 30, 2017: With lawmakers unable to pass a budget, Gov. Malloy (remember him? He was part of the lawsuit 11 years ago) now has sole discretion of how the pie of money will be sliced. The mini-budget put into law through executive order seems to mock the aspirations of the original plaintiffs. Bridgeport would see its take hacked from $181.1 million to $169.7 million. Danbury would lose $1.2 million; Norwalk’s cut would plummet from $11.2 million to $6.8 million and Malloy’s hometown of Stamford would sink from $10.8 million to $9.3 million.

Some towns’ magic numbers would vanish altogether. This includes Milford, which got $10.8 million last year, Monroe, ($6.3 million), Shelton ($5.8 million), Trumbull ($3.4 million) and Fairfield ($1.09 million) as well as Wilton, Westport and Weston, which were already receiving less than half a million.

As Stamford Schools Superintendent Earl Kim understated: “This really could wreak havoc on the start of school.”

Opening Day is about two weeks away, and state lawmakers have already failed our schools. School officials lack the information they need to make appropriate decisions on weighty matters such as staffing. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the ECS case at the end of September.

The State of Connecticut has taken a crippled ECS system and made it worse.

Malloy has never shied away from making a decision that comes with a guarantee of polarization. Recognizing legislators may continue to fail, he is prepared to walk the straightest line to a temporary solution by shielding the 30 lowest-performing districts and cutting again from the more affluent communities.

Educators are powerless to influence this significant portion of their own budgets. With unpredictable funding, the weeks ahead will only be filled with anxiety for them.

No child deserves this. When Moukawsher made his ruling, the president of the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding declared it “a landmark victory for Connecticut’s public school students.”

It’s hard to imagine any winner in a game in which lawmakers just keep dribbling the bouncing ball. Malloy will take criticism for his proposals, but at least he’s willing to stop the ball from bouncing.

Educators are powerless to influence this significant portion of their own budgets. With unpredictable funding, the weeks ahead will only be filled with anxiety for them.