Let the money follow the child
When the pandemic shut down schools, many students and families were sent reeling, looking for alternatives to unlock their full potential and limit learning loss.
In Connecticut, parents generally have six choices for educating their child, which may be limited based on the municipality. Most children attend traditional free public school. While it works for some, not everyone can thrive in such an environment.
Families crave choices for their children and the state has allowed the educational gap to widen. Simply spending more per pupil has not and will not work.
Everyone agrees we need to do better, and the legislature committed a record-high investment toward education in the 2023 session.
But this is not a funding issue. It is a choice issue. It is an equity issue. We need to put our students and student outcomes first, by providing more educational options, whether it be more public charter schools, magnet schools and technical schools, or vouchers.
There are more than 400 private K-12 schools in Connecticut, but not every family can afford the tuition, which averages $23,000 for elementary schools and $41,000 for high schools.
There is an option of home schooling. According to state records, 2.5 percent of K-12 children in Connecticut are homeschooled. With this, parents must have the time to dedicate to this effort.
The 17 technical high schools in Connecticut operate as an independent state agency, and that agency does not report to the State Department of Education as all other public-school types do.
Parents can enter their children into a lottery to attend a free magnet public school focused on a specific track such as STEM or global studies.
But why does the charter school option receive so much resistance in Hartford? The charter school model importantly maintains already allocated public funding to affected school districts, with an average spend-per-student around half of comparable public schools. It fosters a learning environment which serves communities and neighborhoods with intent, yielding better test scores, higher graduation rates, and overall improved outcomes, vastly for students of color and from lower-income households.
Charter schools even produce less segregation in education.
More than 20 charter schools have opened in Connecticut since being allowed by legislation in 1996 but no new charter schools since 2015, with Danbury being the only large city without one.
Danbury’s charter was approved in 2018 after the same rigorous process that all other large cities have opened their charters. Funding for a charter in Middletown was also pulled from the budget at the 11th hour of the 2023 legislative session.
This is part of a coordinated attack on school choice, and one that we are unwilling to surrender.
Let us make the best effort to cultivate a new generation of lifelong learners and achievers, empower our students and families, and restore the right to choose in Connecticut.
As part of a holistic approach to advocating for choice, the Education and Appropriations committees voted out a bill in the 2023 General Assembly session titled An Act Concerning the Charter School Approval Process. SB 1096 would still have the state Board of Education approve a charter but does not have to wait for the legislature to decide to fund it. It is the state’s goal to hold charter to a heightened accountability in return for more autonomy. They are constantly under review by the state Board of Education.
But why does the charter school option receive so much resistance in Hartford? The charter school model importantly maintains already allocated public funding to affected school districts, with an average spend-per-student around half of comparable public schools. It fosters a learning environment which serves communities and neighborhoods with intent, yielding better test scores, higher graduation rates, and overall improved outcomes, vastly for students of color and from lower-income households.