House Republican Press Release

February 5, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

REPRESENTATIVE SCRIBNER COSPONSORS LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE EDUCATION FUNDING FOR BROOKFIELD, BETHEL

Small Towns Shortchanged By Current State Formula

HARTFORD- State Representative David A. Scribner (R-Brookfield, Bethel) has cosponsored legislation to revise the state’s Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula to more fairly distribute school funding to towns throughout Connecticut. House Bill 6730, An Act Concerning A New Education Equalization Grant, has been submitted to the Legislature’s Education Committee.

The Legislation would ensure that each town cannot receive less money from the state for education funding than it received in a previous year. It would also revise the formula in ways that would end the longstanding policy of providing exorbitant funding for large cities at the expense of smaller towns and appropriate $100 million each year to fund the revised formula.

ECS’ town wealth component is one of the clearest examples of its many faults, said Rep. Scribner. For example, Brookfield is wealthier than Bridgeport in every way. In per capita income, Brookfield is 2.3 times wealthier; in median household income, 2.4 times wealthier; and in equalized net grand list per capita, 3.6 times wealthier. However, when one compares the two towns using the wealth calculation in the current ECS formula, Brookfield is 8.3 times wealthier than Bridgeport.

“Overhauling this formula is long overdue,” said Rep. Scribner. “There are a number of components that are clearly flawed, yet they remain in place and hurt education in smaller towns.”

Rep. Scribner noted additional ECS components, such as those that send additional funding to districts with high population density and to regional school districts are political elements that adversely impact many small towns. In fact, the Legislature’s bi-partisan Program Review and Investigations Committee previously recommended terminating these components. Also, districts where students perform poorly on mastery tests currently receive additional funding. In essence, this component rewards failure by giving more funding to districts with students who don’t meet standards.

“The process of funding our children’s education has to be as far removed from politics as possible,” added Rep. Scribner. “We need to re-evaluate all components of what is in place now, eliminate some and adjust others. I’m hopeful we can make real progress on this issue during the current legislative session.”

The legislation Rep. Scribner is cosponsoring would also change the ECS formula to: give additional weight to students in towns where Master Test Scores improved from one year to the next, rank town wealth using a calculation that more accurately reflects the wealth of towns – the average of each town’s Per Capita Income, Median Household Income, and Equalized Net Grand List Per Capita to yield an aid ratio.