Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Background/Footnotes: In 1996, then-Governor John Rowland signed a charter school bill authorizing the creation of 24 charter schools. Under the law, the Connecticut State Board of Education can set up state charter schools, while local boards may authorize local charter schools with the state board's approval. The law stipulates that half of the teachers in charter schools must be certified, although the state also allows alternative certification.[1]

In 1996, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in Sheff v. O'Neill that students in the Hartford public schools were racially and economically isolated and that the school system did not provide all students equal educational opportunity as stipulated by the state constitution. In response, the governor created the Education Improvement Panel to "explore, identify, and report on a broad range of options for reducing racial isolation in our state's public schools, improving teaching and learning, enhancing a sense of community, and encouraging parental involvement."[2]

Responding to the Education Improvement Panel report, the state legislature passed Public Act 97-290, An Act Enhancing Educational Choices and Opportunities. To increase the integration, the law encouraged school boards to initiate magnet schools, charter schools, and intradistrict and interdistrict public school choice programs. The law instituted interdistrict school choice in Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford in 1998 and statewide in 1999 with the intent "to: (1) Improve academic achievement; (2) reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation or preserve racial and ethnic balance; and (3) provide a choice of educational programs for students."[3]

In 1995, CEO Connecticut began providing scholarships to students in Bridgeport. The organization now serves students in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven.[4]

In his State of the State address in February 2000, then-Governor Rowland called for increased funding for the existing school choice program and a tuition tax credit of up to $500 for the cost of tuition at private or religious schools.[5] Several school bills were introduced during the 2000 session. Senate Bill 144 would have created a state personal income tax credit for primary and secondary education tuition expenses.[6] House Bill 5098 and S.B. 42 would have established a credit against the personal income tax for educational expenses.[7] All of these bills died in committee.

In 2001, the governor proposed that $10 million of the state's $538 million budget surplus be used to provide scholarships for children in failing schools. Under this five-year pilot program, parents in the state's poorest districts would have received vouchers of up to $2,000 a year to send their children to private schools.[8] The proposal never came to a vote.

Two voucher bills were introduced during the 2001 session. H.B. 5255 would have created a one-year pilot program to give parents of children in failing schools vouchers equal to half the average per-pupil expenditure in the district. H.B. 5174 also would have provided vouchers to students in failing public schools. In the Senate, the Education Committee rejected an amendment to the education funding bill that would have provided $2,500 vouchers for low-income students in specified school districts.[9]

Four tax-credit bills were also introduced during the 2001 session. S.B. 390 would have given parents a $250 tax credit for public or private school expenses. H.B. 5189 and H.B. 5263 would have offered tax credits for tuition. H.B. 5190 would have provided a tax credit of up to $500 for education expenses to parents of K-12 students with incomes under $50,000 ($100,000 for joint filers). All of these bills died in committee.[10]

A poll commissioned in October 2002 by the University of Connecticut found that 51 percent of respondents favored giving parents education tax credits or vouchers for tuition at a private or religious school.[11]

In 2003, Representative Marie Kirkley-Bey (D-5) introduced H.B. 5741 to provide scholarships to students with disabilities. Representative Reginald Beamon (D-72) introduced H.B. 5423 to provide a tax credit for educational expenses not including tuition. The bills were assigned to a committee but received no further legislative action.[12]

On February 4, 2004 Governor Rowland proposed in his annual budget speech to give $4,000 to 500 students in the worst performing schools. Rowland promised to provide $20 million for the program. The state would be responsible for three-fourths of the voucher amount while the district would provide $1,000.[13] State Senator Louis Deluca (R-32) and State Representative Robert Ward (R-86) introduced H.B. 5037 to implement the governor's initiatives, including the Equal Opportunities Scholarship Program. The bill, however, did not receive a vote.

In June, legislators approved S.B. 2002, which provides $10 million for charter school facilities over the next two years. The governor signed the bill on July 1. This is the first time Connecticut charters have received assistance from the state with facilities.[14]

The state budget was also approved in June, at the end of the regular legislative session, and state leaders increased charters' per pupil funding from $7,250 to $7,625 for the 2005-2006 school year and to $8,000 for 2006-2007.[15]

In late 2005, the state Board of Education approved a proposal to add $18.3 million to the governor's 2006 budget to fund new charter schools. The new funding would nearly to double the number of charter schools in the state. The Board's proposal would also lift the 250-student enrollment cap on charter schools and increase per-pupil funding by 25 percent for kindergarten students enrolled in charter schools. Governor M. Jodi Rell still has to add the funding to her 2006 budget, which will then be subject to approval by the legislature.[16]

---