...The state’s education aid program began in the 1980s in response to a lawsuit over unequal school financing, and its formula has sent more money to poor districts than rich over the years. But Donald E. Williams Jr., the president pro tempore of the Senate, said the wealthy districts now deserve to get some relief..."

May 20, 2007  New York Times

Taxes

2 School Aid Plans Have a Similar Theme

By FORD FESSENDEN

IF the measure of urban versus suburban power in Connecticut politics is the ability to preserve your hometown’s share of state aid, especially state dollars for public schools, the cities are losing badly.

Under both Governor M. Jodi Rell’s proposed state budget, and an alternative spending plan now being considered by the General Assembly, the state’s wealthy suburbs would be getting a larger share of new state aid than the state’s financially struggling cities.

Legislative leaders say the total increase in state money would be used to narrow achievement gaps between the students in poor and well-off districts, yet cities would not see the same proportion of new money that they had seen in the past. However, since the overall increase is substantially higher than in past years, most city officials are not loudly complaining.

For example, Hartford, one of the poorest school districts in the country, would get about 6 percent boost in state aid, or $13.6 million, under the $300 million increase that Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed in February, while Westport, one of the nation’s richest districts, would get a 60 percent increase in aid, or $1.6 million. Hartford would still get more money than Westport, but both the governor’s plan and the proposal by Assembly Democrats would shift the share of state dollars from cities to the suburbs.

That is because the political itch being scratched this year is not solely about achievement gaps, but relieving pressure on property taxes in the suburbs.

“You have to recognize the political reality,” said Kevin T. Maloney, spokesman for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents 140 towns and cities. “In order to get it through, the package has to meet a combination of urban and suburban needs.”

Like other states in the region, Connecticut is awash in state income tax and sales tax revenues, and the Legislature is debating a 2007-8 budget that would send a huge slice of the surplus to municipalities. Last week, Mrs. Rell abandoned her proposal to increase the income tax to help finance schools because so much additional money was rolling in.

New Jersey and New York have already passed record-breaking school aid and tax relief packages. New York City successfully fought the suburbs to get a slightly larger share of new state aid than last year. But that does not appear to be happening in Connecticut because of political pressure to provide property tax relief.

The state’s six poorest school districts — Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, New London, Waterbury and Windham — receive 37.5 percent of state aid, most of it earmarked for education, in an equalization program begun under court order in the 1980s. In Governor Rell’s proposal to add a record $300 million in aid to local governments — including $228 million in education aid for 2007-8 — those six districts would get just 22 percent of the new money, and their share of the total would drop.

Meanwhile, upper- and middle-class districts, which includes the 112 municipalities with average incomes over $60,000, currently share 35 percent of state aid. Under Governor Rell’s proposal, they would receive 50 percent of the new dollars.

The Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, have proposed an alternative state aid formula that would shift some money back into the cities’ coffers. But this version, like the governor’s proposal, gives a bigger slice of the new money to the suburbs. The six poorest districts would get 29 percent of the new money, while the upper- and middle-class districts would get 44 percent.

Democrats acknowledge that both proposals have a reverse Robin Hood effect. The state’s education aid program began in the 1980s in response to a lawsuit over unequal school financing, and its formula has sent more money to poor districts than rich over the years. But Donald E. Williams Jr., the president pro tempore of the Senate, said the wealthy districts now deserve to get some relief.

“Under both plans, you will see more dollars going to suburban communities — in part because we’ve had a system where wealthier communities have had their dollars capped for many years,” he said.

Democrats also acknowledged that the political heat legislators said they feel is coming from the suburbs, not the cities. “I think if anything, we’re getting more pushback from the wealthier towns that want the governor’s numbers,” said Patrick Scully, a spokesman for Mr. Williams.

So far, mayors and officials from the big cities are not howling. Instead, officials there said, they are content because the overall increase in state aid will give them a significant influx of dollars into their budgets.

“All of this is a step in the right direction — the governor’s plan is one step, the legislature’s is two steps,” said Mayor Eddie A. Perez of Hartford. The city would get $13 million more under the governor’s plan, and $18 million more under the Legislature’s. The mayor’s sanguinity stems from his recognition of the political reality, his aides say.

“This has been a discussion that has been going on for at least 20 years,” said Matt Hennessy, Mayor Perez’s chief of staff, referring to the debate over how much education funding the state should assume. “In the past four years, it’s become a much more prevalent discussion in the Capitol because of the burden of property taxes. The good news is that the smaller communities that have been better off have gotten involved, and this is a discussion that’s been getting momentum.”

Mr. Perez also noted that the state’s big cities filed another lawsuit against the state over education financing in 2005, and may be able to redress complaints in the courts.

In the suburbs, rising education costs have been hitting the wealthy in the pocketbook. In Westport, the proposed education budget is up 7.8 percent for next year. The governor’s proposal would increase total state grants to Westport by $1.6 million, to $3.5 million; the Democrats would give the town an additional $1 million. “We’re grateful for whatever we get,” said Gordon F. Joseloff, the first selectman in Westport, where the median income in 2004 was $177,000 , fourth highest among the state’s 169 municipalities.

In West Haven, where the median income of $49,000 ranks 152nd among the municipalities, the school superintendent, JoAnn Andrees, said she had hoped to use some state money to start an all-day kindergarten next year. Such programs have been promoted as the best way to improve the scores of poorer children by reaching them early, she said, but the city turned down the $800,000 she requested.

“I can’t blame the city, which is having a hard time raising money from property taxes,” Dr. Andrees said. West Haven would get about 10 percent more state aid this year — an additional $3.5 million — under the governor’s plan, while the average increase around the state would be 14.6 percent.

City officials say they wish the grant from the state was high enough to afford the new program, but they are happy to be getting anything.

“For the last few years, we have gotten next to nothing,” Mayor John M. Picard said. “I’d like to see more money come to West Haven, because we need it more. But our initial reaction is, we’re getting new money and that’s great.”

He added: “Why aren’t we getting as much as other towns? I don’t know, but the dollar amount looks good to us.”