A new report released this week by CT Voices for Children finds that Connecticut schools are deeply segregated and schools with greater minority and low-income populations are less likely to have funding to provide critical learning resources like small class sizes and experienced teachers.
The report identifies segregated housing patterns as a major contributing factor to such educational disparities.
Other key findings include:
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Connecticut’s public schools are highly segregated by race and class. One fifth of students attend a so-called “hyper-segregated” school where either over 90% or under 10% of students are students of color, and one third attend a school where either over 90% or under 10% of students are eligible for Free or Reduced Price Meals (a common measure of student poverty).
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Segregation concentrates students of color and low-income students in schools with the largest kindergarten classes. In the fifth of schools with the largest kindergarten classes, 78% of students were students of color, and 76% were FRPM eligible.
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Segregation also concentrates students of color and low-income students in schools with the least experienced teachers. In the fifth of schools with the least experienced teachers, 67% of students were students of color, and 61% were FRPM eligible.
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Contrary to what should happen if education resources were provided independent of ability to pay, towns with the smallest taxable property bases – which often have few white residents and high child poverty – tend to have the largest kindergarten classes, even though they also tend to charge the highest tax rates.
Click here for the Executive Summary.
Click here for the full package of information about the report.
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