A Connecticut Superior Court judge ruled on Wednesday that the state's public education funding system is irrational and unconstitutional.
In his ruling Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher said Connecticut must come up with a new public education funding formula within 180 days. He says the formula has to ensure that the state's poorest school districts have resources to provide an adequate education to students.
The ruling comes in an 11-year-old case that was filed by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, a non-profit group formed by several cities, towns, local boards of education, parents groups and public school students. They allege that the state’s current education funding system is unfair and unconstitutional and results in more money for wealthy districts, while poorer districts suffer.
The state has argued that all public schools are adequately funded and there has been no evidence to show that spending more would lead to better test scores.
However, recent standardized test scores show that more than 70 percent of students in the state richest towns meet third-grade reading goals, while nearly 70 percent of students in the least affluent towns do not.
The case is expected to end up before the state Supreme Court.
