Time To Revamp ECS

There may not be a single issue that trumps money and state finances in Hartford, but increasing numbers of lawmakers and local officials are hoping that this year education just may be that issue.

Elected representatives of large cities, small towns, and municipalities in between, like Newtown, are beginning to realize the state Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) grant formula is not fulfilling its purpose. It was first established in 1988 in response to a judge’s decision that the state was not living up to its constitutional obligation to adequately fund public education. The state’s fiscal woes have led to a cap on ECS grants, which has deprived many towns money that the formula would normally accord them. The ECS formula takes into account municipal poverty rates, tax bases, and other factors, which works against suburban towns, like Newtown, which nonetheless must pay for the accelerating costs of state mandates for special education.

The effect in Newtown has been dramatic. According to figures compiled by Justice in Education Funding, an advocacy group comprised largely of municipal leaders from around the state, Newtown’s ECS per pupil allocation in 1995-96 was $1,094. Last year it was $690. After adjusting for inflation, the decline marks a 49.2 percent decrease in state support for Newtown schools — the largest retrenchment in state funding for any of the 45 towns and cities tracked by the group.

So if the ECS formula is not working for most towns and cities, why hasn’t it been fixed? The main stumbling block is the same one tripping up most other state-funded initiatives to improve life in the state — a $1.2 billion state budget deficit. Eliminating the ECS spending cap to give the cities what the formula says they are due would cost at least $96 million and still not address the special education crisis in smaller towns. Already a disproportionate share of state education spending gets channeled into the cities, and merely removing the funding cap would only exacerbate the disparities.

Gov M. Jodi Rell has proposed a two percent increase in ECS funding in the first year of her two-year budget plan, which will give Newtown a small increase in state education support. But a long-term solution will require a complete overhaul of the state’s formula for funding education. We like an idea proposed by state House Minority Leader Robert Ward to abandon a single formula strategy heavily weighted toward cities in favor of separate formulas for cities and towns taking into account the special needs of each. But there are many ideas out there that need to be considered. It will take some time.

A definitive solution will require bipartisan review and negotiation by state lawmakers. Municipal officials from both cities and smaller towns will have to keep the pressure on the legislature for a real solution — not just an expedient one. Connecticut needs to move from a system of educational funding that no one wants to one that at least everyone can live with.