Connecticut's Sheff v. O'Neill Settlement In Jeopardy

On April 29, 2003, the Hartford school board approved a budget for the 2003-04 school year that cuts funding necessary for compliance with a settlement reached earlier this year in the desegregation case Sheff v. O'Neill. In this rare state-constitution-based desegregation case, the Connecticut Supreme Court declared the laws establishing school district boundaries in the Hartford area unconstitutional in 1996.

Years of negotiation between the state and the Sheff plaintiffs resulted in a January 2003 settlement, approved shortly thereafter by the General Assembly and the trial judge, that requires eight more magnet schools in Hartford and promotion of other programs that reduce racial isolation by bringing together city and suburban students. The settlement called for the state to bond $200 million to renovate buildings or build new schools to house the eight magnets and to spend an additional $45 million over four years.

Specific provisions incorporated in the Hartford school district budget would delay two of the eight magnets and eliminate 189 jobs. The budget also reduces by 137 the number of students already attending magnet schools, for a savings of $343,000 in tuition payments. Like many cities across the country, the City of Hartford is cutting its own budget and asking its employees' unions for concessions. The amount of state aid that will go to the Hartford school district for the 2003-04 school year has not yet been decided.

Prepared May 2, 2003