| 06/05/2007 |
| Biz mag looks at school spending |
| By Scott Whipple Herald Staff |
With this year's state legislative session set to end this week, Gov.
M. Jodi Rell and the General Assembly are still locked in a battle over
issues, including education spending.
"Education and the Connecticut Economy" is the focus of the new issue of The Connecticut Economy: A University of Connecticut Quarterly Review. Three studies by Quarterly editors examine factors that influence academic performance in Connecticut schools. There is also a take on the topic by New Britain's John Rathgeber, president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. Editors of The Connecticut Economy will present their findings at CBIA headquarters in Hartford. The wrangling began in February, when Rell unveiled a proposed budget increase of $3.4 billion over five years in state spending for education. Her proposal included a 10 percent across-the-board tax increase to pay for her plan. Surging state revenues prompted the governor to do an about-face last month, saying tax increases are no longer necessary to pay for her education plans. Whether or not lawmakers manage to agree on education funding before the legislative session ends, most agree the state's economic health hinges on nurturing and retaining some bright stars in its classrooms. Rathgeber identifies in his article key reforms the state's business community consider essential in public education- reforms that will ensure a highly educated world-class work force in the future. Though Connecticut leads the nation in key measures of educational performance, the success is spread unevenly across the state's school districts. Rathgeber believes there's no time like the present, with lawmakers poised to boost funding for education, to ask where returns on investments in education are likely to be highest. In an article that evaluates human resources, physical resources and program changes, Steven Lanza, executive editor of the Quarterly, offers a lesson for policymakers and where state tax dollars are best directed. If early childhood education programs enhance economic efficiency and reduce income inequality, why does Connecticut persistently underinvest in such promising programs? Arthur Wright, co-editor of the Quarterly, observes that while the primary focus of Rell's multibillion-dollar budget is on remedial learning, only $63 million is targeted at early childhood intervention. His article examines why. Standardized tests used to evaluate, compare, reward or punish educational performance have become a staple of modern American education. But do test results reflect instructional quality or socioeconomic forces better addressed by government than educators? Dennis Heffley, the other co-editor, analyzes recent high school test scores that suggest Connecticut's "education problem" has deep community roots. Scott Whipple can be reached at swhipple@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860)225-4601, ext. 319.
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