Common Council Puts Forth Resolution on ECS Formula

The following resolution is on Tuesday's Common Council Agenda. 
Be it resolved: The Norwalk Common Council respectfully requests, on behalf of the citizens of Norwalk, that Connecticut Education Cost Sharing Grants be reviewed and appropriately revised to reflect recent changes in sociological, economic and demographic information; and adjusted favorably to account for such changes.

The full resolution reads
Whereas, The State of Connecticut Educational Cost Sharing grant system is Connecticut’s primary education equalization aid program; and
Whereas the ECS formula is designed to allocate grant funds to school districts to fairly reflect student need as a function of poverty, test performance and limited English proficiency as well as district wealth, and
Whereas, it is the contention of the Common Council of the City of Norwalk that, when compared with other Connecticut municipalities of similar sociological composition, the ECS grant allocation to the City of Norwalk is substantially smaller; and
Whereas, the Council sites as example the following data:

• The growth of Norwalk’s percentage of students from non-English Language homes from 24.3% in the year 2000-2001 to 35.0% in the year 2005-2006, and the growth in the percentage of non-English language speaking students from 7.7% to 12.5% during the same period (while the across the State comparable percentage increased from only 3.7% to 5.2%).
• The growth in numbers of Norwalk children eligible for free or reduced priced meals from 23.1% in 2004-2005 to 39.9% in 2009-2010 (while the comparable State-wide percentages increased from 26.4% to 32.9%).
• The percentage of Norwalk’s educational costs derived from Connecticut Educational Cost Sharing Grants decreased from 11.7% to 11.1% between 2001 and 2008, ranking Norwalk second-to-last in the percentage category and last in actual revenue sharing dollars received among Connecticut’s cities as demonstrated in the following chart:

District,  % of Revenues By State,              2007-8 Budget $ mil,            State Portion $mil

Bridgeport        68.2                                                        268                           183
Danbury            69.2                                                         119                          83
Hartford            63.2                                                         364                         230
New Britain      60.4                                                         137                            83
New Haven       60.9                                                         312                          189
Norwalk            11.1                                                        160                            18
Stamford            8.8                                                         234                            21
Waterbury        56.2                                                        232                            130

Pastoral communities without apparent urban challenges often receive comparatively higher ECS support than the City of Norwalk.

District                  ECS % 2007-2008

Canterbury                 46.5
Canton                       18.2
Hebron                       35.0
Mansfield                   33.3
Watertown                 35.6
Wethersfield               18.5
Wolcott                      44.7
Woodstock                 35.4
Norwalk                     11.1

Now, therefore, be it resolved: The Norwalk Common Council respectfully requests, on behalf of the citizens of Norwalk, that Connecticut Education Cost Sharing Grants be reviewed and appropriately revised to reflect recent changes in sociological, economic and demographic information; and adjusted favorably to account for such changes.

Be it resolved: The Norwalk Common Council respectfully requests, on behalf of the citizens of Norwalk, that Connecticut Education Cost Sharing Grants be reviewed and appropriately revised to reflect recent changes in sociological, economic and demographic information; and adjusted favorably to account for such changes.