The Problem & Our Solution
All kids in Connecticut are not getting access to a equitable and excellent education.
Children in towns with more money and more white students get among the best educational experiences in the country. Connecticut’s Black, brown and low-income children get among the worst. It doesn’t have to be this way.
- State test results show 22 states are serving Black children better than Connecticut is serving Black children.
- In Connecticut, your zip code and property taxes determine the quality of your child’s education. 59% of School Funding in Connecticut comes from local property tax revenue. As a result, local public schools in wealthier, property-rich and mostly white communities were property values are higher get more funding than lower-income, mostly Black and brown communities.
Why are property values higher in predominantly white communities?
Because of racism, including racist real estate and housing practices like redlining that prevented Black people from buying in certain areas, and devalued the properties in the areas in which they could live.
Due to the lower value of the taxable property, people living in lower-income areas pay more in taxes. And still their children are deprived of a high-quality public education.
There is a $725 million total funding gap between districts with BIPOC student populations of less than 25% and districts with white student populations greater than 75%.
As an example, in Bridgeport, 65% of children are low-income, and 35% live below the poverty line. One in four people are food insecure and 13% are housing insecure. A child in the city receives $14,718 for their education. A student one town over – in wealthy Fairfield– receives $19,596. These children are neighbors. They very well may play together. And yet our state treats them so very differently.
Our state’s school funding system is broken. It perpetuates racism and inequity. It needs to change. And our funding system is just one piece.
Our Black, brown and low-income children have been systematically denied an access to a high-quality education in Connecticut. We seek to change that. FaithActs can help undo the racism and classism that has long divided our state.