Educational Cost Sharing Formula Needs Fixing: Advocates

Connecticut has charged numerous task forces with fixing the Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) formula. But who’s counting? Members of the Education Committee, that’s who.

“Over the years there have been six ECS task forces. I hope this one will advance the work,” said state Rep. Gail Lavielle, a Republican representing Wilton and Norwalk in the 143rd House District and member of the Education Committee.

The ECS formula is supposed to level the educational playing field by considering differences in both student need and a towns' ability to pay for education. But flaws in the funding formula mean state aid doesn’t always match local need, according to advocacy groups and legislators. Come February the General Assembly will be looking to address this.

“That’s one of our most important issues,” said Jim Finley, executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM).

That’s because the current formula uses outdated and misleading sources of data, according to the CT Voices for Children, a Hartford-based advocacy group.

Right now ECS is partially based on income data from the 2000 decennial Census. It includes dorm and prison residents in town population counts, thus distorting the wealth measure for those towns. Also some students are counted twice in cities where the student attends a magnet or charter school due to delayed payments.

“I’m no expert on ECS but I think part of the problem is it’s moved away from its original intention,” said state Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, a Democrat representing New Haven in the 94th House District. “I think we need to start things over.”

Current funding statutes don’t allow flexibility in town budgeting even though school enrollments are decreasing statewide. The formula also lets towns shift local education funds to non-educational purposes, according to CT Voices.

Another puzzle legislators must solve are the disparate income levels and student need in cities such as New Haven, Stamford and Norwalk. They may not get a fair shake because the wealthier neighborhoods distort the formula, Lavielle said. Many of these cities must provide a wide range of student services from English as a second language to special education costs.

Drawing data from income tax returns could help fix the formula, said CCM’s Finley. While the Department of Revenue Services strives to protect privacy, Finley said, “There are ways to get that information without compromising confidentiality.”

For example, in 2012, tax returns will be collected and sorted by town rather than zip code, Finley said.

“Zip codes straddle towns and can skew data,” he said.

But if there is going to be a course correction, it will require determination, Holder-Winfield said. That means looking at ECS with a more calculating eye, and ignoring political repercussions.

“The problem isn’t figuring out the formula,” Holder-Winfield said. “I think the conversation would not be honest to say that politics doesn’t skew this. We have to be the big boys.”