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We strongly oppose the bills to force school districts to regionalize.

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Why We’re Here

Hands Off Our Schools is a statewide, non-partisan movement that advocates for local decision-making in education for all school districts within Connecticut. We support voluntary shared services between school districts and between school districts and municipal governments to improve or maintain educational outcomes and reduce costs. We support voluntary regionalization of school districts for the purpose of improving educational outcomes and reducing costs. We support the removal of state imposed barriers that unnecessarily drive up education costs and/or inhibit voluntary shared services and regionalization. We support consideration of measures focused on improving educational outcomes across all school districts. We oppose forced regionalization of school districts nor state imposed punitive measures to coerce regionalization.

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What Can I Do?

Write to Gov. Lamont, the Education Committee Chairpersons, and your representatives!

READ THE PRESS RELEASE FROM GOVERNOR LAMONT:  Governor Lamont Amends Education Proposal

While many are celebrating the recent announcement from the Governor on revisions to SB 874, it should not mark the end of this conversation. We can appreciate the gesture, however, we must remain cautious and engaged in this process.

Comments from Rep. Gail Lavielle summarize this well: “I remain concerned about legislation on the subject of regionalization/consolidation/shared services, on which the legislature has not yet cast a single vote, for several reasons: 1) we haven’t yet seen language of a full committee bill that any committee is ready to vote on, 2) the governor’s proposed changes do not deal with the rest of SB 874, and 3) concepts and language can be resurrected or introduced or changed anytime before the end of the session.”

Learn more about this bill on FACEBOOK

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We have created a facebook group to organize a nonpartisan effort to oppose the school consolidation bills. Find events, weekly action items, articles and connect with other across the state.

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View The Bills

State Senator Looney has proposed forced school regionalization in SB 738. Other bills have been introduced that impact forced or coerced regionalization.

Bill Summary

Be a Volunteer

We have formed a group of nonpartisan volunteers to help oppose the forced school consolidation bills.

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View the List

This is the email list of our elected state legislators, that of Gov. Lamont, CT Education Committee, and State Senators (D only).

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View the List

This is the email list of our elected state legislators on the CT Planning and Development Committee which has a hearing for

HB 7319

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Write a Letter

By emailing the members of the Education Committee. We have prepared a guide to writing a persuasive email message.

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Calendar

View the calendar of upcoming Events. 

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Current News

Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card

Executive Summary “Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card” analyzes the condition of state school finance systems with a focus on the fair distribution of resources to the neediest students. The Report Card makes a number of assumptions about how school funding systems should be designed: A fair funding system should provide levels of funding based on student need. Student poverty is the most critical variable affecting funding levels and can serve as a proxy for other measures of disadvantage, such as racial segregation, limited English proficiency, and student mobility.  Fair funding systems are designed “progressively” so that funding increases relative to student poverty.  A sufficient overall level of funding is a crucial starting point for any funding formula to be...
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Consolidation of Schools and Districts: What the Research Says and What it Means

Arguments for consolidation, which merges schools or districts and centralizes their management, rest primarily on two presumed benefits: (1) fiscal efficiency and (2) higher educational quality. The extent of consolidation varies across states due to their considerable differences in history, geography, population density, and politics. Because economic crises often provoke calls for consolidation as a means of increasing government efficiency, the contemporary interest in consolidation is not surprising. However, the review of research evidence detailed in this brief suggests that a century of consolidation has already produced most of the efficiencies obtainable. Research also suggests that impoverished regions in particular often benefit from smaller schools and districts, and they...
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K-12 Regionalization in Connecticut: Pros, Cons and Surprises

Introduction School districts in Connecticut are considering regionalizing their K-12 education services. This report provides a comprehensive literature review to help inform those efforts. 1,2 K-12 regionalization involves combining districts with the possibility of closing schools. It may affect - harming or improving - education outcomes by increasing the number of students in a district and in individual schools. Therefore, this literature review also looks at the consequences that the size of student enrollment has on educational achievement. Towns should weigh potential cost savings versus the consequences to educational achievement when they deliberate on whether or not to regionalize their local school system. This literature review focuses on what is known about the impacts of...
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CEA Raises Concerns about School Regionalization, Teacher Pensions, ECS Changes, and More

Also testifying on regionalization was CEA Research and Policy Development Specialist Orlando Rodriguez, the organization's chief economist, who reminded legislators that while CEA supports cost-saving measures that enhance educational outcomes, several proposals currently before the Education Committee—specifically Senate Bills 457, 738, and 874—threaten to do just the opposite. 'We are concerned that redistricting or consolidating in way that could result in closing schools and increasing class sizes could negatively impact children, classrooms, teachers, and learning outcomes. When you consider costs, you must also consider educational outcomes. There can be grave long-term social consequences to a cost-only perspective.' READ MORE   CEA advocates for teachers and public education....
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School Consolidation Wrap Up Feb. 6, 2019: Making (Radio) Waves and Change

In order to connect with other communities and help publicize the efforts to oppose regionalization laws outside of Wilton, Lalor will be participating in a panel discussion on WSHU Public Radio on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 1 p.m.. Other panelists who will take part are Rep. Themis Klarides, Republican leader of the CT State House of Representatives; Dr. Christopher Clouet, Shelton Schools superintendent; Elizabeth Gara, executive director of Connecticut Council of Small Towns; and Sen. Alex Bergstein, newly elected Democrat representing the 36th District.ings.

Proposals to force regionalized school districts spark debate, distress

Two proposals that would force school district regionalization have ignited a storm of protest in some communities, as well as debate at the State Capitol.

At a packed Education Committee meeting Monday, Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said the “distress” she has heard from constituents about possible forced regionalization “has been so great, I’ve never quite seen anything like it.”

Looney Proposes Forced School Consolidation, Rattling Towns and Some Fellow Democrats

Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, proposed a bill which would force school districts in towns with less than 40,000 residents to consolidate with neighboring districts, alarming a number of towns and even fellow Democrats.

Senate Bill 454 would force the regionalization of a large number of towns in the state, merging their school districts with larger municipalities or cities. Only 24 municipalities in Connecticut have a population over 40,000. If passed, the change could cause an upheaval in where students are educated and at which schools.

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