The State and Its Educational System. INSTITUTION Irstitute for Educational Leadership, Washington, D C
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 316 951 EA 021 766 AUTHOR Hodgkinson, Harold L. TITLE Connecticut: The State and Its Educational System. INSTITUTION Irstitute for Educational Leadership, Washington, D C. REPORT NO ISBN-0-937846-77-5 PUB DATE May 88 NOTE 18p. PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. D?SCRIPTORS *Economic Climate; Economic Development; Educational Demand; Educational Trends; Elementary Secondary Education; *Enrollment Influences; Enrollment Trends; *Minority Group Children; Minority Groups; School Demography; *School Holding Power; School Statistics; Urban Environment IDENTIFIERS *Connecticut ABSTRACT Connecticut is small, densely populated, andvery urban; its residents are typically well educated and wealthy.The state's diverse economy allows it to ride through recessionswith ease. Housing costs are so high, though, that some of the benefits of the high income levels are negated. The state's population isthe fourth oldest in the nation mainly due to the smallnumber of children. Moreover, the fastest growing portion of the populationis made up of people over 85, which could force futuretrade-offs between programs for children and those for senior citizensunless some action is taken now. Connecticut's youth population has declined sharply for a decade, but a turnaround has already begun inthe early elementary grades. The state has a diverse and flexible educational system from kindergarten through graduate school, but it is not coordinated in a particularly effective way. The higher education system seems to be meeting the needs of Connecticut's citizens.Some encouraging recent developments suggest increasing articulationand collaboration across the educational segments in the state. Additionally, promising starts have been madeon cooperation among business, public schools, and higher education, as wellas on the state's Linority advancement program. 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West Hartford ® 0 CI- Ease Horeford Wetbe 'slit, RHODE 151 AND WATERBUR °Newington NEW YORK WB'ITAI Waterbury %to NaJgatuck Danbury NEW HAVEN A., ANBURY NEW HAVEN- FAIRFIEL WEST HAVEN ,_,New Haven *r Shelton LT) Easi Haven Trumbull West Haven Bridgeport e"'Milford NEW YORK (-4-) ;" BRIDGEPORT Westport Stamford NORWALK Norwalk :L- 'STAMFORD THE STATE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Office of Educational Research and Improvement MATERIAL INMICROFICHE ONLY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER IERIC) 1>4;:is document has been reproduced as ceived from the person or organization AND ITS O originating it O Minor changes have been made to ...Prove reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this doco TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES men! co not necessarily represent official INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).- EDUCATIONAL OERI positron or policy TaxUbmvrE FORErsucAnottu LEADERSHIP. INC. 2 SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful to Mike Usdan, President of theInstitute for Educational Leadership, and to Bob Atwell, President, American Council on Education, whosecomments w.: re very helpful, Many Connecticut leaderswere also helpful, especially Commissioner Gerald Tirozzi andCommissioner of Higher Education Norma Glasgow. The report brings together a wide variety of different materialshaving to do with Connecticut. This integration could not have been accomplished without a computerprogram called Super-File, which has been a joy touse, Louise Clarke, Chief Administrative Officer at IEL, has becomeindispensable for her excellent supervision of the production process. Tony Browder's graphic designs have becomea vital part of the publication. Errors of fact or interpretation, however, remain the responsibilityof the author. Harold L. Hodgkinson Institute for Educational Leadership, Inc. Washington, D.C. May 1988 ISBN 0-937846-77-5 ©May 1988 The Institute for Educational Leadership, Inc. 1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 310 Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 822-8405 Cover and Graphics Design: Tony Browder, East Koast Graphics, Inc. COVER NOTE: This unusual map of Connecticut shows how thestate looks demographically. The thick lines indicate metropolitan areas (where 88 percent of the people live). You can also sec how both Massachusetts andNew York impinge on Connecticut! (The second largest metroarea in Connecticut is SpringfieldChicopeeHolyoke, which is mostly in Massachusetts while New London-Norwich has partially slipped intoRhode Island.) Metropolitan development does not stop at state lines, This "people map" is the social equivalent ofmountains, rivers and roads, and is becoming useful to politicians and marketers of products and services andeven to educators! 5. CONNECTICUT: THE STATE AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM HAROLD L. HODGKINSON Senior Fellow, The Institute for Educational Leadership 4 CONNECTICUT: THE STATE ANDITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Connecticut is a model example of the notion that major agenda item in New Haven andHartford, the latter small does not mean simple. Thestate is very led by Hartford's corporate leadership. wealthy, very well-educated, Although the very old both in his- "Greater Hartford Process, Inc." wouldhave to be declared tory and in average age (a result of very low fer- only a modest success in the late sixties, tility companies have r...Zes), very urban, very political,very accom- continued their efforts at urban renewal, plished. From Connecticut has resulting in Con- come Mark Twain, who stitution Plaza and the downtown civiccenter, which, in wrote Huckleberry Finn there and made sport of thestate spite of losing its roof ina snowstorm in the late seventies, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Harriet has spurred some other major downtownrenovation in Beecher Stowe, RT. Barnum, Benedict Arnold,Samuel Hartford. Colt, who made the guns that helpedto win the Revolu- The state's corporate leader ship has tionary War (Connecticut has been big in been humane, defense con- innovative, and interested in urbanrenewal. John Filer, tracts ever since), not to mention Nathan Hale. fornwr CEO of Aetna, clearly stands In addition to people, there out as a major figure are other Connecticut firsts, in the state's agenda for urbanredevelopment. The major including the first hamburger, the first telephoneswitch- problem left concerns relocation of board, and, most important for the poor, minority and our discussion, the first immigrant families whowere uprooted during this effort American Ph.D. (Yale) and the first public school in1640. at social betterment. Both Bridgeport and Connecticut has been a state of tinkerersEli New Haven Whitney have engaged in major efforts at renewal,even when their worked out his cotton gin there and alongwith Colt per- economies were in desperate shapedue to the manufu- fected the idea of interchangeable parts.However, social turing transitions thatwere underway. and political innovations are a little harder to locate. The As a result, Connecticut today sits proudlyat the top state is possessed of great wealth, especially in the insur- of the Department of Commercefigures for per capita ance companies in and around Hartford, and Fairfield income leaders. (On other versions ofthe same measure, County, where New York City executives can reside in it drops to second.) The leadersare interesting in that the comfort and where an increasing number of majorcor- "Sun Belt," that predicted bundle ofgrowth, is entirely porations are locating for similarreasons. missing from the top except for California: Even though the existing state tax base is clearlyregres- sive, emphasizing sales and prcpertytaxes which penalize the poor, additionalsources of revenue have not devel- Per Capita income Leaders oped. Even Ella Grasso, the firstwoman Governor to be April 1987 elected on her own merits,was unable to develop a com- prehensive income base tc meet the state's needs.The Connecticut $19,208 real contradiction in Connecticut is betweenvery open New Jersey $18,284 and clean government and inadequate financingfor all Alaska $17,744 forms of public activity. (Even after 1918,property own- Massachusetts $17,516 ership was necessary in order tovote in Connecticut.) But New York $17,118 as the Yankees gave way to Catholics, and English shared California $16,588 the state with Italians and Jews,a sense of pluralism New Hampshire $15,922 developed. Illinois $15,420 The relatively fierce independence of Connecticut'smany Virginia $15,374 small towns, the often untillable land(unless you are growing rocks), as wellas the Yankee heritage and very The states that comprise the "SunBelt" are all at or strong corporations in both insurance and manufacturing near the bottom of the economic development heap, have all contributed to the state's stability and except economic California, while the supposedly deador moribund states conservatism. During the 1960s, urban renewalbecame a of the New England and the Mid-Atlanticareas are leading the nation. Moral: never underestimate states that have of information and citizen participation,Connecticut desires an educated workforce, diversified economies, smallgeo- tostayon