Resources

2012 Updates

  • Governor's Education Budget excerpt (February 2012)

  • Governor's Education Budget excerpt - Capital Expenditures (February 2012)

  • Governor's Education Budget excerpt - Budget Detail (February 2012)

  • Read the Sheff Movement's 2012 legislative agenda

  • Sheff Movement testimony to the Governor's Achievement Gap Task Force (January 2012)

  • New School Diversity Guidance Issued by U.S. Department of Education - Supports Sheff Goals! (Dec 2, 2011)

  • Powerpoint from our December 3rd Year-End Meeting

  • Steady but slow progress on state integration goals Sheff Movement coalition, November 23, 2011

  • Reports on the 2011-12 Sheff Enrollment Data (November 16, 2011)

    • 2011 Updates

    2010 Updates

    • 2010 Sheff Movement Parents' Guide

      • Parents' Guide

    • A Right to Quality Education Connecticut's Supreme Court issued a ruling in early 2010 in favor of the plaintiffs in CCEJF v Rell, declaring that Connecticut schoolchildren are entitled to an education that prepares them to be participants in society, pursue higher education and be gainfully employed. The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding filed the suit in 2005, arguing that the state's system of funding education is broken and unfair. Click here for coverage in the CT Mirror and here for CCEJF's web site and links to the decision.
       
      We offer our heartfelt thanks to the members of CCEJF for their steadfast commitment to the education of our children.

    • Support expanded Open Choice funding in Raised Bill 438: Open Choice (formerly called Project Choice) is the city-to-suburb transfer program that provides integrated education choices for about 1200 Hartford students in suburban schools. The program is a crucial complement to the interdistrict magnet school program, but its growth has been limited by unfair state reimbursement rates to suburban towns.
       
      A new bill in the legislature, Raised Bill 438, would begin to fix this problem by increasing the reimbursement rate for suburban districts that accept a minimum percentage of Hartford students in the program. But the bill fails to require a minimum enrollment level from suburban districts.

    2009 Legislative Session

    2008 Settlement Agreement

    Research Reports

    Reports on the Current Status of the Sheff Two-Way Voluntary Integration Program in the Hartford Area

    Other Research Reports

    Order our DVDs

    • "40 Years of Project Concern and Project Choice" (30 minute dvd) available for $5 (or free if you plan to show it to a group of friends, students or colleagues), contact ptegeler@prrac.org
    • "How we did it in Simsbury" (15 minute dvd) guide for planning a Project Choice host parent program in suburban towns (Contact ptegeler@prrac.org)

    Sheff Movement news items from 2007-2011

    Recent Events

    • Sheff Movement Meeting with Commissioner Pryor
      Feb 18, 2012
      see photos

    • Sheff Movement Annual Meeting
      Saturday, June 12, 2011
      9 - 11:30 a.m.
      Hartford City Hall

      Featuring:
      William Magnotta, President, Magnet Schools of America
      (Connecticut State Department of Education)

      Tim Sullivan, Classical Magnet School
      2010 Principal of the Year, Connecticut School Association

      Connecticut Magnets: Leading the Nation
      A review of the most outstanding accomplishments of our magnets - how they are closing the achievement gap, winning state and national awards for excellence, and providing thousands of children with the quality, integrated education they deserve. What will we need to do to support these schools in the next few years?

      Please join magnet school principals and parent and community leaders to help us set the agenda for next year. Refreshments will be provided.

      With a new governor and increasing budget crisis, 2011 will be a pivotal year for our programs. Lawmakers will need to hear from parents and supporters to continue support for interdistrict magnets and to make sure local schools have the support they need to make Project Choice accessible to more children.

    • On March 31 for Education2010, part of a town-hall style series, stakeholders came together to work for better schools. That month's forum, "Successful Students for the 21st Century," featured Elizabeth Horton Sheff as a panelist and took place March 31 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Hartford City Hall Atrium. Breakout sessions focused on the school-to-prison pipeline, does race matter, fixing broken schools, and workforce development. Click here for a flyer or here for the Educ2010 web site.

    • Sheff Movement featured at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Manchester (December 2009).

    • Sunday, December 6, 2009

      The Sheff Movement will be the focus of two events at the Unitarian Universalist Society: East (UUS:E).

      First, at the main 12:30 p.m. service, Elizabeth Horton Sheff will speak on the history and continuing need for the case. Immediately following, the church will have a forum on the issue of Reducing Racial Isolation in the Public Schools. We will share the good news: The Hartford area has been developing a robust system of magnet school and school choice programs, the envy of many other regions in the nation. There is evidence that this voluntary two-way system of school desegregation has a very positive effect on children and families. Then there's the bad news: Schools in America overall are MORE segregated than before Brown v Board of Education; 40% of students of color attend high-poverty, low-achieving, racially segregated schools; Connecticut has the nation's largest achievement gap (the spread between achievement test scores of white and minority students.)

      Sponsored by the UUS:E's Social Justice Committee, the forum will include a light lunch and childcare. Please call Annie at 860-646-5151 by December 1, 2009 to reserve childcare. Older children with an interest in the program are welcome and encouraged to attend the forum. Both events are at Center Congregational Church, 11 Center St., Manchester.

      If you are interested in having the Sheff Movement present at your church, please contact Jessica Leake at Jessica13leake@aol.com

    • Sheff Movement Meeting
      Saturday, November 21
      9:30 to 11
      Hartford City Hall
      Recap of our recent trip to Washington DC and discuss the current state budget status, including possible upcoming suburban transportation issues.

      The Sheff Movement brought seven supporters - parents, grandparents, and Project Choice students - to Washington DC for a conference on school integration. They are pictured here with John Brittain.

    • Sheff Movement in D.C. - Click here to see the highlights of the National Conference on School Integration.

    • National Conference November 13, "Reaffirming the Role of School Integration in K-12 Public Education Policy: A Conversation Among Policymakers, Advocates and Educators," brought together top Department of Education officials to speak with educators, parents, civil rights advocates, and scholars who support racially and economically integrated K-12 public schools.

    • Sheff v. O'Neill 20th Anniversary Event
      April 27, 2009, 5:00 - 7:30 pm
      UConn Law School: featuring Susan Eaton.
      Read Susan Eaton’s April 27, 2009 presentation (original version) (annotated with footnotes)

    • April 11, 2009, 9:30 - 11 am, Hartford City Hall: Sheff Movement Meeting

    • Sheff Movement meeting
      Saturday, December 20, 2008
      9:30 to 11 am
      Hartford City Hall in the Council Chambers
      We'll discuss the state's education budget and the Sheff Comprehensive Management Plan.
      Please email your RSVP or other agenda ideas to ldd001@gmail.com

    • Regional School Choice Fairs underway
      Learn more about the quality, integrated public schools in the region. The new Regional School Choice office is hosting a series of magnet school fairs around the region. Click here for a schedule.

    • Sheff Movement meeting
      Saturday, November 22, 2008
      9:30 to 11 am

    • October 28: Multicultural Education Conference
      The Sheff Movement coalition presented two workshops at the New England Conference on Multicultural Education (NECME), Wednesday, October 8 at the Connecticut Convention Center.

    • August 7-8: CREC's Choice Summer Institute
      A two-day seminar for anyone interested in the new Sheff agreement and its implications
      Hosted by CREC with guest speakers (including the Sheff Movement coalition's Liz Dupont-Diehl)
      Two Rivers Magnet Middle School
      337 East River Drive, East Hartford, CT 06108

    • Project Concern / Project Choice All Class Reunion July 26, 2008
      For graduates and Project Concern paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and staff members. 6-11pm at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resorts located at 50 Morgan Street, Hartford.
      For graduates and Project Concern paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and staff members.

    • Sheff Movement Annual Meeting
      At the Breakthrough Magnet School
      Saturday, April 26, 2008, 9:30 - 12:00

    • Education Committee
      Legislative Hearing on the new settlement agreement
      Legislative Office Building, Room 2c
      Tuesday, April 15, 2008

    • November 6-9, 2007
      Sheff v. O'Neill compliance hearing
      Superior Court, Hartford
      This is the hearing that was made necessary when the legislature failed to approve the recent settlement approved by the Sheff plaintiffs and the State Board of Education and Governor. The judge will consider what should be done in the next phase of the implementation of Sheff v. O'Neill remedies. We are encouraging parents and supporters of the Sheff voluntary integration programs to come to court and learn more about the next phase of the case. At the Hartford Superior Court, 95 Washington Street.

    • November 14th, 2007
      DVD screening at the Hartford Public Library
      5:30 - 7:30 pm
      'Forty years of Project Concern and Project Choice": A screening of the new 30-minute video documentary about Hartford's city-to-suburb school integration program. Featuring interviews with alumni and founders of the Project Concern program and a discussion about the future of the program. Welcoming reception at 5:30; film at 6:00 followed by discussion.

    Materials From the Recent Sheff v. O'Neill Hearing

    Other Resources