SCHOOL INTEGRATION IN CT Approximately 19,000 students participate in our region’s school integration programs, which have been developed in response to Sheff v. O’Neill . Students in Greater Hartford have the opportunity to participate in many different types of integration programs, including: interdistrict magnet schools, Open Choice, reverse choice, vocational-technical high schools, and the interdistrict cooperative grant programs. INTERDISTRICT/REGIONAL MAGNET SCHOOLS See a listing of Greater Hartford’s interdistrict magnet schools here . Interdistrict magnet schools in Greater Hartford are part of the public education system, but generally offer a specialized theme or focus and are designed to meet Sheff v O’Neill integration goals. Most are built with state support and admission is by lottery. Magnet schools offer an academic focus or theme that may suit your child’s interests and talents. Magnet schools also offer improved academic achievement; diverse student body; higher attendance rates, graduation rates, and lower drop-out rates; and greater parental involvement. The regional magnet schools offer a far more racially and economically integrated student body than most non-magnet public schools in the region. Our magnet schools promote economic integration, which has a positive impact on student outcomes. Nearly 17,000 students in Greater Hartford attended Sheff magnet schools during the 2013-2014 school year. In Greater Hartford, there are a few different magnet school providers. There are 21 Hartford host magnet schools, 19 CREC magnet schools, 2 magnet schools operated by LEARN/Goodwin College , 2 magnet schools operated by Bloomfield Public Schools, and 1 magnet school operated by East Hartford. >> If you want to learn more about magnet schools, the Magnet Schools of America website is a helpful resource. HARTFORD REGION OPEN CHOICE PROGRAM The Open Choice program offers public school students in Hartford the opportunity to attend non-magnet public schools in suburban towns. Open Choice increases diversity in area towns and for participating Hartford students. Currently, 25 school districts in Greater Hartford voluntarily participate in the Open Choice program, which is managed by the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC). In 2013-2014, about 2,000 students participated in Open Choice. This program (known first as “Project Concern”) has been operating since 1966; its name later changed to “Project Choice” and is now called “Open Choice.” >>Learn more about Open Choice REVERSE CHOICE Through a policy known as “reverse choice,” public school students in suburban communities can apply to attend non-magnet public schools in Hartford. INTERDISTRICT COOPERATIVE GRANT PROGRAMS (IDCGs) The Interdistrict Cooperative Grant (IDCG) Program is a competitive grant program that provides funding for programs that increase student achievement and reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation. The IDCG program is administered by the Connecticut State Department of Education, pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Section 10—74d. THE SHEFF INTEGRATION STANDARD An integrated school, under Sheff standards, is a school with at least 25% white and/or Asian enrollment. Because lottery selection is not based on individual students’ race, this integration goal has also led to strong levels of economic integration in the magnet schools. LEARN MORE You can learn more about these options by attending a school fair or contacting the Regional School Choice Office. Regional School Choice Office (RSCO) Parent Information Center 165 Capitol Avenue, Room 270 Hartford, CT 06106 860-713-6990 To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

SMC Updates < Back October 2017 Meeting Who: Led by SMC Staff/Leadership What: SMC Updates Where: SMC Offices - 75 Charter Oak Ave. 06106 When: October 28, 2017 at 2:00:00 PM Previous Next

SMC Updates < Back December 2017 Meeting Who: Led by SMC Staff/Leadership What: SMC Updates Where: SMC Offices - 75 Charter Oak Ave. 06106 When: December 16, 2017 at 3:00:00 PM Previous Next

SMC Updates < Back June 2014 Meeting Who: Led by SMC Staff/Leadership What: SMC Updates Where: Capital Prep Magnet School - 1304 Main Street Hartford, CT 06103 When: June 7, 2014 at 2:00:00 PM Previous Next

SMC IN ACTION NOTE: THIS PAGE IS CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED (APRIL 2022) OUTREACH Jazz Festival Tabling ADVOCACY Effort to Expand Open Choice in Glastonbury (2014) COMMUNITY BUILDING Design Challenge To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

WHY INTEGRATION? NOTE: THIS PAGE IS CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED (MARCH 2022) Studies consistently show that racially, culturally, and economically diverse schools are strongly associated with a range of short and long term benefits for all racial groups. This includes gains in math, science, reading, and critical thinking skills and improvements in graduation rates. Research also demonstrates that diverse schools are better equipped than high-poverty schools to counteract the negative effects of poverty. Over the long-term, students who attend diverse schools are more likely than students from homogeneous schools to choose diverse colleges, neighborhoods, and workplaces later in life. They possess better critical thinking skills and analytical ability and are more likely to form cross-racial friendships. Learn more about this research >> RELATED RESOURCES The Spivack Archive is a searchable database of 500+ entries that concern the effects of school and classroom ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic (SES) composition on specific outcomes. Amicus Brief of 553 Social Scientists in Support of School Integration (PICS) Still Looking to the Future: Voluntary K-12 School Integration by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Civil Rights Project (2008) Integrating Suburban Schools: How to Benefit from Growing Diversity and Avoid Segregation by the Civil Rights Project (2011) To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

SMC Updates < Back December 2014 Meeting Who: Speaker: Superintendent Dr. Beth Schiavino-Narvaez What: SMC Updates Where: When: December 13, 2014 at 3:00:00 PM Join us for a conversation with Hartford Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Beth Schiavino-Narvaez about her vision for Hartford schools and how we can build upon the dramatic progress made in recent years to provide an increasing number of Hartford students with access to quality, integrated education. We’ll also review the final draft of our legislative and advocacy agenda for 2015 and discuss the details of Sheff enrollment for the 2014-15 school year. Sheff Movement Office 75 Charter Oak Avenue, Building #1 Hartford, CT 06106 (If you are using GPS, type the address as 146 Wyllys Street) Directions and a map with parking options marked. Previous Next

HISTORY OF SHEFF MOVEMENT COALITION Community activism has been at the heart of the Sheff v. O’Neill case from the start. Concern and outrage over segregated and unequal conditions in the Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven schools led to the formation of a statewide organization in the late 1980s, called the Connecticut Coalition for Educational Equity. The coalition brought together parents, educators, faith leaders, and community activists and also included several of the plaintiffs in the Sheff case. After the Sheff case was filed, the coalition became increasingly focused on the Hartford region. Community organizing and activism continued throughout the different stages of the case, as exemplified by the defiant community march following the initial defeat in the superior court, and the celebration at the Horace Bushnell Congregational Church (now called Liberty Christian) following the 1996 Supreme Court victory. In the early 2000s, as the Sheff remedy started to grow, the current Sheff Movement coalition emerged, based on two important insights: first, that parents and children in the growing two way interdistrict system had become untethered from the traditional school district structures and needed a voice and a coalition focused on their interests, and second, that by bringing all of the stakeholders in the system together on a regular basis, we could keep an open flow of information, reach consensus and alignment on goals, and spot and address implementation issues at an early stage. We also understand how important it is to build community support outside the context of lawyers and courts and litigation. Under the leadership of co-chairs Jim Boucher and Elizabeth Horton Sheff, the Sheff Movement coalition has been meeting regularly now for about 20 years, usually on a monthly basis. To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

SMC Updates < Back May 2016 Meeting Who: Led by SMC Staff/Leadership What: SMC Updates Where: SMC Offices - 75 Charter Oak Ave. 06106 When: May 21, 2016 at 2:00:00 PM Previous Next

SMC Updates

Online Community Conversation: The culture war over America's racial reckoning and its place in public education < Back Glastonbury MLK Community Initiative: Community Conversation Past Event Who: Panelist: John Brittain, Paquita Jarman-Smith, Mark Pazniokas When: May 9, 2022 at 11:00:00 PM Where: Virtual: Register Required Online Community Conversation: The culture war over America's racial reckoning and its place in public education Glastonbury MLK Community Initiative Online Communitcy Conversation about racial reckoning in public education. More Info Register Previous Next

EVENTS PAST EVENTS Racial Equity in Education: Honoring the Achievements of John Brittain THURSDAY, March 31, 2022 ( 6 - 7:30 PM ) UConn School of Law Starr Reading Room or Via Zoom About Event Join the UConn School of Law to celebrate John Brittain and reflect on his many significant achievements as a faculty member, including the landmark 1996 Connecticut Supreme Court decision in Sheff v. O’Neill that successfully challenged the segregation of Hartford-area public schools. This event is part of the Centennial and Diversity Month celebrations at the law school. Speaker John Brittain, Olie W. Rauh Professor of Law, University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law More Info/Register Register PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING SATURDAY, March 19, 2022 ( 10 - 11:30 AM ) Meeting Agenda 1. Welcome 2. Sheff Agreement Update 3. Introduction of Speakers 4. GH Magnet School System Julie Goldstein Salvatore Menzo, Ed.D Sarah Vocca, Ph.D Download Meeting Materials Goodwin University Magnet School System HPS Magnet Schools of America Download Download SHEFF IN THE NEWS WNPR’S “WHERE WE LIVE” DISCUSSES CHALLENGES TO INTEGRATION IN CONNECTICUT OCTOBER 24, 2018 “In the 1996 landmark Sheff v. O’Neill case, the Connecticut Supreme Court found that minority students in Hartford’s public schools “suffered daily” due to racial and economic segregation. Now, 22 years later — Connecticut’s magnet school solution to Sheff’s desegregation mandate has been held up as a model for integration around the country. Yet many […] HARTFORD COURANT OP-ED: LAWSUIT THREATENS SHEFF DESEGREGATION GAINS OCTOBER 16, 2018 In July 1996, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued Sheff v. O’Neill, a landmark school desegregation ruling. Based on the principles established in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board decision, the state Supreme Court ordered the state to remove the barriers that denied students of all races in Hartford and its suburbs the opportunity to […] UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD MAGNET SCHOOL AMONG 5 CT NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON SCHOOL AWARDEES OCTOBER 3, 2018 The U.S. Department of Education named five Connecticut schools as 2018 National Blue Ribbon Schools, including four public schools and one parochial school. The schools received the awards for high academic performance or for great progress in closing the achievement gap during the past five years. The University of Hartford Magnet School, a Capitol Region Education Council […] “THE HILL”: CONNECTICUT’S EFFORT TO INTEGRATE HARTFORD SCHOOLS IS WORKING, BUT MUST BE PROTECTED JULY 23, 2018 “More than 60 years after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, most public schools in America’s major cities remain starkly divided by race and class. But, the magnet schools in Hartford, Connecticut, are exceptions. While no place is perfect, the Hartford region has achieved racial integration that is largely unknown […] SMC NEWS AND UPDATES NEW NCSD PUBLICATION ADDRESSES SCHOOL INTEGRATION JULY 20, 2019 The National Coalition on School Diversity’s publication (The State of Integration 2018) addresses the Hartford context. Read the “Pacific Legal Foundation Continues Its Efforts to Gut Integration” on pgs. 21-25.