ACLU Calls for Desegregation of Connecticut Schools

According to a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union, the civil rights group is calling for the desegregation of Connecticut schools. The groups attorneys, joined by lawyers from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense Fund along with independent counsel, will argue the issue in Connecticut Superior Court on Tuesday.

The current litigation is a result of Connecticut's alleged failure to comply with the Connecticut Supreme Court Decision outlawing segregation in Connecticut schools. The Connecticut Supreme Court decision was entered 11 years ago in the 1996 Sheff v. O'Neill case. The judge in that case reportedly urged the State of Connecticut to act quickly to integrate the schools. However, rights groups claim that the state has not done so.

Civil Rights groups allege that in Hartford, CT, only 1 out of ten colored children attend an integrated school. The 10% of colored students attending integrated schools is due to the presence of cross district magnet schools rather than a direct integration effort.

Connecticut reached an agreement with the plaintiff's in the original Connecticut Supreme Court case in 2003. The plan called for a four year effort to phase in integration. However, the timetable for this plan has reportedly expired leaving integration in legal limbo, as the legislature has not yet approved the new agreement reached by the State and the plaintiffs in the case. The civil rights groups claim that the legal action they undertook Tuesday will be a remedy to the situation.

The rights groups claim that children of color's educations are suffering due to this imposed segregation, and isolation based on race.

Dennis Parker, Director of the ACLU's Racial Justice Program made these comments regarding the case: "It has now been 11 years since the Connecticut Supreme Court declared that school segregation in Hartford was unconstitutional - how much longer must these children wait for their most basic rights?"

Parker also claimed that the continually lengthening delay in integration is highlighting the state's failure to remedy the problem.

Attorney's for the plaintiffs in this case are: Matthew Colangelo of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, Dennis Parker and Larry Schwartztol from the American Civil Liberties Union. They are joined by independent lawyers Martha Stone and Wesley Horton.

Connecticut schools are some of many schools still facing segregation issues over 53 years since the Supreme Court decision was entered in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education, a precedent which set the stage for school integration.