State School Policy

School policy at the state level is best studied in official reports of the commissioner and the General Assembly. But for those whose research interests do not reach so deep, there are several easily available works to look at.

Allen, Irving L., et al. The Effects of Community Structure on School Decisions: The Sources and Consequences of DeFacto School Segregation in Five Connecticut Cities. Published at Uconn 1968. About 400 pages of description, analysis; scores of charts. Deals largely with black migration into cities (not 5, but only 4 -- Waterbury, Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford). Chapters on Public Opinion, Characteristics of Community Leaders, Changes in Racial Composition of the Cities, etc. A fine compendium of data.

Averill, Donald C. "The Responsibility of the Connecticut State Board of Education for the Education of Teachers in the State from 1865 to 1965." Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1966.

Hechinger, Fred M. An Adventure in Education: Connecticut Points the Way. New York: Macmillan, 1956. This is a highly readable summary of the seven huge volumes of the "Report of the Connecticut Fact Finding Commission on Education."

Jackson, H. LeRoy. "Agent of the Law: The Town Board of Education." Connecticut Bar Journal 23(September, 1949)3:248-67. This is an excellent historical article, beginning with the colonial period. It focuses for the most part on statutory considerations.

--"’A Dillar a Dollar’: The Legal Problems of Teachers’ Pay." Connecticut Bar Journal 21(December, 1947)4:480-501. This deals with the relationship between Boards of Education and Boards of Finance.

--"Who Pays the Piper? The Fiscal Side of the Public Schools." Connecticut Bar Journal 23(December, 1949)4:191-209. A study of the history and development of statutes that have provided the means of support for Connecticut public schools.

Nocolari, Richard F. "Distribution Patterns of Federal Grants to Local School Districts in Connecticut." Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1970.

Pavlak, Raymond Thomas. "The New Deal and Public Schooling in Connecticut, 1933-1999." Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1977.

Pernal, Michael Edward. "A Study of State Legislation in the Development of Public Higher Education in Connecticut from 1849 to 1970." Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1975.

Pilver, Erika E. "The Politics and Administration of Higher Education in Connecticut." Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1977. - "The Connecticut State Legislature and the Yale-Storrs Land Grant Controversy, 1881-1893. Connecticut History 22(January, 1981). The author asserts: "One of the most important chapters in the history of higher education in Connecticut consisted of the Yale Storrs controversy over control of federal land grant funds in the nineteenth century .... [T]he actions of the legislature set in motion events that shape the course of public higher education in the state today." (p. 19)

Powell, Theodore. The [Connecticut] School Bus Law: A Case Study in Education, Religion and Politics. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1950. A study of the local-option law, which permitted towns to use tax funds for bussing students to parochial and other private schools.

Sheehan, Wilfred J. A History of the Connecticut Education Association, 1848-1972. Hartford: the CEA, 1975.

Zirkel, Ferry A. "Teacher Tenure in Connecticut: Due Process and 'Do Process' Responsibilities." Connecticut Law Review 3(Summer, 1976)4:690-714· Focuses on the 1970s: not historical, but a comprehensive discussion of teacher dismissal cases in Connecticut.