Buying Equality: How School Finance Reform and Desegregation Came to Compete in Connecticut

Since its inception, the nationwide movement for school finance reform has been deeply connected with school desegregation. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, advocates of equal educational opportunity who were growing frustrated with the slow progress of school desegregation began to seek out new avenues of reform. Many turned to school finance reform and the goal of equalizing resources as a fresh way to improve the educational opportunities of poor or minority students. Today, as federal district courts around the country declare unitary status in school desegregation cases while battles over school finance continue to rage, it would seem that the shift from school desegregation to school finance litigation is almost complete