Statement from CQE co-founder to Board of Ed at 10/6 meeting. (Regarding motion to retain legal counsel to challenge state's racial imbalance statute)

For the record, my name is Joe DeLucco. I had the privilege of serving on the Board of Education for 7 years, and the honor of serving as Chairman for 2 of those years. Before being elected to the board, I co-founded “Citizens for Quality Education” in 1994 in response to the board’s plans to dismantle our neighborhood schools – in their attempt to comply with the racial imbalance statute. After dragging the town through a year of hell, the board finally respected the wishes of the overwhelming majority of residents and voted to eliminate the K-2/3-5 plan and replace it with a more reasonable alternative.

The racial imbalance statute is an inherently racist one, as it would have us treat children differently based on their race. Concerned about the potential impact of this statute, I filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for all correspondence on this topic between the State Department of Ed and our school district. Three minutes is not nearly enough time to detail all the troubling components of that correspondence. I would be happy to share all of the correspondence with anyone who might be interested, but in the meantime I would cite the following:

1. There is virtually no mention of improving the quality of education for our the public school students. Instead, there is a constant, repeated focus on race, and racial statistics.

2. The correspondence is filled with commitments on how our board will attempt to comply with this mandate. However, the board has never established it’s position on this through a vote in a public meeting. On whose direction were these commitments and promises made?

3. The district’s May 1st letter outlines the board’s plan to address this issue in December 2009 – one month after the town elections.

4. This statute is virtually impossible to comply with without essentially mandating housing choices. Charter Oak and Smith schools have a racial imbalance, and Bugbee, Duffy and Morley schools have impending racial imbalance.

5. Dr. Sklarz’ June 11th 2005 letter recognized the very real possibility of major redistricting. He wrote, and I quote: “…. We would have to deprive parents of their choice to have their children attend these model schools because concerns over racial balance that would require that we reorganize our schools and redistrict most of the elementary schools in the district."

In conclusion:

The Board's plan in their May 1st letter to the State is not likely to eliminate racial imbalance at Smith or Charter Oak -- or stem the impending racial imbalance at Bugbee, Duffy, and Morley.

Mayor Slifka has said there is no money to build a newer/larger Charter Oak School. With the building remaining at its current size, the ONLY way that racial imbalance could be eliminated at Charter Oak and Smith (and impending racial imbalance at Bugbee, Duffy and Morley could be addressed) would be via the MASSIVE redistricting that Dr. Sklarz's cited in his letter to the State.

It is incumbent upon this board to FINALLY take ownership of this issue, and be pro-active, aggressive advocates of our neighborhood schools. The district’s focus must be placed on what is in the best educational interest of the children who attend our public schools. Their best educational interests would clearly NOT be served by being forced out of their neighborhood schools and put on busses for a ride across town. To avoid tearing apart our town and our neighborhood schools, we have a moral obligation to challenge this law that would have us treat children differently based on the color of their skin. This motion is a call for action, and the time for action is now.