New Haven's Budgetary Decisions Negate Claim to State Funding
by
Joseph C. Maya on Apr. 26, 2017
Other Education Government Government Agencies Government State and Local
Summary: Blog post about the laws regarding funding of public education in Connecticut.
If you have a question or concern about special education law, school administration, federal standards, or the overall rights of a student, please feel free to call the expert education law attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at (203) 221-3100 .
In the case of New Haven v. Connecticut State Board of Education, a city and its financial board challenged a decision of the State Board of Education finding that the city failed to provide defendant local school board with the minimum level of education expenditure required by Connecticut law. For the purposes of this case, the judicial review of the conclusions of law reached by the administrative board is limited. The court's ultimate duty is only to decide whether, in light of the evidence, the agency has acted unreasonably, arbitrarily, illegally, or in abuse of its discretion.
Connecticut's law providing for state aid to public schools required local governments to fund public education at a certain level in order to be eligible for state aid. The city, believing that the local school board's budget failed to take full advantage of state funding available for particular programs such as transportation and special education, failed to fully fund the school board's request. The court held that substantial evidence supported the state educational board's determination that the local school board acted within its discretion in making its budgetary decisions and that the city was not entitled to any relief from its obligation to meet its full minimum expenditure requirement.
The appeal was dismissed. “The State Board may properly refuse to become the vehicle of the [city] in forcing the New Haven board of education to spend its funds according to the wishes of the [city]” said the court. “State law clearly grants the discretion to local and regional boards of education.”
If you have a child with a disability and have questions about special education law, please contact Joseph C. Maya, Esq., at 203-221-3100, or at JMaya@mayalaw.com, to schedule a free consultation.
Source: New Haven v. Ct State Bd. of Educ., 1992 Conn. Super. LEXIS 3353, 1992 WL 369607 (Conn. Super. Ct. Dec. 1, 1992)