The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) announced it had exceeded the first goal of its Sheff v. O’Neill Comprehensive School Choice Program, a system through which students in Hartford’s public school system can be placed in magnet schools, technical schools, or in Open Choice districts.
According to the CSDE’s press release, the state was able to meet placement demand for 96 percent of Harford families seeking educational opportunities outside the Harford Public School system through the Regional School Choice Application.
“This achievement represents more than a number—it reflects the state’s deep commitment to expanding meaningful educational choices for students and families,” Connecticut Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker said in a press release. “By increasing access to magnet schools, technical high schools, and Open Choice opportunities, we are assisting both Hartford and non-Hartford students learn, grow, and thrive in enriching learning environments.”
The 1996 Sheff v. O’Neill ruling found that Hartford’s struggling public school system was racially segregated and therefore violated the state’s constitution. In response, Connecticut established a magnet school system and a lottery process through which families could apply to have their child attend one of the other schools.
That lottery system, however, came under scrutiny and legal challenges in 2018 when a group of Hartford families filed a lawsuit alleging their children were denied entry into a magnet school because their race; under the terms of the lottery system, 25 percent of seats were reserved for white or Asian students.
The Hartford Courant in 2017 reported this system left empty seats in the magnet schools, and a report by the state auditors found that, in some cases, the lottery system was bypassed in order to admit particular students. The lawsuit was eventually withdrawn after the state agreed to cease using race as a determining factor for lottery applicants and begin using socio-economic determinations beginning in 2022.
The state’s placement lottery algorithm, however, remains a secret after the CSDE successfully defended itself in court from having to disclose that data and the weighting system used in the school choice lotteries. The court determined this information was exempt from Freedom of Information laws because it applied to pending litigation.
“The CCP—adopted by the court in 2022 as part of the final Sheff v. O’Neill settlement—establishes a series of measurable benchmarks to ensure sustained progress in expanding access to high-quality school options for Hartford students,” the CSDE wrote in its press release. “Achieving the first benchmark of meeting entry-grade demand demonstrates continued progress toward the state’s long-term goal of meeting demand at all grade levels among Hartford-resident students seeking placement in an interdistrict choice program by the 2028–29 school year.”
The Hartford Public School system has faced numerous education performance and funding challenges going back decades and enrollment in HPS has been declining. HPS is below the state average for nearly every measurable educational metric, according to the state’s data on EdSight, and enrollment has declined by 25 percent since five years ago.
The school system also maintained a “minimum 50” grading policy that only allows for a minimum numerical grade of 50 in place of zero, which has come under scrutiny and criticism by the Hartford teachers union and state officials, particularly following allegations in court that HPS graduated a student who couldn’t read.
HPS faced a $30 million budget shortfall in 2025, which resulted in nearly 200 teacher layoffs and required additional funding from both the city and the state. The shortfalls were attributed largely to school choice tuition, rising teacher salaries, and the escalating cost of special education.
According to the Hartford Board of Education FY 2025-26 budget, a Blue Ribbon Commission “found structural issues that create financial challenges for HPS, including rising special education, tuition, and transportation costs in the ecosystem of school choice.”
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