DOCKET NO.

: SUPERIOR COURT

GWENDOLYN SAMUEL JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF HARTFORD
v

DANNEL P. MALLOY : August 22, 2014


A. PARTIES:

1. Plaintiff Gwendolyn Samuel, is a parent of color and, at all relevant times, the natural
guardian of school age children that attend Meriden Connecticut Public Schools and
is a citizen of Connecticut, who currently, and at all times relevant hereto, resides in
Meriden Connecticut.
2. The Defendant, Dannel P. Malloy, is and was at all relevant times, Governor of the
State of Connecticut, Pursuant to Article Fourth, 12, of the State Constitution, he
must ensure that the laws are faithfully executed. Pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stats. 3-1,
he is authorized to investigate and take proper action concerning any matter
involving the enforcement of the laws of the State and the protection of all its
citizens. Under Conn. Gen. Stats. 10-1 and 10-2, he is responsible for appointing
impartial members of the State Board of Education. He is further responsible for
receiving a detailed statement of the activities of the impartial State Board of
Education and an account of the conditions of the public schools and such other
information as will assess the true conditions, progress and needs of public school
children within Connecticut. Conn. Gen. Stats. 10-4.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE:
3. The plaintiff bring this action and invoke the jurisdiction of this court pursuant to
article first, 8, and 20, as amended, and article eighth, 1, as amended, of the
Connecticut Constitution, as well as the due process and equal protection clauses of
the Connecticut Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, and Connecticut General
Statutes 10-220,, as well as Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding,
Inc., et al, v. Governor Jodi Rell, et al, 295 Conn. 240, 254, 990 A.2d 206 (2010); Sheff
v. O'Neill, 238 Conn. 1, 45-46, 678 A.2d 1267 (1996).
4. The plaintiff also invoke the jurisdiction of this court pursuant to their civil and due
process rights under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the
U.S. Constitution and article first, 8, and 20, as amended, of the Connecticut
Constitution.
C. NATURE OF THE CASE:
5. The case is in the nature of a complaint for damages against the defendant for
violation of the plaintiffs Constitutional, statutory, civil, and common law rights to
the upbringing and education of their children and to equal representation on the
State Board of Education by the appointment of Erin D. Benham, President of the
Meriden Federation of Teachers and Executive Committee Vice President of the
Connecticut American Federation of Teachers.
D. FACTS IN SUPPORT OF CLAIMS FOR RELIEF:
6 The State Constitution guarantees that every child is provided a substantially equal
educational opportunity in its free public elementary and secondary schools
regardless of the childs town of residence and that this court has a role in ensuring
that our states public school students receive that fundamental guarantee.
7. On March 22, 2010 the state Supreme Court ruled that Connecticut school children
are guaranteed an adequate standard of quality in their public schoolthe state
constitution requires "that the public schools provide their students with an
education suitable to give them the opportunity to be responsible citizens able to
participate fully in democratic institutions, such as jury service and voting, and to
prepare them to progress to institutions of higher education, or to attain productive
employment and otherwise to contribute to the state's economy
8. Research through a Harvard study clearly states good teachers improve student
achievement, earnings, quality of life.
http://obs.rc.fas.harvard.edu/chetty/value_added.html
9. In 2005, the Appropriations Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly
adopted the Results Based Accountability (RBA) approach which, to identify how
well funded programs are doing in achieving a particular quality of life result and
where changes may need to be made. RBA enables policymakers, funders, and
program administrators to identify how well they are doing in achieving a particular
quality of life result and where they might need to make changes. If the projected
performance is not acceptable, the RBA methodology helps stakeholders identify
what changes will be needed to turn the curve,
10. In 2010 the number of low performing schools identified by the state as not
having met adequate yearly progress in reading and math on a whole school level
was one hundred and eighty-four (184) and as of April 17, 2013, the state has
identified three hundred and fifty (350) schools as not having met adequate yearly
progress in reading and math on a whole school level which translates close to
200,000 students, majority of color, English Language Learners, those with
disabilities and special needs, and or those children eligible for free/reduced lunch,
attending low performing and/or unsafe schools in need of improvement.
11. As a result of the significant number of long term low performing schools the State
of Connecticut passed education reform laws, Public Act 10-111 and Public Act 12-
116.
12. Public Act 10-111, resulted in the creation of School Governance Councils
intended to manage and facilitate the receipt of diverse advice, concerns and
recommendations from the parents/legal guardians of children who are enrolled
in schools managed by the local and state Boards of Education, in addition to the
concerns and recommendations of educational professionals and community
advocates. The intent is to engage broad participation in developing comprehensive
corrective school improvement plans to provide significant improvement in
students academic achievement. The opportunity for the direct participation
and input of parents in the process to plan for developing comprehensive school
improvement plans is unprecedented.
13. Public Act 10-111 also mandates that School Governance Councils shall assist
school administration in, inter alia, analyzing school achievement data and school
needs as they relate to the school's improvement plan. It further mandates that
School Governance Councils shall assist the principal in making programmatic
and operational changes to improve the schools achievement.
14. The School Governance Council consists of seven parents, five teachers, two
community members and students (where appropriate). The nonvoting member is
the principal.
15. Parent Gwendolyn Samuel has Constitutional, statutory, civil and common law
rights to the upbringing and education of her children
16. Plaintiff/parent Gwendolyn Samuel has African American school age children that
attend one of Connecticut public schools as identified as failing.
17. Plaintiff/Parent Gwendolyn Samuel has the constitutional right to ensure her
children are accessing safe and quality schools, which include effective teachers
regardless of race, income or zip-code.
18. In March of 2014 The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights released
report that show students of color are more likely to have inexperienced
teachers. http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/expansive-survey-americas-
public-schools-reveals-troubling-racial-disparities.
19. The Connecticut American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has over 29,000 members,
which allows for undue influence over the State Board of Education decision making
process. The national American Federation of Teachers (AFT) represents over
850,000 members which give Meriden AFT President Erin D. Benham access to
unlimited resources and political power to influence decisions at the State Board of
Education.
20. Connecticut American Federation of Teachers has a documented history of opposing
Parents, especially parents of color, special need parents and impoverished families,
as they advocate and exercise their legal power to ensure their kids have access to
safe and high quality schools. One example of aggressive opposition was by AFT CT
holding national trainings on How to Diffuse Connecticut Parent Trigger with
language such as Kill Mode
http://rishawnbiddle.org/outsidereports/aft_parentpower_guide.pdf
20. Teachers salaries, benefits, pensions compose up to 70% of Connecticuts education
funding which allows for the presence of a conflict of interest by virtue of Erin D.
Benham being a public employee with great decision making capacity at the AFT
level b because she is the President of the Meriden Federation of Teachers and
Executive Committee Vice President of the Connecticut American Federation of
Teachers and as a member of the State Board of education which allows for a set of
circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a
primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest. Secondary
interest includes not only financial gain but also such motives as the desire for
professional advancement and the wish to do favors for members or future
members, but conflict of interest rules usually focus on financial relationships
because they are relatively more objective, fungible, and quantifiable. The secondary
interests are not treated as wrong in themselves, but become objectionable when
they are believed to have greater weight than the primary interests. The conflictin a
conflict of interest exists whether or not a particular individual is actually influenced
by the secondary interest. It exists if the circumstances are reasonably believed (on
the basis of past experience and objective evidence) to create a risk that decisions
may be unduly influenced by secondary interests.