He declared unconstitutional and «irrational» the way Connecticut funds and oversees local public schools; he found that the state government has the enforceable responsibility under Connecticut's constitution to provide all students an adequate education — not just the
wealthy suburban kids who rank first nationwide in reading scores, but also the many «functionally illiterate» high - school
graduates from the 30 poorest Connecticut school
districts, which rank below Mississippi and 39 other states in those same scores.