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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. Connecticut residents have the greatest chance of improving their quality of life, particularly through education, a new report says.
The report, called the Opportunity Index, uses a dozen factors to determine how well residents living in each state can move up the economic ladders of society as compared to the rest of the country." Connecticut scored 89 out of 100, putting the state at No. 1.
Connecticut became No. 1 because it has balance and success. The Opportunity Index is really about looking at communities holistically, said Elizabeth Clay, deputy director of Opportunity Nation, a nonprofit research group that studies national growth.
The group didnt just rank states; it graded counties as well. Fairfield County, and most of the state, earned a B, while neighboring Westchester County in New York State earned an A. The grade is based on a number of factors, including unemployment rates, median household income, preschool enrollment and the number of supermarkets.
Fairfield excelled at the number of supermarkets there is at least one in every ZIP code.
Access to supermarkets is radically becoming an important marker to community health. There are a number of communities that dont have access to a grocery store. All they have access to is a convenience store, which doesnt provide healthy food, Clay said.
But where Connecticut, and Fairfield County, excelled was in education. And thats something state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, says she's very proud of.
Preschool enrollment numbers 62 percent for the state and 68 percent for the county were something that Boucher says she fought for at the beginning of her political career. And this index, she said, is a positive thing for a state that is at the bottom of many other lists, such as business climate.
High grades in education are wonderful, Boucher said, but its a two-edged sword. We are creating a population of young people that can present themselves with great opportunities in life, and yet when its time for them to get into jobs, we cant keep them here.
Gov. Dannel Malloys view on the states educational system is somewhat different. Our states positioning has weakened to the point that we are not competitive in national grant competitions like the recent Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, Malloy wrote in a letter to lawmakers and educators urging widespread education reform in 2012.
He said while the state's best school districts continue to excel, low-income and minority students are falling further behind.
For state Sen. Carlo Leone, D-Stamford, the economic opportunity report gives the state something to work toward beyond keeping the No. 1 status.
The job will be to maintain that position and increase the metrics where we didnt do as well, said Leone. This gives us something to work with and speaks to more of a positive potential future outcome than a negative one.
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