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Non-profit

State Education Resource Center

Type:

Quasi-public agency
Founded:

1969
Location:

Middletown, Connecticut
Website:

https://ctserc.org/

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The State Education Resource Center (SERC) is a quasi-public agency based in Connecticut that was created under state law to serve the Connecticut Board of Education. Its employees are not state employees. 1 SERC provides professional development and consulting to public schools with much of its focus on race and social policy throughout the education system. 2

Overview

The State Education Resource Center started in 1969 as a special education resource center by a contract between St. Joseph’s College and the State Department of Education. 3 The State Department of Education established SERC in the statute in 1975 and committed funding to it through federal special education funds. 4 It was originally named the Special Education Resource Center, but the state legislature changed its name in 2005 to the State Education Resource Center. 5 SERC’s mission was also expanded in 2005 by the legislature to include “promoting educational equity.” 6

The State Education Resource Center has nine members on its board. 7

It also has a nonprofit foundation called SERC Foundation that had $147,843 in revenue in 2020 and provides grants and loans to individuals and associations. 8 The SERC Foundation was established in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit with a focus on “racial equity.” 9

Racial Advocacy

After George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, State Education Resource Center issued a statement titled “Structural Racism Claims Another Life” in its 2019-20 annual report that stated, “racial justice is central to who we are, and addressing structural racism hits to the heart of what we do.” 10

SERC board member Brittney Yancy sent a letter to the state legislature in 2021 in support of a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on ethnic hairstyles. 11 In her letter, Yancy said the pressure she felt as an African American to straighten her hair to look white was “deeply rooted in the legacy of white supremacy, enslavement, Jim Crow, assimilation, and the genocide in this country.” 12

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed a bill in 2019 that required high schools to have a course in African American, Black, Latino, and Puerto Rican studies by 2021-22 as an elective and as mandatory starting in 2022-23. 13 State Education Resource Center developed the curriculum, the purpose of which was to examine “the struggles, achievements and intersections of marginalized racial groups,” according to the Hartford Courant. 14

Leadership

Ingrid Canady is the executive director of the State Education Research Center, a position she has held since 2016. 15 Canady’s leadership approach is to “unmask the hidden realities of institutional racism” in classrooms. 16

Elizabeth Brown is a board member and was a teacher for 10 years and then was elected as a Democrat to the Connecticut House of Representatives. She runs her own consulting business. 17

Jeffrey Leake is a board member, a former teacher, and former president of the Education Association of Cheshire. 18

Erin Benham is a board member and has also been a board member of the Connecticut State Board of Education since 2014. Benham was a teachers’ union official 19 as the president of the Meriden Federation of Teachers, a local union of the American Federation of Teachers, from 2007 to 2019 and as the vice president of the Connecticut American Federation of Teachers from 2007 to 2019. 20

Thomas Swan is a board member who has been executive director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group since 1993 with some leaves of absences to run political campaigns. The Connecticut Citizen Action Group is a lobbyist group that usually supports Democratic policies. 21 Swan ran Ned Lamont’s campaign for U.S. Senate in 2006 22 in which Lamont defeated incumbent Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary but then lost the general election to Lieberman after he re-filed to run as an independent. 23

Brittney Yancy is a board member. Yancy sent a letter dated Feb. 9, 2021 to members of the Labor and Public Employees Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly in support of a bill that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnic hairstyles. 24 Yancy, who is an African American, said that growing up she was “socialized” to believe that “straight, non-textured hair and whiteness was the standard.” She said she felt pressured to straighten her hair with chemicals to be “socially acceptable.” Yancy wrote, “The need for us, overwhelmingly Black women, to alter our hair’s natural state is deeply rooted in the legacy of white supremacy, enslavement, Jim Crow, assimilation, and the genocide in this country.” 25 Yancy also had held “community conversations” involving the New York Times’ 1619 Project. 26

Consultant Controversy

In 2012, the State Education Resource Center hired consultant Jonathan Gyurko on a no-bid contract, according to the Hartford Courant. 27

Gyurko was working with the state government on education reform and Connecticut Education Commission member Stefan Pryor said that Gyurko was hired for “his expertise” in regards to “pro-union reforms.” 28 Gyurko was a senior adviser to Randi Weingarten when she was president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City. 29

References

  1. State Education Resource Center website. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://ctserc.org/
  2. State Education Resource Center 2019-20 Annual Program Report. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022. https://files.serc.co/documents/reports/annual-report-2019-2020.pdf
  3. John Moran. “History Of The State Education Resource Center”; Office of Legislative Research. Nov. 10, 2021. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/rpt/pdf/2021-R-0203.pdf
  4. John Moran. “History Of The State Education Resource Center”; Office of Legislative Research. Nov. 10, 2021. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/rpt/pdf/2021-R-0203.pdf
  5. John Moran. “History Of The State Education Resource Center”; Office of Legislative Research. Nov. 10, 2021. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/rpt/pdf/2021-R-0203.pdf
  6. John Moran. “History Of The State Education Resource Center”; Office of Legislative Research. Nov. 10, 2021. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/rpt/pdf/2021-R-0203.pdf
  7. State Education Resource Center website. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://ctserc.org/
  8. State Education Resource Center Foundation. Form 990, 2020. Part I.  https://www.guidestar.org/profile/38-3978620.
  9. State Education Resource Center 2019-20 Annual Program Report. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022. https://files.serc.co/documents/reports/annual-report-2019-2020.pdf
  10. State Education Resource Center 2019-20 Annual Program Report. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022. https://files.serc.co/documents/reports/annual-report-2019-2020.pdf
  11. Connecticut General Assembly. “Testimony Of Brittney Lynn Yancy”; Feb. 9, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/labdata/tmy/2021HB-06376-R000209-Yancy,%20Brittney-TMY.PDF
  12. Connecticut General Assembly. “Testimony Of Brittney Lynn Yancy”; Feb. 9, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/labdata/tmy/2021HB-06376-R000209-Yancy,%20Brittney-TMY.PDF
  13. Eliza Fawcett. “Accusations About Teaching ‘Critical Race Theory’ In Connecticut Often Lack Evidence, Used As A Vehicle For Broader Attacks On Equity And Inclusion”; Hartford Courant. June 12, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-critical-race-theory-20210612-xrvywkxwejczrmzisfouxnb74m-story.html
  14. Eliza Fawcett. “Accusations About Teaching ‘Critical Race Theory’ In Connecticut Often Lack Evidence, Used As A Vehicle For Broader Attacks On Equity And Inclusion”; Hartford Courant. June 12, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-critical-race-theory-20210612-xrvywkxwejczrmzisfouxnb74m-story.html
  15. Hartford Courant. “Career Ladder”; Oct. 2, 2016. Accessed Jan. 5, 2022.
  16. State Education Resource Center website. Ingrid Canady profile. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://ctserc.org/about/serc/staff/ingrid-canady
  17. Waterbury Public Schools homepage. Accessed Jan. 3, 2022. https://www.waterbury.k12.ct.us/Board/Members/13
  18. State Education Resource Center website. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://ctserc.org/about/board-of-directors/board-members/jeffrey-leake
  19. Erin Benham LinkedIn account. Accessed Jan. 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-benham-4a312588/
  20. State Education Resource Center website. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://ctserc.org/
  21. The Action Network website. “CCAG 2021 Legislative Victories And More Work To Do”; Accessed Jan. 3, 2022.
  22. Eliza Fawcett. “Accusations About Teaching ‘Critical Race Theory’ In Connecticut Often Lack Evidence, Used As A Vehicle For Broader Attacks On Equity And Inclusion”; Hartford Courant. June 12, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-critical-race-theory-20210612-xrvywkxwejczrmzisfouxnb74m-story.html
  23. Eliza Fawcett. “Accusations About Teaching ‘Critical Race Theory’ In Connecticut Often Lack Evidence, Used As A Vehicle For Broader Attacks On Equity And Inclusion”; Hartford Courant. June 12, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-critical-race-theory-20210612-xrvywkxwejczrmzisfouxnb74m-story.html
  24. Connecticut General Assembly. “Testimony Of Brittney Lynn Yancy”; Feb. 9, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/labdata/tmy/2021HB-06376-R000209-Yancy,%20Brittney-TMY.PDF
  25. Connecticut General Assembly. “Testimony Of Brittney Lynn Yancy”; Feb. 9, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/labdata/tmy/2021HB-06376-R000209-Yancy,%20Brittney-TMY.PDF
  26. The Mark Twain House & Museum website. “The 1619 Project: Historically Black Colleges & Universities”; Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://marktwainhouse.org/event/the-1619-project-historically-black-colleges-universities/
  27. Kathleen Megan. “Talks Go On; Deal Near?” Hartford Courant. April 21, 2012. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022.
  28. Kathleen Megan. “Talks Go On; Deal Near?” Hartford Courant. April 21, 2012. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022.
  29. Connecticut General Assembly. “Testimony Of Brittney Lynn Yancy”; Feb. 9, 2021. Accessed Jan. 2, 2022. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/labdata/tmy/2021HB-06376-R000209-Yancy,%20Brittney-TMY.PDF
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