reaking down the barriers between the suburban and inner city schools in Connecticut was the theme of Dr. Theodore S. Sergi's luncheon speech at the Fourth Annual Education Law Conference held recently on campus.

Sergi, the state Commissioner of Education, acknowledged that litigation has played a positive role in improving education, but he urged that the 85 conference participants "not look to the courts to develop policies....It's the governor's and legislature's responsibility."

Sergi pointed out that while the state's wealthier districts produce many talented students, they are nonetheless "students deprived of the interaction of experiences of working with kids of different backgrounds."

Providing equal educational opportunities for students and addressing racial imbalances among districts are issues plaguing many states, with some mandating complex funding formulas to help evenly distribute taxes garnered for education. Sergi stopped short of putting forth a policy regarding these issues but did state that his goal was to be an equalizer on the often uneven playing field of education.

Dr. Joseph Beckham, an attorney and professor at Florida State University, opened the daylong conference by summarizing the most important legal issues currently facing education administrators. Beckham is nationally prominent for his expertise in education law. He said that the trend is for courts to withdraw from supporting student free-speech rights and that school districts may set policies for how their buildings are used by various groups but could not set membership policies.

Beckham said that school administrators could neither endorse nor prohibit prayer in school but should remain totally neutral. He added that Connecticut may very well sustain a school vouchers program and that teachers will probably have to undergo drug testing if the district demands it. Students, however, must submit to drug tests only if there is a health or safety issue involved, as for athletes.

Sixty-two of the state's school districts were represented, mostly by principals and school superintendents, at this year's conference. Special thanks go to Cohen and Wolf of Bridgeport and Berchem, Moses and Devlin of Milford for their generous sponsorship. Organizers of this year's conference were Dr. Marvyn Jaffe and Dr. Jack Mulcahy.