Defendants' Disclosure of Expert Witnesses
Public Court Documents
March 16, 1992
17 pages
Cite this item
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Case Files, Sheff v. O'Neill Hardbacks. Defendants' Disclosure of Expert Witnesses, 1992. 4e0ce958-a246-f011-877a-002248226c06. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/bbad333a-d45f-43db-9c51-09e164007442/defendants-disclosure-of-expert-witnesses. Accessed November 02, 2025.
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NO, CV-89-0360577 8S
MILO SHEFF, ET Al. : SUPERIOR COURT
Plaintiffs
3 JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF
V. : HARTFORD/NEW BRITAIN
3 AT HARTFORD
WILLIAM A. O'NEILL, ET AL. : March 16, 1992
Defendants
DEFENDANTS' DISCLOSURE OF EXPERT WITNESSES
Pursuant to the order of the court establishing a schedule
for disclosure of expert witnesses, employees and consultants
expected to present testimony at trial, the defendants offer the
following amended list and disclosure. This disclosure is
provided in lieu of the defendants' disclosure dated January 15,
1992.
The defendants wish to emphasize that the particular facts
and opinions which will be offered by the witnesses listed below
are not the only facts and opinions which the witnesses may offer
at trial. The defendants expect to sUpplatient their disclosure
after the plaintiffs have fully and finally answered the
defendants' first set of interrogatories and requests for
production and the defendants have had an opportunity to consider
and prepare whatever response may be appropriate to claims made
by the plaintiffs in response to that discovery. Defendants also
expect to supplement this list with additional names and
additional information as work now in progress and work to be
undertaken after the plaintiffs fully and finally answer the
defendants' interrogatories and requests for production 1s
completed.
ls Christine Rossell, Ph.D. (Expert Witness) Boston
University, 232 Bay State Road, Boston, Massachusetts 02215:
Dr. Rossell is a Professor of Political Science at Boston
University.
Professor Rossell is expected to testify that the State of
Connecticut is responding appropriately to the educational
conditions in the Hartford area by encouraging voluntary
integration and compensating poor school districts for their
poverty.
Professor Rossell will base her testimony on her scholarly
research of the following at least:
l. the evolution of school desegregation;
2. national school desegregation trends;
3. measuring the effectiveness of school desegregation;
4, the relative merit of voluntary and mandatory school
desegregation plans;
5. white flight as a function of desegregation;
6. the effectiveness of specific approaches to
desegregation; 1i.e., freedom of choice, majority-to-minority
transfer, controlled choice, magnet schools, etc.;
7. metropolitan-based desegregation plans;
8. State of Connecticut policies and programs to encourage
voluntary desegregation and to ald poor districts through
compensatory funding, general and categorical.
Among other things, Dr. Rossell will rely on her work
entitled The Carrot or the Stick for School Desegregation Policy,
Temple University Press, 1990. Dr. Rossell's resume has been
provided to plaintiffs as Exhibit 19(a) of defendants' response
to plaintiffs' fourth request for production.
2. David Armor, Ph.D. (Expert Witness) 5006 Klingle Street,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20011:
Dr, Armor is currently Visiting ‘Professor, Rutgers
University; Consultant, American Institutes for Research; and
President, National Policy Analysts.
Dr. Armor 1s principal investigator for a grant to write a
treatise on race, education and the courts; coprincipal
investigator on a national study of magnet schools; and an
associate investigator on a project that is conducting case
studies of school districts with school choice policies.
While Dr. Armor may testify on more than one topic, at this
time he is expected to testify that research has demonstrated "no
significant and consistent effects of desegregation on Black
achievement." Dr. Armor may also offer opinions regarding
reasons for the differences in performance on the CMT between
Hartford and suburban children; however, his work in this area is
not yet complete.
Dr. Armor will base his testimony on his own original
studies as
concerning
achievement.
plaintiffs
plaintiffs’
3. Dr.
well as his scholarly analysis of the research
the effects of desegregation on Black student
Dr. Armor's resume has been provided to the
8s Exhibit 1S(b) to defendants’ response to
fourth request for production.
G. Donald Ferree (Expert Witness) Institute for
Social Inquiry, Roper Center for Public Opinion, P. O. Box 440,
Storrs, Connecticut 06268:
Dr. Ferree 1s the Associate Director of the Institute for
Social Inquiry, University of Connecticut. Dr. Ferree's resume
will be provided as Exhibit 19(d) to defendants' response to
plaintiffs’
available.
fourth request for production as soon as it is
Dr. Ferree 1s expected to testify regarding proper methods
and procedures for conducting a public opinion poll to ascertain
the attitudes of Connecticut residents and/or groups of
Connecticut residents. He is expected to present and explain the
results of a survey conducted by Institute for Social Inquiry at
the request of the Governor's Commission on Quality and
Integrated Education. The results to that survey are summarized
in the attachment to Exhibit 6 in support of the defendants’
motion for summary judgment.
4, Dr. Pasquale Forgione (former DOE Consultant) c/o State
Department of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford,
Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Forgione is not expected to offer opinion testimony as
an expert witness. Instead he will provide testimony regarding
the development, implementation and analysis of the CMT and CMT
results. The specific analysis of CMT results which will be
described by this witness have been provided to the plaintiffs in
Exhibit 16(f) of defendants' response to plaintiffs' first
request for production, Exhibit 18(d) of defendants' response to
plaintiffs’ second request for production, and Exhibit 10(c) of
defendants' response to plaintiffs' third request for production.
5. Dr, Douglas Rindone ‘DOE Consultant) c/0C - State
Department of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford,
Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Rindone is not expected to offer opinion testimony as an
expert witness. Instead he may provide testimony regarding the
development, implementation and analysis of the CMT and CMT
results. The specific analysis of CMT results which will be
described by this witness have been provided to the plaintiffs in
Exhibit 16(f) of defendants’ response to plaintiffs’ first
request for production, Exhibit 18(d) of defendants' response to
plaintiffs’ second request for production, and Exhibit 10(c) of
defendants' response to plaintiffs' third request for production.
ig Dr. William Congero (DOE: Consultant) C/O State
Department of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford,
Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Congero is not expected to offer opinion testimony as an
expert witness. Instead he may provide testimony regarding the
development, implementation and analysis of the CMT and CMT
results. The specific analysis of CMT results which will be
described by this witness have been provided to the plaintiffs in
Exhibit 16(f) of defendants' response to plaintiffs’ first
request for production, Exhibit 18(d) of defendants response to
plaintiffs' second request for production, and Exhibit 10(c) of
defendants' response to plaintiffs' third request for production.
7. Dr. Peter Behuniak (DOE Consultant) c/o State Department
of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Behuniak is not expected to offer opinion testimony as
an expert witness. Instead he may provide testimony regarding
the development, implementation and analysis of the CMT and CMT
results. The specific analysis of CMT results which will be
described by this witness have been provided to the plaintiffs in
Exhibit 16(f) of defendants' response to plaintiffs' first
request for production, Exhibit 18(d) of defendants' response to
plaintiffs’ second request for production, and Exhibit 10(c) of
defendants' response to plaintiffs' third request for production.
8. Dr, Elliot Williams (DOE Consultant) c/o State
Department of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford,
Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Williams is not expected to offer opinion testimony as
an expert witness. Instead Dr. Williams will provide information
regarding existing and planned programs promoting interdistrict
cooperation and improving integration. Specifically Dr. Williams
will describe and verify the accuracy of the information found in
Exhibits 3(x-z) to the defendants' response to plaintiffs' second
request for production.
S. Dr. Robert Brewer (DOE Consultant) c/o State Department
of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Brewer 1s not expected to offer opinion testimony as an
expert witness. Instead Dr. Brewer will offer testimony
regarding state grants to local school districts generally and
the state's financial contribution to the school districts in
what the plaintiffs have described as the Hartford area in
particular. Dr. Brewer will attest to the accuracy of the
information found in Exhibits 4(ee) and 7 of defendants’ response
to plaintiffs' second request for production.
10. Dr. Peter Prowda (DOE Consultant) c/o State Department
of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Prowda is not expected to offer opinion testimony as an
expert witness. Instead Dr. Prowda will offer testimony
regarding the analysis of comparative rates of absenteeism
provided to the plaintiffs as Exhibit 7(a) of the defendants’
response to plaintiffs' first request for production.
1. Dr. Theodore Sergi (DOE Consultant) c/o State
Department of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford,
Connecticut 06106:
Dr. Sergi is not expected to offer opinion testimony as an
expert witness. Instead Dr. Sergi will offer testimony regarding
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the background, implementation and effectiveness of the state's
priority school district grant program. Dr. Sergi's testimony
will include an explanation of the analysis found in Exhibit
4(ff) of defendants' response to plaintiffs' second request for
production,
12. Dr. Thomas Breen (DOE Consultant) c/o State Department
of Education, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06106.
Dr. Breen 1s not expected to offer opinion testimony as an
expert witness. Instead Dr. Breen will offer testimony regarding
the racial and ethnic composition of schools and school districts
throughout the state. He is also expected to focus on the racial
and ethnic composition of the schools in Hartford and those towns
which plaintiffs have identified as "suburban" communities for
the purpose of this suit. Among other things Dr. Breen is
expected to verify the accuracy of the information contained in
Exhibits 4(a) and 18(a-x) of defendants' response to plaintiffs’
fourth request for production. He will also verify the accuracy
of certain other analysis of the racial and ethnic composition of
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the school in Hartford and the "suburban" communities which will
be disclosed to the plaintiffs in the near future.
13. Mr. Lloyd Calvert (Expert Witness) c/o Office of the
Attorney General, 110 Sherman Street, Hartford, Connecticut
06105:
Mr. Calvert is the former Superintendent of Schools in West
Hartford, Trumbull and Windsor and former Assistant
Superintendent of Schools in Hartford. He 1s now serving as
educational consultant to the Office of the Attorney General in
regard to the Sheff v. O'Neill case. Mr. Calvert's resume is
being provided to the plaintiffs as Exhibit 19(c) to defendants’
response to plaintiffs' fourth request for production.
Mr. Calvert is expected to testify regarding the racial and
ethnic composition of the Hartford public schools and certain
trends regarding the racial and ethnic composition of the
Hartford public schools in comparison to the 21 school districts
which plaintiffs have chosen to designate as suburban school
districts. Tables and data which Mr. Calvert will rely on will
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be disclosed in response to the plaintiffs' earlier production
requests as soon as they are in final form.
Mr. Calvert will also testify regarding the state's efforts
to address the needs of disadvantaged and urban children since
the 1920's as evidenced in records of the State Board of
Education and his own work and experience.
14. Dr. Thomas E. Steahr, (Expert witness) c/o College of
Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, Box
U-22, Room 318, 1376 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269-4021.
Dr. Steahr is presently serving as a full professor in the
Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics of the
University of Connecticut. Further details regarding his
background and experience can be found in Exhibit 19(e) to the
efondantis response to plaintiffs’ fourth request for
production.
Dr. Steahr is expected to offer testimony regarding
demographic patterns and trends in Connecticut generally and in
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the area which the plaintiffs have defined as the suburban
Hartford area in particular. His testimony is expected to focus
on the following facts and opinions:
l. Based upon an analysis of conius data and vital
statistics it appears that the populations of that area which has
been defined by the plaintiffs as "suburban Hartford" are
becoming more diverse; i.e., individuals from traditionally
recognized minority groups are locating in the suburban towns at
an increasing rate.
2s The steady increase in the growth of the minority
population in the towns which have been identified as suburbs of
Hartford runs counter to the notion that people from these
minority groups are "trapped" in Hartford because of their race
or national origin.
3. There has been a significant change in the composition
of the "minority" population in Hartford. The evidence suggests
a net out migration of African Americans and a significant
increase in the Hispanic or Latino population.
-14-
4. Concentrations of people of similar ethnic backgrounds
in particular areas or towns is a natural phenomena which can and
does occur without government promotion or sponsorship.
By The concentration of African American and Hispanic or
Latino citizens in Hartford and other urban areas of the state
which 1s present today was not clearly foreseeable in the early
1300s given the limited information which was available at that
time and the uncertainties of making these kinds of predictions
even under the best of circumstances.
The testimony and opinions which Dr. Steahr is expected to
offer will be grounded on his many years of study and research in
the area of demographics and particularly his study of
demographic patterns in the State ‘of Connecticut. He will also
rely on his analysis of census bureau data and data regarding
vital statistics maintained by the State Department of Health
Services. Tables and charts which Dr. Steahr has relied on to
form his opinions will be provided to the plaintiffs as soon as
they are in final form.
This is to certify that a copy of the foregoing was mailed
FOR THE DEFENDANTS
RD “GRAERY.
ATT yd AU
By: 43 No Vid
A R. Whelan - Juris 085112
sistant Attorney General
0 Sherman Street
artford, Connecticut 06105
Tel: 566-7173
CERTIFICATION
postage prepaid to the following counsel of record on
March 16, 1992:
John Brittain, Esq.
University of Connecticut
School of Law
65 Elizabeth Street
Hartford, CT 06105
Wilfred Rodriguez,
Hispanic Advocacy Project
Neighborhood Legal Services
1229 Albany Avenue
Bartford, CT 06112
Philip Tegeler, Esq.
Martha Stone, Esq.
Connecticut Civil Liberties Union
32 Grand Street
Hartford, CT 06106
-16-
Wesley W. Horton, Esq.
Mollier, Horton & Fineberg, P.C.
90 Gillett Street
Hartford, CT 06105
Ruben Franco, Esq.
Jenny Rivera, Esq.
Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
99 Hudson Street
14th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Julius L. Chambers, Esq
Marianne Lado, Esq.
Ronald Ellis, Esq.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund and
Educational Fund, Inc.
S9 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
John A. Powell, Esq.
Helen Hershkoff, Esq.
Adam S. Cohen, Esq.
American Civil Liberties Union
132 West 43rd Street
Ney York, NY 1 336,
(LS
JghhiR. Whelan
Assistant Attorney General
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