Legislators maintain they had a solid agreement with Lamont’s administration last year as part of the two-year budget for an additional $150 million for K-12 public education, but that total has not been placed into the latest budget recommendations.
Hundreds of educators, legislators, students, child care workers and various community organizations packed into a room at the State Capitol on Thursday, decrying the governor’s plan to shift millions of dollars away from the education budget for child care programs.
Legislators, school officials, students and parents are calling for the state to use a portion of its surplus to increase funding to schools as the federal coronavirus funding runs out, but legislative leaders warn that this decision may come at the expense of other budgetary requests.
Public school superintendents are hailing a proposal to accelerate growth in state aid as a solution for the expiration of federal covid dollars used to increase staffing and pay for programs in many districts over the last three years.
At a press conference on Tuesday, advocates and legislators gathered in support of a bill that will increase funding for public schools across the state — a decision that supporters say will help address the existing racial and socioeconomic divides in the education system.