Education advocates and a bipartisan group of legislators assembled in a packed room in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford this afternoon for a press conference arguing against proposed budget cuts to K-12 education in the state.
Earlier this month, Gov. Ned Lamont announced a draft budget adjustment that shifted more than $40 million in K-12 education funding to programs supporting early childhood education, including daycare and preschool. The total funding cuts to K-12 education total nearly $63 million.
Those cuts, which come from a variety of programs, would most notably include a removal of the tuition cap (currently 58%) that sending districts would be responsible for when students choose to attend a magnet or vocational agriculture program outside their assigned district. Some state school district leaders say this change would place a heavy burden on sending districts, particularly large urban districts like Hartford.