Whether it’s the loss of a favorite teacher, cuts to services like tutoring or mental health support, or even the complete shutdown of their school, almost every public school student in Connecticut will feel some type of impact from the expiration of federal pandemic relief funding.
Friday, a large coalition of lawmakers, advocates and parents gathered at the Legislative Office Building to call on the state legislature to fund schools immediately. They pushed a new bill to increase funding for the state’s public schools.
Students and school leaders urged lawmakers Friday to spend an extra quarter billion dollars on schools. Currently, that increase is scheduled to happen gradually over the next five years.
Towns and cities that past education funding formulas shortchanged are backing legislation to speed up the changeover to a new funding method that is expected to direct nearly $300 million more to them.
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.
Nearly 200 community members were scheduled to testify before lawmakers Friday, taking advantage of the first chance to comment on a bill that could change how Connecticut school districts are funded.