Education stakeholders — including lawmakers, superintendents and municipal leaders — gathered Thursday to call out Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration for a lack of financial investment in K-12 education and to urge state leadership to make it a priority in the upcoming 2024 legislative session.
Parents and city officials gave public testimony this week to support legislation that would fully fund school districts with state money when federal COVID relief funds expire.
The event this week featured a presentation by Erika Haynes, director of community engagement for the School and State Finance Project, an organization looking to “increase awareness about Connecticut’s education finance system and the need for an equitable, unified funding formula that treats all students fairly and strengthens schools and communities."
The way Connecticut funds education is broken. For decades, where a student lives and where they go to school have determined the education funding they receive, and limited the opportunities they have for success in and out of the classroom. This approach has resulted in severe funding inequities, created one of the largest opportunity gaps in the country, and produced an unjust system where thousands of Connecticut students are deprived of the resources and services they need. Connecticut students deserve better.
Gov. Ned Lamont has released budget revisions that he said amounted to a $402.5-million investment in schools, but not all are pleased with the changes. The Connecticut General Assembly will hear public testimony Thursday afternoon on the schools budget, but education groups and officials are pointing to what they say are omissions or problems with the governor’s proposal.
Connecticut’s spending on state employee pay has grown in recent years – reaching a record high of about $4.9 billion each of the past two years, according to an analysis of data from the state Comptroller’s office.