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.
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.
FOX 61: Brown vs. Board of Education 70 years later: How has it impacted Connecticut public schools?
Seventy years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools based off race is unconstitutional. Today, the impact of the decision is up for debate.
Superintendents across the state are concerned about intensifying learning gaps and their ability to address the unique needs of their diverse districts as COVID-era relief funding expires. While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted districts across the state, data shows the pandemic has also fueled achievement gaps for the state’s growing student-of-color and multilingual learner populations.
Since Oct. 1, over 800 students have arrived in New Haven. More than 600 of them are multilingual learners, meaning they do not speak enough English to ensure equal educational opportunity in a general education classroom and require additional support.
The budget stabilization bill passed by the General Assembly marks another significant step toward finally implementing an equitable, student-centered funding system for all public school students.