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.
Gov. Ned Lamont delivered a budget address Wednesday that includes the biggest income tax cut in Connecticut history, as well as added spending on schools and housing. The proposal drew praise from both sides of the aisle, but critics called it too cautious.
Superintendents from Ellington, East Hartford, Stafford, and Vernon, along with Enfield officials who sent a letter, joined almost 200 people last week to speak in favor of legislation that would revise how the state funds public education.
Lamont also could receive pushback regarding municipal aid — both from his fellow Democrats in the General Assembly as well as from cities and towns.
The state legislature’s Appropriations and Education Committees heard hours of testimony on Friday regarding Proposed House Bill 5003, a bill that would accelerate a phased overhaul of school funding so that high-poverty and English language learning districts receive more state funding per student.
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.