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June 13, 2023
2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION ROUNDUP
The 2023 Legislative Session has officially ended! This was a historic year for K-12 education funding for our state, but it was also a historic year for advocacy for our organization. So many of you made your voice heard during this legislative session. It was truly thanks to each and every one of you engaging with our content and connecting with your legislators that we were able to make such significant progress toward Student-Centered Funding.
Today, the General Assembly passed a budget that provides an additional $150 million in FY 2025 to public school students, which is the largest investment in education the state has made in the last 10 years!
Here's a recap of how you advocated this legislative session!
465 — Pieces of testimony submitted in support of H.B. 5003
264 — Signatures on a petition urging Governor Lamont to support Student-Centered Funding
173 — Emails sent to legislators to support fully and equitably funding all students
128 — Individuals and organizations on our Statement of Support
83 — Different legislators contacted about Student-Centered Funding
Because of your advocacy, your willingness to share our campaigns with others, and your determination to ensure the needs of students are prioritized, we were able to secure historic investments in education funding — including $150 MILLION in additional funds for public schools across the state! Thank you so much for showing up for Connecticut's students!
We do have one last action item for you...
Please take a moment to thank your legislators for their work this session in supporting students, families, and educators.
Their efforts helped pass one the largest investments in K-12 education in Connecticut history and get us closer to full, equitable funding for all students.
June 6, 2023
STATE BUDGET UPDATE!
Today, the General Assembly passed a budget that provides an additional $150 million in FY 2025 to public school students, which is the largest investment in education the state has made in the last 10 years!
This is entirely thanks to all of YOUR help and advocacy over these last few years as we've tried to make student-centered funding a reality for our students.
This is also a reflection of all the hard-work put in by our legislative champions from both sides of the aisle who demonstrated that providing resources and funding for our students is more important than party affiliation or politics.
While the budget unfortunately stops short of fully funding H.B. 5003, it does move Connecticut significantly closer to equitable education funding for all public school students.
The new budget also:
- Provides $150 million in additional funding to public schools across the state in FY 2025.
- Increases ECS funding by approximately $54.6 million in FY 2024 and $109.1 million in FY 2025 over current levels.
- Fully funds the ECS grant in FY 2026 instead of FY 2028 (two years earlier than originally planned!!).
- Increases funding for the Excess Cost grant, which reimburses districts for costs associated with educating high-need students who require significant special education services.
- Prevents towns considered "overfunded" by the ECS formula from seeing a funding decrease by maintaining their FY 2023 ECS amounts.
- Caps and begins the phasing out of general education tuition billing for magnet school operators and AgriScience programs.
- Allocates $16 million in FY 2024 to extend free school meals to all students from families making at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.
Our team has put together an analysis of education funding in the new budget that breaks down the changes that were made and how each town's ECS grant was impacted. Click here to check out the analysis and let us know if you have any questions!