April 21, 2023

On Tuesday, the Appropriations Committee released its proposed budget for FYs 24-25

While the Committee's budget increases funding for K-12 education, it does not fully fund H.B. 5003.

The Appropriations Committee's budget proposal provides $150 million in additional education funding toward fixing the state's broken school finance system. Unfortunately, this amount is significantly less than the $357 million needed to fully implement H.B. 5003 and student-centered funding.

While a $150 million investment is powerful, and significant, it is sadly far from what is needed to fully and equitably fund all Connecticut students.

Right now, we don't have the details on how this additional $150 million would be distributed to school districts, and there are many moving parts and pieces. The $150 million amount could also change as budget negotiations progress.

Whenever we find out more information, we will be sure to pass along the details and keep you up to date.

In the meantime, our team has put together an analysis of education funding in the Appropriations Committee's budget that breaks down what changes were made and how each town's Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant was impacted. Click here to check out the analysis and let us know if you have any questions!

April 18, 2023

APPROPRIATIONS BUDGET INCREASES EDUCATION AID, BUT FALLS SHORT OF FULLY FUNDING STUDENTS

Earlier today, the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee released its proposed budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Although the proposed budget provides an additional $150 million for K-12 education, it stops short of implementing H.B. 5003 and fully funding all students according to their learning needs.

Below is a statement from Lisa Hammersley, Executive Director of the School and State Finance Project, on the Appropriations Committee's proposal and the need to fully fund H.B. 5003 and support Connecticut's students, educators, and communities.

Statement from Executive Director Lisa Hammersley

We sincerely appreciate the hard work of members of the Appropriations Committee in putting together the Committee’s budget proposal, and want to recognize the leadership of the House and Senate for prioritizing public education this session.

While we are thankful the Committee’s proposed budget provides an increase in K-12 education funding, we are disappointed the proposal falls short of implementing H.B. 5003 — a historic education funding bill, with wide bipartisan support, which would fully fund all of Connecticut’s public school students.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of Connecticut students walk into schools that don’t have the funding, staff, and services to meet their needs. This is an unacceptable reality that, unfortunately, the budget proposal released today does not fully address.

With student needs nearing all-time highs and districts and communities facing a looming fiscal cliff when federal COVID-relief dollars expire, fully funding our public schools is long overdue and absolutely essential.

It is essential to helping students recoup the learning they lost during the pandemic and be able to succeed inside and outside of the classroom.

It is essential to helping schools overcome staffing shortages and better recruit, retain, and pay teachers and paraprofessionals.

It is essential to developing our state’s workforce and growing Connecticut’s businesses and economy.

And it is essential to helping districts and communities avoid potential funding cuts, layoffs, and property tax spikes when federal relief dollars run out.

As the Committee’s proposed budget makes its way through the legislative process and budget negotiations, we urge legislative leadership and members of the General Assembly to provide this essential funding and fully implement and support H.B. 5003 so all students have the chance the receive a properly funded, high-quality education that allows them to reach their full potential.