From Day 1 of our organization, we've been committed to improving how Connecticut funds its public schools and creating a more equitable, logical, and transparent system for all students and communities. For years, thousands of Connecticut students were funded through flat-dollar grants that didn't account for their learning needs or the needs of their school.
In 2024 we achieved a landmark victory when the Connecticut General Assembly passed landmark legislation that — for the first time in state history — ensured all public school students would be at least partially funded based on their individual learning needs, no matter where they live or the type of public school they attend.
This historic achievement not only increased funding for students, but helped untangle the state's disjointed and inequitable web of education funding formulas by putting Connecticut on the path for a single, transparent formula to support both local and regional public school districts as well as public schools of choice (magnet schools, AgriScience programs, and charter schools).
Unfortunately, the legislation stopped short of implementing a truly student-centered funding system and fully funding all public school students based on their learning needs. That's why we're working with legislative, education, community, and municipal stakeholders across the state to fully enact a student-centered funding system that provides all Connecticut public school students with a high-quality, equitably funded education that offers them the resources and opportunities they need to reach their full potential and succeed inside and outside of the classroom.
The student-centered funding system our team has developed and modeled would significantly strengthen and improve how Connecticut funds public education by:
- Fully funding all districts;
- Reducing Connecticut’s racial and economic funding gaps;
- Investing in Connecticut's future and addressing the state's severe labor and skill shortage;
- Expanding the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula to include all Connecticut public school students;
- Combatting the state's shortage of teachers, paraprofessionals, and counselors; and
- Responding to the crisis of growing student needs.
