Prior to fiscal year 2026, Connecticut was one of only a few states that did not distribute state funding for special education through a dedicated formula. Instead, state special education funding was limited to the portion of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula’s foundation amount that was assumed to be attributable to special education expenditures, as well as the state’s Excess Cost grant, which reimburses districts for a portion of their costs associated with educating students requiring extraordinary, high-cost special education services.
During its 2025 regular legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly made a number of changes to how the State funds special education, including the creation of a new formulaic grant to support special education services. The biennial state budget for FYs 2026 and 2027 (Public Act 25-168), as well as two omnibus education bills (Public Act 25-67 and Public Act 25-93), passed during the legislative session contain various policy changes that affect how special education services are funded for students and districts across the state.
This briefing provides a high-level overview of these changes and their impacts to how special education is funded in Connecticut.
Citation
School and State Finance Project. (2025). 2025 Legislative Session: Changes to Special Education Funding. Southington, CT: Author. Retrieved from https://files.schoolstatefinance.org/hubfs/Reports/2025%20Legislative%20Session%20Changes%20to%20Special%20Education%20Funding.pdf.