On June 3, 2025, the Connecticut General Assembly adopted a new biennial state budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. This nonpartisan analysis details changes to state education funding in the budget, and provides a brief overview of the general fiscal outlook of the state budget and economy.
There are a variety of types of public schools of choice in Connecticut, including magnet schools, career and technical high schools, vocational agricultural centers, and charter schools. Connecticut also has two additional school choice arrangements that are not as common: designated high schools and endowed academies. This policy briefing discusses both of these options and how they are a part of Connecticut’s public education landscape.
The purpose of this tool is to provide comparisons between Connecticut towns based on the data used in the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula. The ECS formula is the method the State of Connecticut has established to distribute approximately $2.44 billion annually in state education funding to local and regional public school districts.
This infographic explains how the Excess Cost grant works. The grant is provided by the State of Connecticut to school districts to assist them in paying for students who have extraordinary special education needs and associated costs.
The Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula uses several components to calculate town ECS grants, including student counts and town wealth data. This model shows how each town's variables for the ECS formula have changed over the past five years.
On February 5, 2025, Governor Ned Lamont released his recommended biennial state budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. This nonpartisan analysis details the changes to state education funding in the governor’s proposed budget, and provides a brief overview of the general fiscal outlook of the state budget and economy.