Connecticut Fiscal Year 2015-16 Education Budget Reductions

In our effort to provide useful updates on the status of the state education budget, the Connecticut School Finance Project has prepared the attached summary which outlines the impact of the fiscal year 2016 budget mitigation efforts on the Connecticut State Department of Education (SDE) budget.

About $31 million has been reduced from the SDE budget this year. The 10 most significant reductions have occurred in the following SDE programs:

1. $6 million (2%) for magnet schools;
2. $4 million (0.2%) for the Education Cost Sharing grant;
3. $4 million (2%) for the Regional Technical High School System (RTHSS);
4. $3.3 million (3%) for charter schools;
5. $2.6 million (17%) for the state assessments;
6. $1.7 million (8%) for staff to administer reform and other education programs;
7. $1.5 million (4%) for the Open Choice voluntary school transfer program;
8. $1.3 million (10%) for the Commissioner’s Network of Schools (turnaround program);
9. $1.1 million (12%) for programs to encourage talent development for state educators; and
10. $1 million (4%) for the state transportation grant.

Note: This document is not meant to be an exhaustive analysis FY 2015-16 budget reductions and instead focuses on reductions to the Connecticut State Department of Education’s budget. As a result, programs possibly impacting K-12 education in Connecticut that are found under other state agency budgets have not been analyzed or included in this summary.