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.
This model of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula details the grants and phase-in schedule, from FY 2025 to FY 2032, for each Connecticut local school district. Additionally, this model allows users to edit formula inputs to model different, hypothetical variations of the ECS formula.
This interactive model breaks down each aspect of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula and details how each town's grant is determined. Additionally, the model details each town's estimated projected ECS grants, according to the formula, from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2032.
The Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant is distributed to Connecticut school districts in three parts throughout the year: October, January, and April. This one-pager summarizes the ECS grant payment schedule and how districts receive their ECS grant.
On May 7, 2024, the General Assembly passed H.B. 5523, a budget stabilization bill that appropriates funds for fiscal year 2025 and makes a number of different policy changes to K-12 education and other areas. Along with maintaining the $150 million in additional funding for K-12 education in FY 2025 that was allotted as part of the state budget passed last year, the bill overhauls how Connecticut distributes state education funding to school districts.
We surveyed school district leaders in Connecticut in order to quantify how the expiration of federal COVID-relief funds will impact schools, staff, and students. Survey results revealed district leaders believe the loss of ESSER dollars will impact thousands of students and educators through cuts to programs, services, and staff, and make it more difficult to address student learning and mental health needs, support higher-need students, and improve student academic performance.