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.
This guide is intended to provide an overview of elected positions at the local and state levels, help you identify your elected officials, and assist you in learning more about candidates running for office.
This report breaks down how districts propose to spend hundreds of millions of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund dollars, provided under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, by the 2024 deadline as they continue to respond to the ongoing pandemic and its impacts on the academic and social-emotional needs of students.
On May 3, 2022, the Connecticut General Assembly passed an adjusted state budget for fiscal year 2023. This budget amends the biennial state budget passed by the General Assembly on June 17, 2021. These budget snapshots provide a nonpartisan look at how the adjusted budget for FY 2023 compares to current and budgeted spending and revenue levels, detail key policy changes, and provide estimated town-by-town runs for the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant.
This policy brief focuses on Connecticut's Open Choice program, and discusses its objectives, history, administration, and funding. Open Choice is a program in which Connecticut students can attend schools in local public school districts outside the community in which they reside. Connecticut’s statutes currently allow for districts in the Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and New London areas to send and receive students from participating districts in their respective region.
This policy briefing from the School and State Finance Project focuses on how state and local funds are allocated to charter schools in Connecticut and its comparison states of Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.