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.
Open Choice is a program in which Connecticut students can attend schools in local public school districts outside the community in which they reside. This fact sheet covers the basics of the Open Choice program, including its objectives, how it operates, who can participate, and how it is funded.
This policy briefing provides an overview of charter schools in Connecticut, including the students they serve, the background and history of Connecticut's charter schools, the state oversight and regulations for charter schools, and the distribution of state education dollars to charter schools.
This brief details how an inflation-based adjustment to the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula's foundation amount could be implemented to mitigate the annual increasing costs of providing educational services. The potential adjustment would alleviate districts’ reliance on local sources to cover rising costs and would ensure all districts have the resources they need to properly operate their schools and provide their students with a high-quality education when economic changes occur.
This collection of policy briefs covers Connecticut's multilingual learner population, their education, current challenges, and opportunities to improve education programs and services for multilingual learner students and their families.
This frequently asked questions document provides information about Regional Educational Service Centers (RESCs). RESCs are voluntary regional partnerships made up of local and regional school districts that provide cost-effective education resources, programs, and services. There are six RESCs in Connecticut that offer fee-based services and programs to public and private school districts, municipalities, and nonprofits.