To help you navigate the revised state budget for fiscal year 2027, we've put together an analysis detailing all the education funding changes in the budget and what they mean for students in your community and across the state. Additionally, we've created a resource that lists the additional state education funding each town will receive and explains how that funded was calculated and will be distributed.
This policy briefing identifies how reaching “full” ECS funding will alter what education funding school districts can expect from the State each year. Additionally, this briefing examines the impacts of ECS grant changes, budgeting uncertainty, future shifts in funding, and how inflation looms larger for “fully-funded” districts.
As districts work to meet increasing student needs and maintain high-quality educational programs, the purchasing power of state and local dollars has eroded under the cumulative effects of persistent inflation. To understand how rising costs are impacting students and teachers in the classroom, we conducted interviews with leaders across 18 school districts.
This policy briefing summarizes Connecticut’s recent education funding reforms and explores how various factors impact student achievement, including disruptions to learning, growing student needs, and the state’s ability to adequately fund schools.
The Connecticut General Assembly convened for a special legislative session in November 2025. While education funding was not a primary focus of the session, policy changes were passed impacting students, schools, and communities.
In 2024, the Connecticut General Assembly passed legislation that expanded the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula to include more students participating in various public school choice programs. However, because of how this change was implemented, state grant formulas for school choice programs depend on the ECS formula definitions in state statute but in inconsistent ways.