Student performance is impacted by several factors including, but not limited to, how districts are funded, the learning needs of students, and how districts allocate resources. In an ideal system, there would be no relationship between municipal wealth and student outcomes, however, in Connecticut, decades of underinvestment in education from the State and wide disparities in municipal wealth have resulted in disparities in district achievement.
Nationally, Connecticut’s education funding system is disproportionately reliant on local property tax revenues. Connecticut is only one of two states where property tax revenues account for more than half of all funding for K-12 education. However, the value of taxable property and household income varies significantly across the state, resulting in substantial disparities in municipal ability to fund education.
To attempt to address this disparity, the State uses the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula to distribute state education funding to local and regional school districts based on both student need and municipal wealth. The goal of the ECS formula is to offset municipal wealth disparities and ensure all students have access to a high-quality, equitably funded K-12 education. This results in a progressive grant allocation that provides the greatest support to municipalities with the highest fiscal and student support needs.
While the ECS formula provides progressive support, this analysis suggests support from the State does not fully offset the impact of municipal wealth disparities on student outcomes and per-student expenditures. As a result, districts in municipalities with the highest municipal wealth also tend to have the highest student achievement.
Citation
School and State Finance Project. (2026). Relationship Between Municipal Wealth and Student Outcomes for Connecticut Public Schools. Southington, CT: Author. Retrieved from https://files.schoolstatefinance.org/hubfs/Reports/Relationship%20Between%20Municipal%20Wealth%20and%20Student%20Outcomes.pdf.