On April 22, 2025, the Connecticut General Assembly's Appropriations Committee introduced and passed its recommended state budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. This nonpartisan analysis details these changes to state education funding in the Appropriations Committee's budget, and provides a brief overview of the general fiscal outlook of the state budget and economy.
The Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula is the method the State of Connecticut has established to distribute over $2.36 billion annually in state education funding to local and regional public school districts. This one-pager details the current components of the ECS formula, which was last revised during the 2023 regular legislative session.
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.
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.
During the 2023 regular legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a bill of rights for the parents and guardians of multilingual learners. This infographic, available in English and Spanish, explains the Multilingual Learner Parent Bill of Rights and what protections are afforded to parents/guardians as they navigate their student's education.
District Reference Groups (DRGs) are a classification system that groups local and regional public school districts together based on the similar socioeconomic characteristics and status of their students. Developed by the Connecticut State Department of Education, the DRGs have not been officially updated since they were first released in 2006. Although not for official use, the School and State Finance Project has replicated the DRGs using updated data and the same methodology and variables as the original DRGs.