During its 2025 regular legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly made a number of changes to how the State funds special education, including the creation of a new formulaic grant to support special education services.
This frequently asked questions document summarizes key components of Connecticut's Excess Cost grant, which is provided by the State to school districts to assist them in paying for special education expenses for students with extraordinary needs.
This policy briefing details the current mismatch between student learning needs and per-student spending in Connecticut’s local and regional public school districts, and examines some of the factors that contribute to this mismatch.
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.
2024 Survey Webpage
2024 District Leader Survey Results
2024 District Leader Survey All Questions and Responses
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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.