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.
The Excess Cost grant is the State of Connecticut’s method for sharing in the expense for students who have extraordinary special education needs and associated costs. During the 2023 legislative session, the General Assembly increased the appropriated amount of the Excess Cost grant and amended the grant’s formula for reimbursing school districts.
This report breaks down how districts propose to spend hundreds of millions of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund dollars, provided under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, by the 2024 deadline as they continue to respond to the ongoing pandemic and its impacts on the academic and social-emotional needs of students.
This policy briefing from the School and State Finance Project focuses on how state and local funds are allocated to charter schools in Connecticut and its comparison states of Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created by Congress in March 2020 to help states and school districts throughout the country combat the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on students and K-12 education. This infographic breaks down the federal ESSER funding the State of Connecticut and its school districts have been awarded under the three COVID-19 relief packages passed by Congress.
As part of the state budget for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the Connecticut General Assembly made several changes to the ECS formula, including expanding the types of districts eligible for the formula's Regional District Bonus, and increasing the amount of funding per student provided by the Bonus. This document provides an overview of these changes to the Regional District Bonus, and answers some of the most common questions about this component of the ECS formula.