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 frequently asked questions document covers the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund and the federal aid it has provided to states and school districts as part of the stimulus and relief packages passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This policy briefing provides an overview of the process state education agencies and local education agencies must follow to access their allocated Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund dollars under each of the federal coronavirus relief and stimulus acts.
School accountability is the process of evaluating school performance on the basis of student performance measures. These measures determine the ability of a state, district, and school to successfully prepare students for college, work, and life. This policy briefing examines the systems of school and district accountability that currently exist in public education in Connecticut. This policy briefing also explains what school accountability is, gives a brief summary of the history of school accountability, provides an overview of Connecticut’s current systems of school accountability, and details school accountability grants currently available.
On December 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed Public Law 116-260, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA), which is the second stimulus bill passed by the U.S. Congress in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This policy briefing outlines the amounts and eligible uses of education aid provided by the CRRSA Act to states, analyzes how the CRRSA Act compares to the CARES Act, and details how the CRRSA Act impacts education in Connecticut.
Connecticut's public school districts remain deeply segregated and significant funding gaps continue to exist between districts that predominantly serve students of color and districts that largely serve White student populations. These are two of the overarching findings from this School and State Finance Project report, which examines racial disparities in Connecticut education funding.