On May 7, 2024, the General Assembly passed H.B. 5523, a budget stabilization bill that appropriates funds for fiscal year 2025 and makes a number of different policy changes to K-12 education and other areas. Along with maintaining the $150 million in additional funding for K-12 education in FY 2025 that was allotted as part of the state budget passed last year, the bill overhauls how Connecticut distributes state education funding to school districts.
This policy brief focuses on Connecticut's Open Choice program, and discusses its objectives, history, administration, and funding. Open Choice is a program in which Connecticut students can attend schools in local public school districts outside the community in which they reside. Connecticut’s statutes currently allow for districts in the Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and New London areas to send and receive students from participating districts in their respective region.
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.
There are a variety of types of public schools of choice in Connecticut, including magnet schools, career and technical high schools, vocational agricultural centers, and charter schools. Connecticut also has two additional school choice arrangements that are not as common: designated high schools and endowed academies. This policy briefing discusses both of these options and how they are a part of Connecticut’s public education landscape.
This policy briefing focuses on the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS), formerly known as the Connecticut Technical High School System, and discusses its objectives, history, administration, and sources of funding.
This policy briefing provides an overview of career and technical education programs in Connecticut and peer states. The review examines how CTE programs are funded, the types of programs offered, governance of CTE programs in each state, and the enrollment process for CTE programs in each state.