CT: SPED facing funding crisis; $96M overspend expected

Sept 8, 2026, CT Mirror: CT official argues fiscal reform could help address special ed crisis

Special education programs face a funding crisis this year that cannot be solved unless Connecticut reforms controversial state budget caps that have diverted billions of dollars to pay down pension debt, Comptroller Sean Scanlon said Tuesday.

The state’s chief fiscal watchdog, who is involved with two analyses of how Connecticut funds local schools and other municipal services, estimated special education services will cost $96 million more than their available resources.

“The way that we fund education generally, and specifically special education, is very broken,” Scanlon, a Guilford Democrat, said during his monthly media briefing on state fiscal and economic issues. “I think you’ve seen report after report showing that year after year — and yet nothing changes.”

The special education funding crisis is happening even after Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly used emergency procedures last spring to exceed the state’s chief budget cap to send an extra $183 million to local schools and another $100 million in general aid to cities and towns.

But Lamont, a fiscally moderate Democrat, wouldn’t consent to legislators’ requests to make that an ongoing exception.

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In other words, lawmakers were allowed to exceed the cap once. But if they want to maintain those payments 12 months from now, they will have to cut spending elsewhere or seek gubernatorial permission for another exception.

But Scanlon and other education advocates say the special education crisis facing local schools won’t be solved in one year.

Nearly one in five Connecticut students, 19.1%, was identified as having a learning disability in the 2025-26 academic year, Scanlon reported, citing data from the state Department of Education. It was less than 15% just eight years ago.

Those numbers are rising, partly because some local educators have gotten better at identifying students in need, said Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

But the biggest driver of those numbers, she added, is a dearth of intervention services that could identify and address students’ learning challenges early — averting the need for special instruction entirely.