New Haven, CT: "Special education costs rising nearly 10% per student every year"

June 23, 2025, CT Examiner: Why Can’t Connecticut Figure Out School Funding?

This spring, New Haven Public Schools announced cutting 129 teaching positions due to a $23 million budget shortfall. It’s a devastating blow to children and families in a district that already grapples with overcrowded classrooms and outdated facilities. 

Sadly, what’s happening in New Haven is not an isolated crisis. Districts around the state, especially those in our highest-need communities, face the same tough choice year after year: do what’s best for students or keep a balanced budget. 

These constant funding crises raise a larger question: why can’t Connecticut, a state with innovative leaders and huge resources, figure out school funding? Advocates often point to a common theme: reactivity over long-term strategy. 

Take this year’s legislative session, for example. Lawmakers took a positive step by fully funding the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula, our state’s primary funding tool, for the first time since its introduction nearly ten years ago. But even this celebrated move won’t be enough to turn the tide for districts like New Haven, which still face rising inflation and persistent budget gaps that make it impossible to direct resources where they’re needed most. 

Nowhere is this financial disconnect more glaring than in special education. Special education costs are rising nearly 10% per student every year—far faster than the state’s reactive funding can keep up. For example, the state approved an extra $40 million in support from the state’s Excess Cost Grant (ECG) to offset special education expenses, but it’s not enough. Districts like Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven will still come up millions short, denying children the services the law guarantees them.

And it’s not just special education. Chronic underfunding has real, harmful consequences for all students. Research shows that high teacher turnover, worsened by budget instability, undermines student learning, breaks down trust, and makes it harder to build consistent, supportive school environments—especially in classrooms facing hardship in our highest-needs districts. These aren’t temporary problems. They are ones that have lasting consequences for student achievement, teacher retention, and a devolution of trust between families and schools. . . .