Connecticut’s 2025 legislative session closed in early June, bringing with it a few hard-won investments in education. Left behind, however, were a series of missed opportunities at precisely the moment when federal actions are compounding the stakes for our students.

Yes, we secured funding for high impact tutoring and continued advancing early literacy. The legislature also made investments in special education and early childcare. These are critical wins for learners.

But major reforms, ones that would unlock access to quality schools, diversify the educator workforce, and strengthen support for multilingual learners, never made it across the finish line. They didn’t fail from disagreement; they stalled in the face of political inertia. Leadership is essential to making change every legislative session, but never more so than in this precarious moment for kids.

With sweeping federal legislation poised to deepen inequity, the urgency to address that unfinished business is now.

Crass congressional cuts threaten to undercut Connecticut’s education gains in profound ways:

Pell grants are reduced, and loan forgiveness programs scaled back, shrinking access to higher education for the students who are investing in their future and need it most.

Funding freezes and program cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other foundational supports will reverberate through schools, jeopardizing mental health services, nutrition, and after-school programming across Connecticut.

In response, our state has rightfully pushed back. Connecticut has filed a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s freeze of more than $50 million in federal education grants. But legal action alone won’t protect the students and families facing immediate loss of opportunity. Local summer learning programs have already been cut. Staff positions are at risk. And entire school districts are being asked to do more with far less, especially when considering macro inflationary pressures.

That’s why the potential for a special legislative session in early fall carries such importance. If convened, education must be at the center of the agenda, not as an isolated issue, but as a pillar in our response to sweeping national challenges.

Here are the most important actions that would help students their families and our state in education: 

Fixing Connecticut’s charter school approval process, which currently blocks new quality schools even when families and communities are ready.

Expanding scholarship opportunities for aspiring educators. 

Modernizing teacher certification, removing outdated barriers and diversifying our educator pipeline.

Expanding language access and opportunity for multilingual learners and their families, whose success strengthens our state both economically and culturally.

We often talk about summer learning loss, but this year, the greater risk is summer leadership loss. We cannot allow urgency to fade just as the stakes have risen. Nor can we separate education from the broader conditions children face, like safe housing, health care, and food security. These are not side issues. They are the bedrock of academic success.

We have a narrow window to act. If lawmakers return this fall, they must come prepared to meet a new reality, one shaped by national retrenchment and guided by the needs of Connecticut families. Then, during next February’s regular session, we must begin with resolve, not reset.

Each session represents a generation of learners. And students don’t get these years back. Let’s use this summer to recommit, not just to finishing the job we started, but to defend the promise of public education in a time when that promise is under real threat.

Our students can’t afford another season of inaction. Neither can we.

Steven Hernández is Executive Director of ConnCAN.