Imagine running your household on a budget that was set in 2013 and never adjusted. Same number every year, no matter how the cost of groceries, gas, insurance, or rent changed. That’s the reality of school funding in Connecticut right now. 

The ECS Foundation Amount has been frozen at $11,525 since 2013, when the state last assessed what it costs to educate a child with no additional needs for a single year. It’s been 13 years. Over that same stretch, the cost of everything schools pay for has risen more than 38 percent.

A teacher in Bridgeport buying notebooks and markers for her classroom is working with money that buys less every single year. A facilities manager scheduling a building repair knows that construction costs look nothing like they did a decade ago. But the check from the state? Same as it was when most of today’s fifth-graders hadn’t even been born.

All we’re asking is that the state keep up.

The fix is straightforward. The legislature should tie per-student funding to actual inflation so that when costs go up, school funding follows.

Students with disabilities are feeling this even more acutely, as funding streams designed specifically for them to supplement the foundation amount are drastically underfunded.

Last year, Connecticut created a program called the SEED Grant to help schools cover the cost of special education services. The state said that the program needed $190 million, yet it has provided only $30 million. And the way the money can be spent is so restricted that districts often can’t direct it to where the need is greatest.

There’s another program — the Excess Cost Grant — designed to reimburse districts when a student’s special education needs are especially intensive and expensive. That program is also underfunded by more than $100 million.

To put it simply: between these two programs alone, Connecticut is more than a quarter of a billion dollars behind on commitments it has already made to students with disabilities. These are children whose needs are identified in law and protected by federal statute. Their families trusted that the system would show up for them. And right now, it just isn’t.

If you teach at, or have a child who attends, a magnet or vocational agriculture school, the picture is no better.

These specialty schools charge local districts 58% tuition — meaning when a student enrolls in a magnet or VO-AG program, their home district pays 58 cents of every dollar directly to that school. The state covers the remaining 42%. The problem with this system is twofold. Local districts lose money they still need to cover overhead costs for students who have left, and magnet and VO-AG schools still receive less than they actually need to operate. The Governor’s current proposed budget would deepen the problem by cutting $12 million from that state share, reducing the money these programs receive and leaving both the programs and districts worse off.

And even if we fix all of these gaps, we have to be honest about the deeper structural problem. The state’s funding formula accounts for only about 40 percent of what districts actually spend on education. The rest comes from local property taxes, which means a town’s wealth determines the quality of its schools. Connecticut is one of the most economically and racially segregated states in the country, and that segregation is written directly into how we fund public education. The reforms we’re calling for are the best lever we have right now, and they will make a real difference. But until Connecticut addresses the massive wealth inequality in our districts, the disparities built into this system will persist. 

Every school serving Connecticut kids deserves full funding. Families shouldn’t have to wonder whether their child’s school got the short end of a formula they’ve never even heard of.

Here’s the good news: these are solvable problems.

Tie the funding formula to inflation. Fully fund special education grants. End tuition billing — a system that shortchanges local districts and still leaves magnet and VO-AG schools without the full funding they need. Each of these fixes addresses a specific gap. Each one is backed by real numbers. And each one is well within reach for one of the wealthiest states in the country.

Connecticut built this public education system. Connecticut made promises to the students and families within it. The educators who walk into these buildings every morning are holding up their end. So are the parents who pack lunches and drop their kids off, believing the resources will be there.

Now it’s the legislature’s turn. Fund what you promised — because every budget is a statement of values, and right now, Connecticut’s budget is telling our students they aren’t worth it.

Daniel Pearson is Executive Director of Educators for Excellence – Connecticut.