State education funding bill fails, but advocates vow to bring it back

A bill that would have enhanced state funding for all types of public elementary and secondary schools bogged down this spring amid fears that it would force primary education and early childhood development programs to compete for the same dollars.

But leaders of the General Assembly’s Education and Appropriations Committee said the measure will be reconsidered in 2023, as it is crucial to correct funding inequities facing magnet, charter and vocational-agricultural schools.

“There were a lot of huge, big-ticket items that had to be negotiated” in the regular 2022 session that adjourned May 4, said Sen. Doug McCrory, DHartford, the education panel’s co-chair. “I think there’s a lot of interest in approaching this again.”

The state is relying on about $3 billion in emergency pandemic federal relief to help prop up its finances through the 202425 fiscal year and must be ready to function without it after that, he said.

The legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee had recommended scrapping one of two programs designed to help produce large budget surpluses so the funds could be repurposed to support child care in a few years when the federal aid has been exhausted.

But Lamont opposed that move, arguing the state would be better served holding off for now and reassessing its finances when the regular 2023 legislative session starts in January.

“We look forward to a robust discussion during next year’s legislative session to make the right investments in our students and schools,” said Chris Collibee, spokesman for the governor’s budget office.

Collibee also noted that in addition to the extra funding for child care, the new budget also includes almost $47 million for school desegregation initiatives, special education, charter schools and bilingual education programs.

And another $97 million in federal pandemic relief was committed to expand free school meal programs, $30 million to provide additional free meals in schools, magnet schools and mental health services for students.

Still, education advocates say one year’s investments alone cannot correct longstanding obstacles facing many schools, and sustained, long-term funding is needed to fix that. That means adjusting aid formulas and then adhering to them.

Sen. Cathy Osten, DSprague, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee and a strong advocate for the education funding bill, said she believes the state can afford to commit these dollars now and expand support for child care.

“I would have voted for it,” said Osten, D-Sprague, who nonetheless conceded that its fate in the Senate this year was uncertain.

But Osten also predicted that support — both among legislators and among grassroots advocates for education — only will grow over the next year as people see the heavy toll the coronavirus took on local education.

Investing in early childhood development is crucial, she said, but Connecticut also must remember a generation of children beyond the toddler stage who had their education interrupted over the past two years and need help soon.

“Do we ignore that whole generation to fix that problem?” Osten added. “I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time.”