Published On: February 9th, 2023Categories: Connecticut News
Education Funding in Lamont’s Budget Proposal Draws Some Disappointment, Frustration – NBC Connecticut

There’s disappointment with the amount of funding made towards education in Connecticut.

Some groups are saying the governor’s proposed budget doesn’t go far enough in addressing the needs of all students and teachers across the state.

“The most important education reform is a great teacher in the classroom, and we have the greatest teachers in the classroom, and we got to keep it up,” said Gov. Ned Lamont.

The governor received applause after laying out education priorities in his budget proposal Wednesday. It increases the education cost sharing program by $134 million, which funds public schools across the state.

Some education advocates say that’s not enough.

“We’re just funding the status quo. We’re not responding to the needs of the communities,” said Subira Gordon, executive director of ConnCAN.

Gordon said she would like faster increases to $275 million from a proposed legislative bill.

She believes the proposed budget won’t do much to address the teacher shortage or close opportunity gaps among students.

“It doesn’t give the districts the ability to invest in things such as better and adequate raises for teachers. It does not really fund the structural shifts we need to see happen right now,” Gordon said.

The Connecticut Teachers Association said the budget is a starting point, saying in part:

“CEA will continue to advocate for an investment in our schools that is significant and done in a way that ensures class size reduction, more attractive teacher salaries and resources targeted toward making classrooms better places to teach and learn.”

Higher education funding also took a hit in the proposed budget. In a letter, UConn President Radenka Maric says UConn didn’t get all of the money the university requested and now faces a shortfall of about $160 million next year.

She warns tuition could go up by $3,000, or 19%, saying the funding is, “…far short of what is necessary to adequately fund the university, carry out our critical public health mission most effectively, and fully cover the sizeable costs the state seeks to pass along to us.”

The university president said the proposed budget wouldn’t cover the total amount of salary increases approved under collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the state and state employee unions.

“To be clear: UConn is very supportive of ensuring that our workforce is fairly compensated; we believe that our employees earned the wage increases that the state committed to in the agreement. Our request is that the state fund the commitments it made rather than pass the costs on to UConn. These are ongoing costs to the university and cannot be covered with one-time funds,” Maric said in the letter.

The university president urged students who want to take action to contact their state representative and state senator to ask them to make sure UConn and UConn Health are fully funded.

Students at UConn are planning a walkout next week on Feb. 15 in response to the governor’s budget proposal.

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