On the opening day of this year's 13-week session, Gov. Ned Lamont and lawmakers introduced several education-related proposals ranging from recurring issues to newer, bolder ideas.
“I think we've successfully persuaded people that education is one of the most important and urgent issues in our state, and so I'm looking forward to getting the attention that it deserves,” said Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Leeper, co-chair of the Education Committee.
Here are five major ideas to keep an eye on as the session kicks off.
1. Money for school districts
Funding is always top of mind in the education world, and this session is no different.
Some legislators are proposing an increase in funding for public schools, which specifically calls for increasing the foundation amount of the Education Cost Sharing grant — Connecticut’s primary form of state funding for K-12 education.
The ECS grant distributes dollars to towns based on a formula designed to provide equal educational opportunity, with a basic foundation amount, and weights that give more aid for poorer districts and schools serving students with higher needs.
Ahead of the session, advocates and education leaders have called on the state to adjust the grant foundation to account for inflation. The foundation amount has not increased since 2013.
However, the bill introduced by almost two dozen state senators to increase the foundation amount from $11,525 per student to $13,500 — as well as another bill and advocates' calls to increase the foundation amount even more — clash with what is proposed in Lamont's fiscal year 2027 budget recommendations.
In his speech to the legislature Wednesday, Lamont celebrated Connecticut's investments in education, including in early childhood education. His budget proposal also recommends millions of dollars in new funding that "build on and maintain historic investments in K-12 education."
However, Lamont's budget proposal does not include an actual change to the major formula that decides the state's contribution to local districts — to the dismay of many education advocates. Instead, Lamont said in his speech that he planned to sign an executive order in the coming days creating a “Blue Ribbon Panel on K-12 Education," that would study the ECS funding formula.
Lisa Hammersley, executive director of the School and State Finance Project, described Lamont's budget proposal as "a step backward" in a statement Wednesday.
"When it comes to K–12 education, the governor’s proposed budget sadly falls short of what is needed at this critical moment," she said. Hammersley urged legislators to reject Lamont's proposal, and said that it flat funds the ECS grant for most school districts.
Seeing no change to the ECS funding foundation in Lamont's proposed budget also came as a disappointment to Kate Dias, president of the Connecticut Education Association, who said that adjusting the foundation for inflation should be a top priority this session.
"I think here and now, there's sort of universal understanding that the adjustment to the foundation grant is necessary to, at the very least, support our school districts the cost of inflation and the rising costs of literally everything," she said.
2. Blue Ribbon Panel on K-12 Education
The Blue Ribbon Panel on K-12 Education will take “a bottoms up look” at the state’s education system, with a particular focus on an updated funding strategy and “making sure more resources go to the classroom,” Lamont said in his speech to the legislature Wednesday.
The panel, featuring state and local leaders, legislators and educators, will evaluate the Education Cost Sharing formula and other grant program formulas.
"The commission will be focused on saving money for the classroom and the taxpayer," Lamont said.
While Dias said she was supportive of taking a deeper look at funding strategies and looked forward to being involved in that work, she still hoped lawmakers would address the ECS funding formula foundation this year.
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, also said his caucus wants to start funding the foundation right away.
"So that might be something we still have to talk about," he said after Lamont's speech.
The Blue Ribbon Panel will also focus on building on the special education reforms enacted during the 2025 legislative session, Lamont said.
Senate Majority Leader Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said he believed the panel would be important in assessing the ECS funding formula, but also supported increasing the foundation amount.
“We also think that it’s important everyone knows that the foundation grant has not been addressed in about 13 years," Looney said. He said they wanted to at least incrementally increase the foundation as part of the budget this year, and phase in larger increases over time.
3. Free school breakfasts
When Lamont announced his proposal for free school breakfasts during his speech Wednesday, the House chambers filled with applause.
School meals have been a hot topic on both the state and national level, especially with federal changes that are expected to reduce the number of children who automatically qualify for free and reduced-price school meals.
In Connecticut, proposals for universal school meals failed to move forward in the 2025 legislative session, but Lamont hopes to change that this session.
"We tried last year; Let’s try it again this year: our budget provides for free school breakfasts for all of our students; everybody starts the day right. No shame, no stigma, no empty stomachs," Lamont said in his speech.
His budget proposal calls for $12 million to support that plan, as well as $523,755 in state funds to eliminate reduced price meal charges for Connecticut students — which would give free lunches to around 13,000 more students, according to the budget proposal.
"Children who have access to food in schools can learn and focus better, and it is directly tied to better outcomes as they grow up," said state Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, in a statement Wednesday. "I can't help but notice that the Governor's proposal could go further, however. If our state funds universal school breakfasts, it's not a huge leap from there to do the same with school lunches, creating a universal school meals program. The benefits from such an expansion would be measurable."
4. Cellphones in schools
The first day of the legislative session began with a contentious Education Committee vote over whether to raise potential legislation concerning phone-free schools this session.
Leaders of the Education Committee, as well as Lamont himself, have expressed their support for a statewide cellphone ban.
"I used to carp that smart phones make you stupid. Well, social media can also feed a sense of isolation, persecution and anger — a dangerous psychological cocktail," Lamont said during his speech Wednesday. " Connecticut was a leader in getting these phones out of the classroom, let’s go one step further: no phones bell-to-bell in any of our schools."
However, during the Education Committee meeting Wednesday morning, some lawmakers hesitated about going as far as a bell-to-bell prohibition for all schools.
State Rep. Anne Dauphinais, R-Killingly, voted against raising the concept, and said during the meeting she did not like the idea of a state mandate.
“I would be in favor of a town making their decisions for their own students in their own town,” Dauphinais said.
Despite some of the committee's opposition, Leeper said she was optimistic about cementing a statewide school cellphone ban into law this legislative session, especially with the governor's support.
5. Social media use
In addition to a statewide cellphone ban, another major technology-related restriction is proposed this session.
Lamont and Attorney General William Tong recently announced proposed legislation aimed at curbing youth social media addiction, which would require social media companies to determine when a user is a minor, enact parental consent tools and limit exposure to addictive algorithms.
"Let’s work with our neighboring states in requiring that no child under the age of 18 has access to these dangerous apps without parental permission," Lamont said in his speech Wednesday.
The legislation would also require kids' social media profiles to be private by default, and for the companies to prohibit notifications between 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.
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