HARTFORD — New Haven teachers, students, elected officials, and other community members joined a chorus of education advocates from across Connecticut Tuesday to call for the state to invest more money in local public schools. At the center of their push was a request that the state upda te the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula — the state’s primary means of funding municipal public education — to keep track with inflation. Mayor Justin Elicker, among others, pointed out that the ECS’s per-student foundation amount has been stuck at $11,525 since 2013. The stalling out of that state-funding number has left New Haven students, teachers, and school buildings to suffer. “The conditions that New Haven public schools are in is embarrassing,” said Japhet Gonzalez, a senior at High School in the Community who was one of the first speakers to testify at a state Appropriations Committee hearing that stretched on for more than ten hours. “There hasn’t been a rainy day where water hasn’t leaked in our building,” he said. There hasn’t been a day when students don’t see cracked tiles and spreading mold. “There are days when I walk through the hallways and I don’t feel like I’m in a place where I belong.” All students are worthy of investment, Gonzalez told the state legislators who had convened the hearing in Hartford and online. “You guys have the money to do so, and all it takes is action.” The focus of Tuesday’s hearing was Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year. The bill that many turned out to testify on is called House Bill (H.B.) No. 5032: An Act Adjusting The State Budget For The Biennium Ending June 30, 2027. “Governor Ned Lamont is proud to partner with Mayor Justin Elicker and local leaders to ensure New Haven has the support it needs to continue moving forward,” Lamont spokesperson Rob Blanchard told the Independent in a statement. “The Governor’s biennium budget makes historic investments in the city, strengthens education funding – including additional funding for programs that have improved student outcomes, supports critical municipal services, and invests in infrastructure and economic growth. As the appropriations committee begins their work, the Governor looks forward to partnering with the mayor, legislative leaders and more to ensure New Haven has access to meaningful resources, opportunity, and relief for families across the city.” The New Haveners who testified at Tuesday’s hearing articulated an argument that city leaders — including Mayor Elicker, New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negrón, and city teachers union President Leslie Blatteau, among others — have put a special emphasis on as of late: That the per-student foundation amount included in the state’s ECS formula hasn’t changed since 2013. That number needs to be significantly increased, speaker after speaker argued on Tuesday, to give school districts like New Haven a chance to provide a high-quality education and a safe place to teach and learn. Elicker submitted written testimony and testified six-and-a-half hours in to Tuesday’s hearing. He also sent out a press release about his testimony Wednesday. The mayor urged the governor and the state legislature to adopt a new ECS formula that would see the per-student foundation amount increase from its current amount of $11,525. If the foundation amount had kept up with inflation, Elicker said, that 2013-set amount would be closer to $15,580. “Not increasing the foundation amount means that our schools will have to continue to do more with less,” Elicker said. In written and spoken testimony, Blatteau agreed. The governor needs to do more than convene a Blue Ribbon Commission “to address the pernicious reality” of the two Connecticuts that exist today, she said. “Without delay, we need to fix the formula.” “Many of our buildings are not safe or well-maintained,” added teachers union Vice President Jenny Graves during her spoken testimony before the committee. She said she’s worked in classrooms without reliable heat or air conditioning, with leaky roofs and mold. Special education teachers in New Haven “carry overwhelming caseloads,” given that one out of six students in New Haven receive special education services. With state funding where it is, “students often receive less intervention than they truly need.” Eli Sabin, a former Downtown/East Rock alder and current state rep candidate, spoke up at the nine-hour-and-40-minute mark of Tuesday’s hearing, calling for both an increase in state education funding and a commitment to “budget transparency” for local school districts. “We need to invest much more in our schools while also improving public confidence.” Sabin singled out for praise New Haven State Rep. Toni Walker, the longtime House chair of the Appropriations Committee, as well as New Haven State Sen. and President Pro Tem Martin Looney, the latter of whom has introduced a bill that would increase the ECS foundation amount from $11,525 to $13,500. New Haven Board of Education member Daniel Juarez wrote in with testimony supporting that same Looney-introduced bill, Senate Bill (S.B.) 7: An Act Concerning Educational Equity. “New Haven, like many of our peer urban districts, serves a significantly higher percentage of English Language Learners, students receiving Special Education services under IEPs, and students from economically disadvantaged households than many more affluent communities,” he wrote. “These realities translate into higher per-pupil needs and increased costs to provide legally required and educationally appropriate services. Yet New Haven Public Schools do not spend more per pupil than wealthier districts. In fact, we spend considerably less.” Supt. Negrón agreed in her own written testimony in support of S.B. 7. “A student’s zip code should not determine the quality of their education,” she wrote. “By increasing the foundation to $13,500, you are affirming that the state of Connecticut recognizes the real-world costs of 2026, not 2013.” Some of the other New Haveners to write in with support for increasing the state’s education funding included Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller, Morris Cove Alder Leland Moore, Elm City Montessori School Magnet Resource Teacher Dave Weinreb, High School in the Community teacher Amy Brazauski, and Wilbur Cross teacher Brian Grindrod. “We do not need a panel to research and discover that nothing costs the same as it did in 2013; inflation needs to be taken into account when funding the futures of Connecticut’s children,” Nathan Hale School music teacher Gillian Lynch wrote in her own testimony. “The time for meaningful change to the ECS formula is now.” The post City Pushes State To Increase Education Funding appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less