We are pleased with the outcome of this year’s legislative session, which delivered meaningful progress for teachers, students, and public education.
Lawmakers listened to educators and took decisive steps to strengthen the profession and help keep teachers in the classroom. Critical to this effort was the passage of HB 5003, which will ensure that serious disciplinary and termination decisions are handled in a consistent and objective manner based on facts, not politics, pressure, or personal bias. It also improves protections for teachers who are injured by students while on the job.
We greatly appreciate the efforts of legislators and the governor to pass a state budget that makes much-needed financial investments in our schools. The budget earmarks nearly $200 million for education, free school breakfast, universal pre-K, and special education grants. We welcome the additional funding and look forward to working on the blue-ribbon panel created to provide a long-overdue review of ECS funding, which has not been adjusted for inflation for more than 13 years despite significant cost increases. Updating this formula is essential to ensuring districts have the resources they need to support all students.
In addition, we commend the legislature for establishing the Supplemental Graduate Loan Program after federal action disqualified women-dominated professions, like teaching and nursing, from receiving federal Grad Plus loans.
While these efforts are essential in addressing the urgent needs of our schools, important work remains. We are disappointed by last-minute moves to permit state funds earmarked for schools to be used instead for other purposes. Additionally, other teacher- and student-centric legislation did not pass. We must address the financial barriers facing aspiring educators by compensating student teachers to attract and sustain the next generation of educators. Also vital is the need to protect teachers in today’s politically charged environment by ensuring their private contact information is not publicly accessible through FOI requests.
We must also embrace a statewide bell-to-bell cell phone ban in our schools. Reducing distractions is crucial to maintaining focused, productive learning environments. Fewer than one-third of Connecticut high schools currently have cell phone bans in place. We urge districts to implement strong policies and increase that number to 100% by the start of the next school year, and we encourage Connecticut to join the more than 30 states that already have enacted school cell phone bans.
We are grateful to the many legislators who championed public education this session and look forward to continuing our work together next year to further strengthen our state’s education system and ensure every student has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
