Now that the state legislative session is over and public schools in Connecticut didn’t get the funding they were hoping to receive, some school superintendents are moving forward with plans for layoffs and program cuts.
This implies that children might lose access to art and music programs, that many librarians and teachers will be laid off—which will increase the number of kids per class—and that special ed plans and student mental health resources will be cut. The superintendent in New Haven has even proposed the closure of an entire school.
Teachers feel upset and have been protesting to make their voices heard.
David Weinreb is one of them. He’s on the board of the New Haven Federation of Teachers.
“Largely, teachers feel pretty abandoned and pretty embarrassed," Weinreb said. "Abandoned is to say that it feels pretty normal, essential, and right for the schools to be fully funded by our government. And when we see that dozens of our coworkers are likely to be laid off because the state is incapable of realizing that our budget is full of essentials and foundational funding, not extra access, etc., it feels pretty alone out here.”
“This past legislative session, we advocated so much. It was such an incredible coalition, and so it’s frustrating that it feels like we weren't listened to,” said 2025 Connecticut Teacher of the Year Julia Miller, who’s also in the protest.
Yet, this doesn’t seem to be the case in all public schools in the state.
“Depending on your zip code, we are having completely different experiences of our public school system, and the legislature has to come to terms with that,” said Costanza Segovia, the organizing director for the Connecticut For All advocacy group.
That’s why teachers and advocates feel even more upset. They said in Connecticut, there are some good schools. “We actually have them in Greenwich, and we have them in Darien, and we have them in West Hartford, and we have them in Glastonbury,” Segovia said. But then, when you look at towns and cities like Bridgeport, Norwalk, or New Haven, that’s where troubles come.
Christina McGough is a second-grade teacher in Norwalk, but before that, she was a substitute who worked at different schools in the state. She said that teaching in different schools meant having completely different experiences.
“In Trumbull versus Bridgeport, there's a tremendous difference in organization. And you can see that with how the students just enter the building, how they learn, and what resources are offered for substitutes to help and support the students. When I taught in Bridgeport, they were like ‘go at it’; they did not give me anything to help these kids. Just babysit them basically. Then, teaching in Trumbull gives you resources and extra work. You see in the hallway, the kids are very well behaved and they follow expectations because the school implements those expectations and routines very well,” she explains.
How is this possible?
In Connecticut, local property taxes primarily fund public schools. This means that towns with affluent populations—like Greenwich, Glastonbury, or Madison—can raise substantial revenue to support their schools.
On the other hand, places like New Haven, which have a weaker property tax base, depend heavily on state funding to fill the gap.
But now, that state funding has been cut.
Advocates seem to agree that responsibility falls on state political leaders, who don’t seem to see these issues. According to them, they are the ones who could and should do more.
“Ned Lamont likes to say ‘money doesn't matter, it's about management, and it's about leadership.’ We reject that argument. Tell the people in Greenwich that money doesn't matter. Tell that to the people in Glastonbury that money doesn't matter. We know that money matters,” argues Leslie Blatteau, the president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers.
She said the additional state funding comes through the Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) formula, originally intended to aid communities like New Haven. However, she notes that the formula was flawed from the beginning and is only now, ten years later, being fully funded.
“Especially with the Trump administration, our state of Connecticut should be doing more to create a forcefield around our kids and around our schools and pushing resources into those schools, because we know the threats at the federal level are only going to take resources away. And, clearly, we have work to do because we haven't convinced the governor that he needs to adjust the fiscal guardrails to ultimately get more resources to our communities,” Blatteau said.
Connecticut’s overall school funding is above the national average, but data reveals the country's widest gap between its highest- and lowest-funded districts.
“So Ned Lamont likes to hide behind the fact that we have the ‘best schools in the country,’" Blatteau said. "Some schools are very well funded, some schools are significantly underfunded, and we have a gap that must be addressed.”
Advocates say they’re committed to increasing transparency around school budgets to demonstrate to Gov. Lamont that additional school funding is truly necessary. They’re also pushing for a more progressive tax system at the state level.
However, they admit that, for now, a clear solution has yet to emerge.
