New Haven’s Board of Alders is slated to vote on the cities budget Tuesday night at City Hall and a part of that budget, funding for New Haven schools.
There are millions of dollars in difference between what the superintendent is asking for to fund New Haven’s public schools and what the mayor has proposed to the board.
“Teachers, union members, believe we should be advocating for the schools our students deserve and that means a fully funded school budget,” said New Haven Federation of Teachers president Leslie Blatteau.
She is calling on the alders to approve the superintendent’s budget, which includes a $16 million increase for schools to a total district budget of $220 million.
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“Our students deserve lower class sizes, our students deserve making sure that they get that individualized attention,” said Blatteau.
She said the need for more funding comes from facility fixes, continued, and expanded programming, and staff.
“Yes, the human beings are expensive, and human beings are at the core of the work,” she said.
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Mayor Elicker agrees, schools in New Haven need more money, but he said he needed to find a balance with taxpayer load.
“The challenge we have is balancing that need with our ability to pay for it,” Mayor Justin Elicker said.
He noted New Haven schools saw an increase of $8 million last year and this year has proposed a boost of $5 million. His city budget sees an increase of 4% for taxpayers this year if given the green light by the Board of Alders.
“On one hand I hear residents when they say we want our taxes to remain low, and on the other hand I hear from residents we have to provide more support in our schools,” said Elicker.
Blatteau agrees with the mayor that the load can’t be held up on taxpayers, hitting them harder than they already are.
“How much more can New Haven taxpayers, which are working class people by and large, absorb,” Blatteau said.
She notes, along with Elicker, the funding really needs to come from lawmakers in Hartford.
“In my strong view, we don’t put enough funding into supporting the most struggling young people in our communities,” Elicker said.
New Haven’s school district agrees, noting without a fully funded budget for the schools, New Haven could be facing larger class sizes, and reduced programming outside the school day.
A statement from Superintendent, Dr. Madeline Negron continued saying in part "but this is not the sole responsibility of towns and cities. We regret that the state has not made more progress in closing the great divide that exists between urban and suburban districts. It is time to fully fund the state’s Educational Cost Sharing formula. New Haven’s students deserve what we are requesting on their behalf.”
NBC Connecticut reached out to Senate Democrats for a statement on the calls for increased funding for urban school districts, but have not heard back.
When we reached out to Senate Republicans for a statement and were offered a response from Senate Minority Leader Sen. Stephen Harding, and Sen. Eric Berthel, ranking member of the Education and Appropriations committees:
“Democrats control all levers of power at the State Capitol. Democrats also control all levers of power in New Haven. The Mayor and teachers union may need to work on their lobbying skills with their fellow Democrats. That’s because Democrats chose not to re-open the budget for review and changes.”
