Students from some of the state’s biggest school districts were at the Capitol Thursday urging lawmakers to increase education aid.
Some of those districts, including Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, are trying to solve large budget deficits.
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WATCH HERE“Our favorite teachers are being cut, teachers that have worked in our district and worked a lot for us,” Hartford Public High School senior Christina Jackson said.
The students were joined by teachers and administrators for a morning press conference at the Legislative Office Building.
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SIGN UP Many of the speakers echoed Jackon’s plea for more funding. Some even criticized Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Connecticut) for his staunch support of fiscal guardrails that limit state spending.
“The only person that stands in front of that being a possibility, that would help us all across the state is Governor Lamont,” New Haven Superintendent Madeline Negron said.
A spokesman for Lamont said state spending on education has grown by 22% since he took office in 2019.
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“As for funding in the next budget, the governor continues to meet with legislative leaders and looks forward to signing a budget that continues to support our state’s outstanding schools,” the spokesman, Rob Blanchard, said in a statement.
Some Democratic lawmakers said they agreed with the students.
“We're saying our students aren’t reading but we’re cutting libraries, but this is what schools are forced to do when they have no money,” Rep. Maryam Khan (D-Windsor) said while talking with students from Hartford Public High.
Democratic lawmakers have proposed giving even more money to education than Lamont had in his proposal.
The plan approved by the Appropriations Committee last month includes an extra $26 million for Education Cost Sharing grants, the main form of education aid, and another $124 million for special education.
Rep. Jason Rojas (D-Majority Leader) was doubtful lawmakers to go beyond those figures.
“I think it’s a challenge, it’s all subject to the spending cap and budget and whatever room we have within it to do it,” he said.
Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) said local and state agencies are trying to find funding to replace American Rescue Plan Act money, especially when that aid was used for ongoing expenses.
Candelora said “there’s a reckoning that, I think, government is seeing at the local, state and federal level.”
