The Connecticut State Supreme Court ruled last week that Connecticut’s school funding formula did not violate the state’s constitutional mandate that every child be provided a “minimally adequate” education. But “minimally adequate” might not be enough for some parents and students.
The cost of fringe benefits, including pensions, for Connecticut community colleges are growing faster than revenue, prompting tuition increases for more than 47,000 college students, according to an audit of the Connecticut Community College System.
Connecticut pays $14,374 per teacher per year toward the teacher pension debt, money that could be used to increase teacher salaries or improve children’s education.
The Parent Express - a party bus loaded with education materials, books, and volunteers - took to the road on Wednesday to visit school children and parents in 10 different cities and promote the joys of learning for both children and their parents.
Lawmakers may increase the teacher pension contribution rate from 6 percent of a teacher’s pay to 7 percent as part of a new, compromise budget package. Although proposal has drawn strong criticism from the state’s teachers’ unions, Connecticut teachers would still be paying less than the 8 percent national average teacher pension contribution and far less than the 11 percent contribution required in Massachusetts.
Gov. Dannel Malloy’s education cost sharing executive order maintained flat funding for the Bridgeport school system, but that wasn’t what Bridgeport Superintendent Aresta L. Johnson was hoping for, according to her budget talking points. Despite receiving the same amount of state education funds as last year, the Bridgeport school system has implemented a hiring freeze and an operational account freeze for nonessential and contractual accounts as the school system faces rising costs.