Part of the bipartisan budget passed in November included raising teachers’ contribution toward their pensions from 6 to 7 percent, but a bill passed out of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee would roll that contribution back.
Free to Learn
The Connecticut State Department of Education may penalize some towns for reducing their education budgets after Gov. Dannel Malloy cut education funding for municipalities.
A bill authorizing the state of Connecticut to conduct a study on viability of education savings accounts drew a bevy of experts and advocates to a packed public hearing before the Education Committee on Thursday.
Seven families with children in the Hartford public school system filed suit against the State Department of Education today over what they say are unfair enrollment quotas for Hartford’s magnet school system.
Connecticut lowered the discount rate of the teacher’s retirement system from 8.5 percent to 8 percent in 2016, but it still remains higher than most other states. According to NASRA the median discount rate has dropped to 7.5 percent.
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.
1 2
