States

Connecticut Lawmakers Enact Level K-12 Budget

By Scott J. Cech — July 15, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The following offers highlights of the recent legislative sessions. Precollegiate enrollment figures are based on fall 2007 data reported by state officials for public elementary and secondary schools. The figures for precollegiate education spending do not include federal flow-through funds, unless noted.

Despite a roller-coaster economy and a brief special legislative session that capped lawmakers’ regular 2008 session, Connecticut’s K-12 budget for fiscal 2008-09 remained exactly as it had been fixed in last year’s legislative session.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell
Republican
Senate:
24 Democrats
12 Republicans
House:
107 Democrats
44 Republicans
Enrollment:
570,494

That was bad news for the 15 urban districts that had been receiving $19.7 million from the decade-old Early Reading Success grants, which are earmarked for the state’s least-wealthy students.

The funding was removed from the budget by legislators hoping to improve the budget outlook. Lawmakers stayed away from education issues during the special session that ended June 12.

“Like all other states, we were affected by the national economy,” said Connecticut Department of Education spokesman Thomas Murphy. “We saw a projected surplus for this year of about $250 million, predicted in January, evaporate and turn into a projected deficit of as much as $50 [million] or $60 million.”

Overall, as part of the state’s two-year budget of $36 billion, the education budget grew at the 3.8 percent rate set by the legislature in the first year of the biennium, from $2.6 billion in fiscal 2007-08 to $2.7 billion in fiscal 2008-09.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the July 16, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

States Christianity Is Ramping Up in Public Schools. Where Is This Headed?
A wave of measures infusing religion in public schools isn't letting up, with an agreeable U.S. Supreme Court and executive branch.
5 min read
Tight cropped photograph of hands flipping pages in their Bibles.
iStock/Getty
States What's Behind a Legislative Push for Prayer and Bible Study in Public Schools
A Texas bill would allow schools to set aside time for students to pray and study the Bible or other religious texts.
6 min read
A Black middle or elementary student sharing her open bible with a female Asian student
E+
States What Happened to Oklahoma's Effort to Count Undocumented Students?
State leaders ended the possibility of a rule change that would have required proof of citizenship in school enrollment.
3 min read
State Superintendent Ryan Walters, right, listens during public comment at the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Thursday, April 25, 2024 in Oklahoma City.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters, right, listens during public comment at the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Thursday, April 25, 2024 in Oklahoma City.
Nick Oxford/AP Images for Human Rights Campaign
States What States Can Learn from Tennessee’s Fight Over Undocumented Students
Legislative action challenging undocumented students' right to a free, public education hit a snag in Tennessee.
3 min read
Rev. Eric Mayle, center, yells at lawmakers as a bill that would deny illegal immigrants access to education is passed in a House Education Committee hearing in Nashville, Tenn., March 26, 2025.
Rev. Eric Mayle, center, yells at lawmakers as a bill that would deny illegal immigrants access to education is passed in a House Education Committee hearing in Nashville, Tenn., March 26, 2025. The bill in question is now pending until the legislature returns to session in January 2026.
George Walker IV/AP