Sen. Dr. Jeff Gordon Continues to Stand Up for Public Education Funding

HARTFORD, CT – State Senator Jeff Gordon (R-Woodstock) highlighted today’s Appropriations Committee vote to move forward with continued efforts he has been working on to increase state Education Cost Sharing funding for public education.

“I have been focused on getting more state support for public education,” said Sen. Gordon. “State government has not done enough for far too long. I proposed an ambitious, but much needed, legislative effort to make meaningful change: Senate Bill 34. My bill was taken up and incorporated into a big Education Committee bill. Today, the Appropriations Committee voted to move the bill forward.”

The base ECS funding is currently set at $11,525 and has not been increased since 2013. Sen. Gordon’s bill would increase that significantly to $16,075 to catch up with inflation and the rise in costs for public school districts. He also advocates to tie annual ECS funding to the Consumer Price Index to reflect the inflationary costs school districts face.

“This is a major part of my work to make Connecticut more affordable for more people,” said Sen. Gordon. “Public schools rely upon property taxes. People are getting squeezed, and they cannot pay more. Providing more state funding for public education helps lessen the drive for higher property taxes and could lower them for hard-working people, their families, and seniors.”

At the same time, Sen. Gordon highlighted that more education funding has direct impacts on opportunities for students to learn, teachers’ resources to provide learning experiences, and school administrators and staff to do more.

“As a former town official and a past President of the Woodstock Education Foundation, I know firsthand through leadership and experience the positive impacts that can be made when we work together for our schools,” added Sen. Gordon.

Sen. Gordon helped stop about $7 million in state education funding cuts the past several years to the towns of the 35th District. He also worked to stop de-listing Thompson and Vernon as Alliance Districts, which would have hurt funding.

“Although the Education Committee does not go as far or as quickly as I want, it is a step in the right direction,” Sen. Gordon said. “More steps need to be taken. We need to fix the crazy ECS formula that shortchanges small and rural towns. We need to better fund special education costs, which I helped get more money for last year and this year. As our towns are working on their own budgets, the Legislature can act now to help. I’m proud to work collaboratively to get things done.”

Sen. Gordon also submitted Senate Bill 35, which would pay for all the excess special education costs, instead of just part of the costs the state pays for now.