Connecticut lawmakers point to major special-education investments for districts including Bridgeport
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Summary
State lawmakers told Bridgeport audience they secured large state funding to offset federal cuts and expand special-education supports, including $40 million for excess cost grants and an initial $30 million expansion that lawmakers said they hope to grow.
State legislators attending the Bridgeport event detailed recent state funding moves aimed at protecting school services from federal budget cuts and expanding special education capacity.
"We put in allocate $500,000,000 to make sure that all those cuts coming down from the federal budget can at least be addressed," said State Senator Sunjita Ghatar Wilcox, the chair of special education. She said the special education effort includes an additional $40,000,000 in support through an excess cost grant and an annual $30,000,000 special education expansion and development grant that the legislature hopes to scale to $150,000,000 in future years.
Wilcox described flexible uses for the funding — hiring paraprofessionals, reducing teacher workload, and supporting in-district programming — and said competitive grants and a new ombudsman office will help families and districts navigate special education services.
State delegation chair Chris Rosario, Representative Antonio Felipe and Representative Fred Gee each affirmed continued legislative advocacy for Bridgeport. Representative Gee said the delegation recently secured a $10,000,000 infusion for the district and raised concerns about structural inequities that contribute to resource gaps.
Lawmakers said Bridgeport should qualify for some competitive grants and automatic seed funding and that they would continue to press the governor and colleagues for equitable resource distribution.
Next steps: lawmakers said they will continue advocacy in Hartford and encouraged local partners to join outreach to the delegation to secure and scale funding.
