Legitalk:

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I wanna welcome everybody to the public hearing for the education, subcommittee of appropriations. I wanna thank all of you who have decided to come and testify. We wanna hear your testimonies. We wanna hear what you have to say, but we have 352 people that have signed up to testify. So if you while you're sitting there, since all of you have got had some math, you divide that by three minutes and tell me how many people does that mean we'll hear per hour And then calculate how many hours we're going to have to be here. So I would say, our guess is that we'll be here or on Zoom until about three or four in the morning. So because of that, I ask you all to be respectful. You have three minutes. I don't care if you have a group or not. You have three minutes for testimony and at the three minutes, we ask you to be respectful for everybody. There are no questions from the legislators because if we have questions, you will see the same outfit on me tomorrow. So therefore, I would like to at least go home. But I appreciate all of you coming to testify. We will read the testimonies. There is no question about it. That is why I also ask everybody, please make sure that you leave your testimony or email it to the appropriation sub no, don't do that? There's a portal. Oh, there's a portal. Oh, okay. I'm okay. I just learned there's a portal. Please submit your your testimony to the portal, so that it can go on record. And that way, it's also documented, so then when we have a question about something that we heard in your testimony, we can refer back to it. And we do do that. We keep a a record and we have a list of people who have signed up today. I thank you for your dedication. I thank you for your advocacy. And I also thank you for your compassion for all of the legislators who want to make sure that you have the opportunity to do this this testimony. So for the first hour, two hours?

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Two hours.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: God bless you. The first two hours, representative new Oh. Exum. Representative Exum will be the legislator. And if you are on remote What was the word instruction.

[Speaker 2]: Please accept.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: The invitation. The invitation. That you will be getting an invitation from us to please come forward. So with that I thank you and I turn this over to Representative Hixom.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. Representative Walker.

[Speaker 3]: Okay. So it's good to

[Representative Tammy Exum]: see you all this afternoon. We'll get started with a very familiar face to me. Our first panelist is Jeffrey Bravin from the American School for the Deaf. Yes.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yes ma'am. Just a few housekeeping items. We cannot have signs showing in the hearing room. So those need to be put away or tucked under your seats, but we can't have those. And anyone online, if you are receiving a promotion to panelists, please accept it. And please know you are numbered, randomly. It is not first come, first serve. And if you need help accessing your speaker, your number on the speaker list, please send me an email.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Also, please, we ask everybody not to make any, any, noises or don't participate in other people's testimonies because that would not be fair. So we ought to be respectful for everybody. Everybody has a right to make their testimony and have an opinion. So that also is very important for all of us. And what does the sound say when when the three minutes is up? Who's timing?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Well, for this round, we're

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: not we're

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: not timing. Well, no. Okay. Okay. I just wanna make sure that if if you have a chance, show them what the ding ding ding is. Never mind. Okay. I just gotta clear that. Never mind. I'm ready.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: And we and we and we prefer

[Representative Tammy Exum]: to this if possible as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay. So we're ready to begin. Good afternoon.

[Jeffrey Bravin (Executive Director, American School for the Deaf)]: Good afternoon and thank you so much for having us here today. It is always an honor to be here in recognition of the time limitations. I just want to take the opportunity to introduce two of our other staff members who are here with me today. Justin Brooks who is our director of student life and Alex Daley who is a senior administrative assistant who works at the school. Both of these individuals are alumni of our school and they have grown at ASD and now return to work for us. Their testimonies are wonderful and beautifully written. They have been submitted online so I'll allow you to have the opportunity to read through that so they don't have to testify today and save you some time this evening. Okay. Again I want to thank the legislature for working so closely with the school over many many years to ensure that we close the gap on our deficit. The deficit is still there but every year you can see that the deficit continues to close. And last year when we came here to testify I did ask for $1,600,000 for last year and then an incremental increase of $800,000 or fiscal year twenty seven. We did not get the full $1,600,000 last year we got 800,000 and then we were flat funded for this year. So I am here to ask to please support an increase of $800,000 for this year so that we can continue to close the gap on that deficit. If we do not get that $800,000, that deficit will continue to grow once again and will directly impact the school's operations moving forward. So while we recognize that we do have a deficit those monies will go towards making sure that we can retain the amazing staff that we have here on our campus staff who are uniquely skilled and dedicated. They don't have just the specific skill set to work with our students. They also are able to provide language and communication access accessible education. And so we really want to take a look at this and see if we can get this $800,000 so we can continue to provide the wonderful services that we have been providing for many years and many more years to come. And so that is my simple request today. So thank you again for your time this afternoon.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. It's wonderful to see you. I must say the American School for the Deaf is in my district and I'm so happy to represent you and just appreciate your amazing work. Thank you so much.

[Jeffrey Bravin (Executive Director, American School for the Deaf)]: Thank you so much.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Next we will have Alexandra Daley followed by Justin Brooks. Oh that's it. Okay. You're all together. Next Rashida Kulkarni. Pardon me if I'm messing up your name there followed by Pan Pan Hansa Semora Coon.

[Speaker 2]: I hope you can understand what I just said.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. Good afternoon. Now your microphone you need to press the button and then. Thank you. Okay.

[Rashida Kulkarni (Student Senator, CREC Academy of Aerospace & Engineering)]: I'm sorry about that. Can you hear me better now. Perfect. Great. My name is Rashida Kolkerny and I currently represent the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering as a CREC student senator. I live in Glastonbury but I attend school in Windsor. I'm here asking you today to preserve the $12,000,000 in funding for the fiscal year twenty twenty seven budget for our ESE magnet schools or regional education service centers. Now I love CREC for three main reasons. My first reason is because is because of the opportunities it provides for me. If it wasn't for CREC, I wouldn't have discovered my passion for government and public policy because I'd actually come to this building last year to meet with governor Lamont on how important it is to keep funding magnet schools. My second reason is because of its special curriculum. See, CREC schools offer a variety of curriculums, whether that be art or STEM, but my school, as it says engineering, specifically focuses on STEM. This has helped me and hundreds of other students discover things that they weren't even interested in through aerospace engineering, through principles of engineering, and other classes like that. My third reason to why I love CREC is the emphasis it has on diversity. If I had gone to my town school, there wasn't a great emphasis on that, and this is the one thing that CREC will offer that town schools don't. Seeing students come from different towns all over Connecticut really helps people create friendships as well as CREC creating an environment where they can foster innovation and creativity. Now the third my fourth reason is it's after school activities. Obviously, for twelfth graders, when they apply to college, they need to have after school, clubs and extra curriculars to write on. And I currently run the business club at my school or DECA. If it wasn't for aerospace, I would not have met such a great group of young people who are interested in changing, the business world. And because of that, I love Craig. Now I'm here, again, as a student senator. I'm asking you to preserve this money, not only for me, but for the hundreds or and thousands of thousands of students who attend Craig schools and who want to have an equitable education. Thank you so much.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much for your testimony. Really appreciate that. Next we will have Penhansa Followed by Nathan Walliston.

[Panhansa (Pan) Samarakoon (Student Senator, CREC Academy of Aerospace & Engineering)]: Good afternoon. Members of the appropriations committee. My name is Pahanza summer coon. I am 17 years old and a senior, CREC student Senator at the academy of aerospace and engineering. As I prepare to graduate this year, I've been reflecting on what it means to grow up inside a system that was built intentionally, not by accident, not by convenience, but by constitutional mandate. Connecticut's magnet schools were created in response to chef versus O'Neil's, a ruling that recognized that racial and economic isolation in education was not simply unfortunate. It was unconstitutional. Magna schools were designed as a remedy. They were built as bridges across municipal borders as classrooms were different difference is not separated but shared. I have spent nearly my entire academic life on one of those bridges. Every morning students from different towns, different neighborhoods, and different economic realities walk into the same building. We solve the same equations, we run into the same gym, we lead the same organizations. In a time when public life often feels defined defined by division, by red and blue maps, by echo chambers, by widening gaps in trust, magnet schools quietly practice something else. They practice proximity, they practice dialogue, they practice shared responsibility. This is civic preparation. Bridges require maintenance. The education cost sharing foundation amount, which forms the base of Connecticut school funding formula has not been increased since 2013. For more than a decade, inflation has eroded its value. A number may remain flat on paper, but it does not remain flat in reality. Transportation costs rise, energy costs rise, salaries and instructional materials rise. Yet the foundation amount has remained unchanged. Stability cannot build be built on erosion. At the same time, the proposal removal of $12,000,000 in supplemental funding for regional magnet schools introduced uncertainty into a system that depends on predictability. Unlike municipal districts, magnet schools cannot levy property taxes. Regional operators such as crack rely entirely on state appropriations and tuition from sending districts. When funding shifts, there is no independent mechanism to compensate. And yet inside those buildings, students continue to build futures. Additionally, when we talk about funding schools, we are also talking about whether students have structured opportunities to contribute beyond their desks. One of the ways Connecticut has made that possible is through the Connecticut Association of Schools, also known as CASIAC, which creates statewide spaces for students to engage directly with one another with the system that shape our education. Across Connecticut, students gather not only simply to event attend events, but to shape them. This year, we had an empowerment day conference which brought together over more than a thousand students from across the state. As well as the leadership conference which brought over 600 students and the middle school and elementary school which was another a thousand students. These are not assemblies, they are platforms. Through my service on the CASI ISA student athletic advisory board and the state student advisory council on education, I have facilitated workshops as well as participated in a panel. Girls who were the same age as me and even younger asked me for advice which was truly moving. In that same moment, I understood that what happens in these spaces is not symbolic. CASI IEC programming services serves more than 170,000 students annually. The proposed reduction in funding the from 400,000 to 200,000 would not cut excess. It would reduce staffing, limit access to these conferences and weaken structured platforms that amplify student voices across Connecticut. If we believe student voices matter we must fund the structure that makes that voice possible. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: SPEAKER one: Thank you so much for that testimony. Next we will have Nathan. Thank you. Thank you so much. And I'll wait for a couple of other people to come in. I just want to review the ground rules only wanting to let you know we have about 350 people signed up and at that point we are expecting to be here about three or four in the morning. So we've have a couple of things we'd like to expect to be here about three or four in the morning. So we have a couple of things we'd like to ask you to do. Our testimonies three minutes each. We're asking if you know signs no clothing that shows any political particular stance. And also if you could please do this as opposed to clapping so that we don't have interruptions and we can kind of move smoothly through this. We'd really appreciate that. And, and if you're online and if you have a promotion to accept as a panelist, if you could please do so, so that you'll be ready when your time comes. And now we're ready to proceed with Nathan. Nathan Woliston if you'd come next followed by Kim McLaughlin and then Japhet Gonzalez. Hi. How are you.

[Speaker 9]: SPEAKER one: Hello.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: How are you doing.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: SPEAKER one: Doing okay. Thanks. You may begin.

[Nathan Williston (Windsor Board of Education Member)]: SPEAKER one: Well I'll be I'll be pretty brief. I won't use the whole three minutes. I just want to say my name is Nathan Williston. I'm a member of the Windsor Board of Education. I'm here today because I have concerns for not just my town but for all the school districts across Connecticut. But specific sorry specifically through speaking through my lens as a Windsor resident I can share with you some details about our budget dating back to a few years before I was elected on the board in 2021. So in our twenty nineteen twenty twenty proposed budget we had an operating budget of about $57,796,361. At this point in time we were receiving $11,547,663 in education cost sharing funds. To date. We are receiving the same amount in ECS grants but we're operating on a proposed $77,700,045. Although we haven't had any extreme tax hikes on the state level this kind of lack of investment in our schools has led to across our state an increase in property taxes because in order to pay for our bills we're gonna have to take it out of the people's pockets via their property taxes or we're gonna have to do a combination of slashing services or cutting teachers as we've seen in Hartford or in Enfield in so many towns across our state. So I'm looking to you my esteemed representatives on today to just have a little bit of compassion. I'm sure many of us here are homeowners as well as I am a young homeowner a young family man. My daughter just turned one on February 3 and I'm looking to create a future here in Connecticut for myself and my daughter and for all the young people that want to stay in Connecticut. So just have a little bit of compassion invest in education as it makes more opportunity for us all to survive and thrive here. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. Thank you so much Nathan. Next we'll have Kim McLaughlin followed by Jaffa Gonzalez. Oh. So Rob Traver.

[Rob Traber (Bridgeport Board of Education)]: She's my better half.

[Director Harris (Legislative Staff)]: DIRECTOR HARRIS: Okay.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Oh she is. Okay. Very good. Thank you.

[Rob Traber (Bridgeport Board of Education)]: Senator Austin Representative Walker and members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Rob Traber. And I come to you as a member of the Bridgeport Board of Education as a grandparent of a child in the Bridgeport public schools. Also a former parent retired Bridgeport teacher, and a former president of the Bridgeport Education Association. I speak to you today to oppose the governor's proposal to create a blue ribbon panel while taking no further action to fund ECS. It's time for a change in Connecticut. Our land of steady habits has become the land of inflexible habits, protecting the status quo in one of the wealthiest States in our country. Our government works too hard protecting the privileged and not helping lift up others, especially our children. For too many generations, we have allowed an extraordinarily disgraceful double standard to exist in our state of the haves and the have nots, which unfortunately has also come to mean between wealthy white suburban students and poor urban students of color. Although I learned long ago, we don't even see the poverty in our world, Connecticut. The education cost sharing formula designed to level the playing field to provide equitable educational opportunity for Connecticut's public school students has been abandoned by our governor. The current ECS base rate of eleven thousand five twenty five has not been increased in thirteen years. The cost of living has risen over to 41 percent, which should put the ECS base rate at 16,500 or more. The cost of teaching has risen even higher in 2013. Connecticut was struggling to slowly recover from the economic downturn, but we did. We recovered many years ago. Budget surpluses have been piling up by the billions. Our wealthiest residents too have been dramatically increasing their wealth. And recently they were given a huge bonus by the federal government. Our poorest residents are still struggling. This isn't right. It's not what our state or country is supposed to be about. Helping the rich get richer while the poor get poor, especially not our children. The ECS, a promise to our children was put on hold as the state recovered. A commitment that should have been resumed years ago got kicked down the road. Luckily for us, the poor and the children, federal ARPA ESSER funds helped us deal with the declining funds for a few years. When those funds expired, the state was in a position to step up, but it didn't. I thought we'd see that last year, and we did for our special needs children, but not for our poorest children. This year, the governor wants to study the problem. He ignored the Dalio study last year, which said, help our children a year ago. He came to Bridgeport and told us that the money wouldn't fix our problems. We respectfully disagree while the ECS properly funded with the ECS properly funded, we can begin to restore the educational services to our students that have been cut over the last thirteen years. The Bridgeport Bridgeport passed the budget, restoring many, not all of those cuts from the last thirteen years to show what a generation of students have lost. I urge you to raise the ECS to what it should be and to add an annual COLA. Let's show the children of Bridgeport in similar districts that they deserve a chance to. Thank you for your time. I'd be happy to answer any further questions.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. And did you submit your testimony Online.

[Rob Traber (Bridgeport Board of Education)]: I did.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Okay. Perfect. Thank you. So next is it Japhet. Okay. Japhet Gonzales followed by Lacey Rodriguez.

[Speaker 13]: Hello. You made the Can

[Jafet (Jafet/Japhet) Gonzalez (New Haven Public Schools student)]: you guys hear me?

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Yes.

[Jafet (Jafet/Japhet) Gonzalez (New Haven Public Schools student)]: Okay. Great. Okay. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jafet Gonzalez. I am a senior at high school in the community, and I am here today to ask that you do everything in your power to help fully fund New Haven public schools. The conditions New Haven public schools are in are embarrassing. It's truly heartbreaking to know that if swift action isn't taken soon enough, generations of students will endure the same problems I and other students are currently facing right now. There hasn't been a rainy day where the water hasn't leaked into our building, ruining materials and infrastructure. There hasn't been a day where students don't point out missing and cracked tiles in the floor. There hasn't been a day where we look up and we don't see mold growing and spreading across our ceilings and different parts of our schools. There are days where I walk through the hallways and I don't feel like I'm at a place where I belong. There are so many students who are really smart and passionate about learning and passionate about their futures, but being in an environment where it doesn't reflect the care the students deserve feels degrading. All students are worthy of investment, so the form of investing that the state should do is put more money into all of NHPS. You guys have money to do so, and so all it takes is action. A common idea that somehow people still don't get is that students will most likely mirror the environment they are in. In well put together schools like Greenwich, Riverside, and Westport, the students and environments tend to flourish and do well because they are invested in. They have enough money to care for the school environment where the students learn and the teachers work. But in places like New Haven, the students and environments aren't in a stable and or comfortable form for education because we aren't invested in. Because the board of ed, the state, the offices making decisions on how schools should work don't actually see the education systems as the one who actually live and learn inside of it. And so I'm taking time out of my break today to ask that you increase the base ECS Foundation amount now and save our schools. Me and other students won't stop fighting until the proper justice of for all of New Haven public schools is served. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much for your testimony. Next we'll have Lycee Rodriguez followed by Lori Sweet Ms. Rodriguez are you online.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I am.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: There you are. Thank you. You may begin.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay.

[Lisey (Lisy) Rodriguez (New Haven Public Schools Family Resource Centers)]: Good afternoon. My name is Lisey Rodriguez and I serve families through the New Haven Public Schools family resource centers. I am here today not just as an administrator, but as someone who witnesses every day what, what happens when families have support and what happens when they don't. When there is an emergency, we call on firefighters and EMTs because they are the first responders. They arrive first. They stabilize the situation and give people the chance to survive. Family research centers are the first responders for families with young children. Before a child falls behind in school, we are there. Before a parent feels completely overwhelmed, we are there. Before developmental delay goes unnoticed, we are there. A mother once came to one of our centers with her three year old child's hand and said quietly to me, I don't know if he is learning like other children. And I don't know who to ask. Because the family research centers existed, she didn't have to wait years for help. Her child received developmental screening. She received parenting support. Her child joined playgroups. That same child later walked into pre k already knowing how to follow routines, sit in circle time, interact with classmates, and trust his teacher. That is what early intervention looks like. That is what prevention looks like. That is what family research centers do every day. We serve families across New Haven and Connecticut, including families facing poverty, language barriers, housing instability, and immigration fears. Many undocumented families will not walk into government offices, but they will walk into a school based family resource center because they feel safe, trusted, and part of their family, the community family. For many parents, we are the first place they ever asked to help. Not the last, the first. Sometimes people ask whether family research centers are redundant. Let me tell you something. It is not. Let me be very clear. We are not redundant. We are foundational. We are the bridge between schools, health care, early childhood services, and community support. We prepare children before the system has to remediate them. We strengthen parents so teachers can't teach. We solve problems early so districts don't have to face much larger course later. If funding and decrease, the impact will be immediate and personal. It means parent who needs to home visit may not receive one. It means the toddler who needs screening may be missed. It means the family needing literacy or workforce support may remain stuck. It means children all arriving in kindergarten already behind, not because they couldn't succeed, but because support came too late. Family research centers are not a luxury program. We are prevention. We are readiness. We are stability for families who have nowhere else to turn. If Connecticut truly believes in strong schools, strong families, and strong communities, this is not the time to reduce family research centers funding. This is the time to invest more so we can reach families earlier, support more children before they struggle, and continue serving as the first responders for children's youngest learners. Because when you support a family early, you don't just change one school year. You change the entire trajectory of a child's life. Thank you for your time and commitment.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Have a good afternoon.

[Speaker 17]: Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Next we'll have Tyler Diaz followed by Fatima Londevar. Tyler Diaz he's not. Is he

[Speaker 18]: online. Is

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Fatima Londebart.

[Speaker 19]: She's not on

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: my line.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: She's not

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: on my line. Okay.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Kelsey Bonilla. Kelsey Bonilla Chalia Robinson. Okay. Thank you. Oh excuse me. I. After this I'll go back. I skipped a group. So I'm sorry about that. And the group is going. Okay. Miss Robinson.

[Sheila Robinson (Bridgeport parent advocate)]: Hello. Can you hear me?

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Hi. Yes. We can hear you. Okay. There you are. Thank you.

[Sheila Robinson (Bridgeport parent advocate)]: Okay. You're welcome.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Good afternoon.

[Sheila Robinson (Bridgeport parent advocate)]: Good afternoon. My name is Sheila Robinson. I am a Bridgeport, Connecticut parent. While I am speaking for my children personally as well as the children in Bridgeport, I am also speaking for all of the other cities in Connecticut. As a black mother with children in the public school system, I am here today to speak for our families who continue to demand fairness and education. During Black History Month, we reflect on the civil rights movement and the generations who fought to ensure our children had access to equal opportunity. Education has always been the central the central to the fight, yet inequalities in school funding still deny black and brown students the resources they need to succeed. The current ECS formula must be updated to reflect the true needs of our communities and to prioritize inclusion and equity. Our children should not be punished for past mishandlings of funds or the hundreds of millions missed due to the lack of increase since 2013. Education is a state responsibility, and the state must ensure that all students are supported at a foundational level regardless of the ZIP code or district history. In our communities, parents are asked to fill gaps that should never exist. We pull what little we have, holding fundraiser, writing letters to businesses just to afford basic supplies, like school paper, pencils, classroom material. We have to beg for donations so that our children can experience small but meaningful moments like going on field trips, riding a bus to a museum, or participating in activities that help them feel included and expired inspired. It is painful to explain to my child, to any child, why they can't go when it's simply lack of money. The issue is especially urgent because our children are held to the same standards as students in wealthier, predominantly white districts, state and standardized testing is required for all students, yet the resources provided are not equal. That imbalance is not fair. We can't expect the same outcomes while offering unequal funding, staffing materials, and learning environments. Equity does not mean lowering expectations. It means providing equal access to opportunity. Our black and brown children are capable, are brilliant, and deserving of the same educational experiences as any other child, access to counselors, updated technology, arts, enrichment programs, and safe facilities with well supported educators. Honoring Black History Month means continuing the work of those who fought for justice before us. Updating and increasing the ECS formula is a necessary, a crucial step toward fulfilling that promise. If we truly believe in equal education under the law, then our funding must reflect that belief because our children's future should never depend on the color of their skin or the zip code they come home.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much.

[Dr. Molly Markowitz (Pediatrician, AAP-CT)]: Thank

[Representative Tammy Exum]: you. Next we'll have a panel Margarita Ells. Pieria the panel from support of Danbury charter school. Sorry if I mispronounced your last name.

[Kelly Sheehan (Danbury Charter School parent/educator)]: So Margarita is not here but I'm representing our group So Margarita is not here

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: but I'm representing our group along with the other 160 volunteers that

[Kelly Sheehan (Danbury Charter School parent/educator)]: we have here.

[Gabrielle Scott (ACES Chase Academy student)]: SPEAKER one: Yes.

[Kelly Sheehan (Danbury Charter School parent/educator)]: My name is Kelly Sheehan. Good afternoon. And first thank you to the legislators and committee members for the opportunity to testify today. I'm here both as a parent and an educator. My daughter Elena's first language is Spanish and I have worked with multilingual learners as a public school teacher in Connecticut. In this role I have seen first hand that our MLLs do not receive the same equitable education as educational experience as mainstream students despite the dedication of many educators. The system lacks the training flexibility resources and specialized supports that multilingual students need to thrive. For families like mine having meaningful educational options is not a luxury it's a necessity. Danbury is growing rapidly yet families are still waiting for access to this public charter school that was approved years ago. Families are not asking for any special treatment. We're asking for a follow through on a decision that already made our voices to be respected. I urge you to honor the 2018 approval and allow Danbury Public Charter School to finally open. The community is ready. Our families are ready and our students cannot wait any longer. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next we will have Derek Heffelfinger followed by Priscilla Velasdegall. Madam chair.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yes. I just want to let you know that the Office of Legislative Management has just reached out. They have set up an overflow room in Room 2 B. So if you would like to sit down we'll make sure that you can watch this hearing from in there. But 2 B is also available. Thank you.

[Joanna Corbecki (Meriden resident)]: Good afternoon.

[Derek Heffelfinger (RCA student, CES Magnet)]: Good afternoon. Dear honorable members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Derek Heffelfinger and I'm a senior at the Regional Center for the Arts also known as RCA in Trumbull which is a CES magnet school. I'm asking for your support in preserving $12,000,000 in RESC magnet grant for the fiscal year 2027 and creating a long term equitable funding plan for schools across Connecticut. Studying musical theater at RCA has shaped far more than my performance skills. It has shaped my discipline leadership and sense of responsibility to my community. Balancing conservatory level rehearsals with academics required the same time management and perseverance that enabled me to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, lead complex cervix projects, gain admission to the University of Pennsylvania's highly competitive nursing program, and to maintain a positive attitude throughout those experiences. At RCA, I have learned to collaborate across differences, accept critique with humility, and to step forward with confidence when others need direction, skills that translate directly into civic engagement and academic excellence. One of the most powerful aspects of RCA is the opportunity to learn alongside students from various towns, backgrounds, and life experiences. Magnet schools reduce isolation by bringing students together across districts, races, and economic circumstances who share a common passion for learning. At RCA, I have built meaningful friendships and professional collaborations with peers I would never have met otherwise. Programs such as RCA cultivate students who are not only talented performers, but also scholars, leaders, and public servants. Preserving funding for RCA is not simply about performing the arts, which is in of itself a worthy cause. It is an investment into developing disciplined community minded young people who will represent Connecticut with distinction into higher education and beyond. I urge you to continue working towards a sustainable and equitable funding plan that supports res magnet schools and all public schools in Connecticut. Investing in our education today means a stronger future for all of us. Thank you for your time and support.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: SPEAKER one: Thank you Derek. Tyler Diaz followed by Priscilla Velaszigo.

[Tyler Diaz (Aspiring Educators/CCSU grad student)]: Sorry. Sorry about that. Good afternoon, members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Tyler Diaz. I'm an aspiring educator, a graduate student at Central Connecticut State University, and a CA intern for policy and research. I'm testifying on behalf of the Aspiring Educators program and on behalf of Hannah Spinner, who is the state chair of the CA, Aspiring Education program. She was scheduled to join me, but, is unable to testify today because of academic, commitments. I wanted to start by saying I we appreciate the efforts of not only the committee but the government to deal with the Connecticut teacher shortage but also we recognize that the Connecticut teacher apprenticeship program has been incredibly helpful with the goal of attracting 75 teacher apprenticeships. However, the governor's proposal has only, only reaches about a fraction of the aspiring educators. The reason is because every year, around 1,200 teacher or, aspiring educators complete a full semester of full time student teaching. Student teaching is a professional full time experience, and without proper compensation, you lose out on a on a significant amount of talented students that would end up entering the teacher profession career. We believe that the legislature should join the 10 other states that use a student teacher stipend as a recruitment strategy. States like Pennsylvania and Maryland are examples of where a teaching stipend program and an apprenticeship model can work. Now with that said, student teaching is one of the biggest financial issues that aspiring educators face. And so in a statewide survey done with 285, aspiring educators and early educators. 73% said that or were advised or explicitly prohibited from working other jobs while student teaching. 80% said they felt exploited, and 98% said that, they agreed that being paid would ease the financial burden. Now I myself dealt with student teaching, and went through those experiences. I was lucky enough to have a family who supported me through that. Not everyone does. And so also speaking from experience, the workload of a student teacher is significantly higher than the traditional undergrad year. So they take on a significant amount of responsibility, and it's a full time commitment with this extensive planning. So on top of this, while we support the apprenticeship model, asking districts to contribute financially makes, participation reliant on those local resources. So this would restrict placements and reduce equity in the pipeline and risk limiting the overall future educators the future educators pool. Thank you for your consideration and time.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Priscilla

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Velasztigal. Is Priscilla. Okay. So next we'll go to Juan Reyes Rivera. Okay. What about Duane? Okay. Good afternoon.

[Duane Pierre (ReadyCT program manager; parent)]: Good afternoon. Thank you, for having me members of the committee. My name is Duane Pierre. I am a resident of New Britain, Connecticut. I'm a tech education advocate. I am currently a program manager for ReadyCT. But most importantly, I'm a parent of 12 year old twins who are currently at the CREC Academy of International Studies in Bloomfield. And I know for a fact, just with all with all of my experience as a father, community activist, and an educator that it's essential to keep funding for CREC at a at a high level because it really does create an education to employment pipeline where we can sort of divert the the issues that that that employers are having with finding a local educated workforce because things are moving students typically move out of state for opportunities. But pre schools, promote social growth, and I've seen that with my children. The the academic gains are phenomenal. And the difference isn't just about the curriculum. It's the fact that it's creating an environment for acceptance, diversity, and exploration that you don't generally see in typical school. I've I have twenty six years of experience working in schools, either as a vendor or a community partner. I talked for three years at the, Hartford Journalism Media Academy. And like I said, currently, I'm working with ReadyCT, and I'm in correct schools and in Harvard public schools. And the the metrics between the two is is greatly, drastic. There's, more chronic absenteeism, in the Harvard public schools versus the correct schools. And I noticed that career readiness at the correct level offers more dual enrollment participation for typically less funding. You know, this all ties back into Shep versus O'Neal, and I was actually on the board for for the Shep versus O'Neal committee for several years. And the the largest attack what I see is is funding erosion. You know, whether funds are being lost, it's definitely not keeping up with the rate of inflation that's causing a bottleneck of opportunities for our students. So when CREC is underfunded, you're not just cutting away choice. You are dismantling the bridge to equity for thousands of not only inner city, but suburban families as well. As a as a parent, I can't even explain to you how transformative being in the correct school has been for my twins for for for completely different reasons, but they both made honor roll back to back since transferring all. Thank you for your time.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: So much for

[Representative Tammy Exum]: your testimony. Thank you. Next we will have Stella Mayer followed by Joanna Joanna Kurbacki. Okay Stella.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: SPEAKER two:

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Hi. SPEAKER

[Representative Tammy Exum]: three: Hi.

[Speaker 28]: Good afternoon.

[Speaker 29]: SPEAKER three: Yeah.

[Speaker 30]: Can you hear me.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Yes. Just fine.

[Stella Mayer (AAE student, CREC)]: Okay. Honorable chairs, ranking members, and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Stella Mayer, and I live in Bloomfield. I'm 17 years old and a senior at the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering located in Windsor. I'm also here as a student senator.

[Speaker 32]: I've been a

[Stella Mayer (AAE student, CREC)]: part of CREC since kindergarten, and throughout my time, I've seen how CREC invests in its student success and embraces families from all kinds of backgrounds. My family chose CREC because of what it offers, diversity, support, and opportunities that I would have never had in my former hometown of Hartford where I spent most of my life. As the daughter of South Sudanese and Tanzanian immigrants, my parents wanted more than an education from me and my brother. They wanted an education that opened doors and gave us the chance to build a better future. At CREC, I've learned alongside students from different cultures, experiences, and perspectives. Being in this environment has shaped who I am today. It taught me how to communicate, collaborate, and work with people who may not look or think like me, but who share the same drive to succeed. CREC has taught me things that I couldn't have learned from a textbook, but from a school that values inclusion and connection. Beyond diversity, my school supports me in many ways. Through clubs that allow me to explore my interests, academic support that keeps me on track, and emotional support that makes me feel safe and valued. Whether it's teachers staying after school to help students understand material they're struggling with, counselors checking in and guiding high schoolers through the college process, or clubs that let us explore our creativity and passions, CREC ensures that every student has the tools they need to succeed academically, emotionally, and socially. But none of this is possible without proper funding. Funding is crucial, especially for my school and others like it, which is STEM based. Learning STEM subjects isn't just about reading textbooks, completing worksheets, and listening to lectures. It requires hands on experiences, access to modern technology, and up to date equipment. These fields shape my future, our future. If we don't invest in them enough, we're limiting the potential of students who could go on to be scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. I'm here today not only to speak for myself, but for my younger brother, Sterling. He's 14 years old and a freshman also at the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering. While I will be graduating in just four months, his high school career is just beginning. The investments you have made allowed me to grow, succeed, and prepare for what comes next. By keeping CREC and CREC schools in the state budget, you are choosing to make that same investment in my brother's futures and the futures of thousands of students like him. CREC has given me the education, experiences, and support that I need to achieve my goals. It has shaped me into the person I am today. Every student deserves a chance to learn in an environment where they feel seen, heard, and empowered. Please maintain $12,000,000 in RESC magnet school funding for the next year and oppose Governor Lamont's budget that removes this important funding. Thank you.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: SPEAKER three:

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next we will have Joanna Corbeki followed by Anju Menorah crowd crottery.

[Joanna Corbecki (Meriden resident)]: SPEAKER 20: Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Joanna Corbecki and I am testifying as a very concerned city Of Meriden resident. I do not have any children in the system but I am. Result of going through the Meriden Public Education System. And if it wasn't for support from teachers I had an ESL teacher. I originally came here from Poland. So it's really crucial that we have the funding for all the extra resources whether it's para educators, more staffing for smaller class sizes. I think right now we have some classes that are 30 to 35 students per class in a lot of the schools. And we are facing a budget issue that is going to cut 20 positions from already a strained situation in Meriden. We have been the least funded district in Connecticut. So my biggest concern is even the average student is not going to get what they need especially if there are other students who have higher needs and we don't have the staff to help support all of that. So I would really like to urge everyone here to really support education across the board for everyone here. I know we're all here for the same reason but I would just really like to see that being like the most basic foundation for everyone. I think we all can say education got us to where we are. I work at the children's hospital so I know that at least the basic foundations of math science some English any of that is really necessary. So I'm hoping that we can get the funding to get Meriden on board all the way.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. Thank you so much. Next we will have Anju Minara.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: SPEAKER

[Representative Tammy Exum]: one: Good afternoon.

[Anshminar Chaudhary (Fairchild Wheeler student, Bridgeport)]: Good afternoon. Members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Anshminar Chaudhary and I am a senior at Fairchild Wheeler at Bridge Pro Okay. Good afternoon. Members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Anshminar Chaudhary and I am a senior at Fairchild Wheeler and I am here to argue that education was a fundamental right and the education costs sharing grant or ECS was created to reduce disparities between school districts to ensure that every student has equal access equal educational opportunities regardless of their zip code. However the way that ECS is implemented falls short of this promise. The ECS formula begins with the foundation which is considered the minimum amount of money for educating a student without additional learning need. This amount is $11,525 per student and is completely arbitrary and is not based on any data or analysis of actual costs. Also this amount. Has remained static since 2013 without adjusting for inflation and rising educational demands. Another important part of the ECS formula is student need based weights which are meant to provide additional funding for facing for students facing challenges such as low income language barriers and learning disabilities. Bridgeport is the most populated city in Connecticut and considered lower income. Every year the number of multilingual students increases. This directly affects the student need based weight. Personally I have heard from educators about the effects of the lack of funding. My physics teacher shout out Mr. Kokak shared that he has little to no lab equipment, and has to build or purchase the materials himself to teach concepts. Although some topics can be improvised, others are simply too complex, and need to be demonstrated to fully comprehend. Teachers themselves are forced to step in roles that they were never meant to fill. In underfunded districts these teachers often become informal counselors mentors and social workers because of the lack of staff. This can be overbearing to uphold on top of their expected responsibilities and they are simply not trained for these positions. To end I'll ask you this. If you know that the ECS formula is outdated do you truly believe that you're reading everything in your power to ensure every child has an equal chance to succeed. Thank you. Oh Okay. Thank you. Are you good.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Okay. Thank you so much. Next we'll have Laurel Steinhauser followed by Ernie Newton.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you. SPEAKER 10:

[Mike Pelton (First Selectman, Portland)]: Good afternoon. Distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Mike Pelton first selectman for the town of Portland and I'm joined by Laurel Steinhauser our Board of Education chair. We're here today a lifelong Republican and a lifelong Democrat because funding our schools is not a partisan issue. It is the single largest driver of municipal budgets and property taxes and the current structure is putting that burden increasingly on our local taxpayers. In most towns including ours roughly two thirds of the budget is education. You often hear municipalities and boards of education described as being at odds but the reality is we're all on the same side. We all want schools that are well supported budgets we can plan responsible before and property taxes that remain stable. When state education funding falls behind, these real costs municipalities have only two options, raise, raise taxes or cut services. That's not ideology. That's math. Over the last decade the state share of education funding has quietly declined and local taxpayers payers are making up the difference. We are asking you to stop that shift and restore a stable stake a state and local partnership.

[Laurel Steinhauser (Portland Board of Education Chair)]: Thank you Mike. I want to focus on two areas where this proposed budget falls short. First the education cost sharing formula the ECS foundation rate meant to reflect the average cost to educate an average student has been frozen at $11,525 since 2013. Meanwhile, Portland's education costs have risen about 50% driven by inflation, health insurance, special education needs, and transportation costs. Over that same period, our ECS funding increased only 14%. If ECS represents the cost to educate a child, it has to reflect the cost to educate a child today, not thirteen years ago. We urge you to update the ECS foundation rate and index it to inflation to stop the ongoing shift of education costs onto local property taxpayers. Second special education reimbursement. Local districts are legally required to provide services to students with special needs and it is a privilege to do so. The state also has a statutory obligation to share extraordinary costs through the excess cost grant. However, reimbursement is currently provided within available appropriations. That means if student special education needs across the state are higher than the state is expecting, individual districts are penalized. In other words, district budget based on one number and can receive another after services are already delivered. We can't delay services, we can't deny services, and we can't negotiate these costs. So when reimbursement falls short, we either cut general education programs or we increase local taxes mid year. That unpredictability makes responsible budgeting impossible. Fully funding the excess cost grant and removing within available appropriations language would make the state's commitment reliable. Predictable funding protects students and protects taxpayers.

[Mike Pelton (First Selectman, Portland)]: Public education funding is a shared responsibility and we are asking the state to uphold this partnership with municipalities updating and indexing ECS and stabilizing special education reimbursement are necessary to maintaining both educational quality and tax stability.

[Speaker 37]: Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much for your testimony. Thank you. Ernie Newton followed by Marzitsa. Okay. Ernie is Ernie Newton here?

[Ernest Newton (President Pro Tem, Bridgeport City Council; former legislator)]: I'm here.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Okay. Great.

[Ernest Newton (President Pro Tem, Bridgeport City Council; former legislator)]: I'm online.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Okay. You may begin. I can

[Ernest Newton (President Pro Tem, Bridgeport City Council; former legislator)]: Thank you. Representative Exum, representative Walker, members of the committee. My name is Ernest Newton. I live in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I am the president pro temp of the city council, and I have great honor of serving with representative Walker when I was in the legislature. I come to speak on behalf of Bridgeport, Connecticut's formula. I can tell you out of a 166 municipalities that are funded, Bridgeport rates a 160 out of that number. I wish, representative Walker, when I served with you, we had a billion dollar surplus. I was there for Chef versus O'Neil when they won that case. We are in desperate need of changing that formula, and you all have a golden opportunity now because you have money to spend a little bit more on the cost sharing. Our ECS hasn't been changed. You've heard the testimonies in thirteen years, but everything else has changed. It's time for the legislature to really sit down and say, you know what? It's not just Bridgeport. You've got municipalities coming in. We're all staying the same thing. I wish that when I was a legislator, we had a billion dollar surplus So we could have given the money, funded education. I cochair Appropriations Committee for the city for our budget. I wish education was the only thing that I had to worry about. Municipalities can't do it by themselves because they've got police, fire, contracts. We've got a lot more that we're responsible for, but you all have the opportunity to fix the formula once and for all because it's small towns now that are having problems, medium sized towns, and large cities. I would just ask this committee to please think about urging the governor instead of setting up a blue ribbon committee, and I appreciate what he's done for Bridgeport, but we don't need to study. We already know what the problem is,

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: And

[Ernest Newton (President Pro Tem, Bridgeport City Council; former legislator)]: I would hope that he would and the legislature would help out the municipalities. Thank you for your time and have a good evening.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next we will have Maritza Estrameira Jimenez online. Okay.

[Maritza Estramira Jimenez (Bridgeport BOE Secretary)]: SPEAKER three: Thank

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: you. SPEAKER three:

[Maritza Estramira Jimenez (Bridgeport BOE Secretary)]: As esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Maritza Estramira Jimenez, and I am the secretary of the Bridgeport Board of Education. And most importantly, a mother of two children in Bridgeport Public Schools. I'm here today because our children cannot wait one more year, let alone several years for another study, another panel, or another delay. I strongly oppose the governor's proposal to create a blue ribbon panel. Our students need meaningful action now. I urge you to increase and fully fund the ECS formula so it finally reflects the real and rising cost of living with annual adjustments tied to economic indicators just like social security. Stability matters, predictability matters, and our and our children deserve nothing less. I wanna share something personal. I work long hours, and occasionally, I must travel for work. This past fall, I had an international work trip. The first time I had ever been away from my kids for five days. When I returned, one of my children began experiencing separation anxiety every morning before school. It became so overwhelming that they needed help from the school social worker. But because our district cannot afford full time social workers in every school, those sessions were limited to once a week, and they were not immediate. My child had daily episodes. Their teacher, already stretched out thin, had to step in to comfort them and help them regain their footing, taking time away from instructional time, all because the support was not there when my child needed it. As a parent, it is devastating to be told that your child can only receive help when someone is available, not when they're hurting. And this is one of the best magnet schools in Bridgeport. That is how dire the situation is after decades of chronic underfunding. For thirteen years, our schools have been flat funded while the cost of living has soared over 40%. No system, especially one responsible for children, can absorb that level of erosion and still meet the needs of its students. Education touches every corner of our economy. It shapes our workforce, our communities, and our future. It is both a moral responsibility and an economic imperative to invest in our children so they are prepared to take the reins when it's our turn to step back. Let's build a Connecticut where opportunity is not determined by ZIP code, where every child in every community has the resources they need to thrive. For all these reasons, I respectfully and urgently implore you fully fund the ECS formula to reflect today's cost of living and ensure annual adjustments tied to real economic indicators like social security. Our students' futures depend on it. Thank you for your time your leadership and your commitment to the children of Connecticut. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next we'll have Veronica Burnell followed by Jim Maffood. Hello. Good afternoon. Can you hear me. Yes.

[Veronica Burnell (GHAA student, CREC)]: Good afternoon honorable members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Veronica Burnell. I live in Salem, Connecticut. I am currently a sophomore at Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts full day in Hartford, Connecticut which is a correct Mannix school. I am asking you to please maintain $12,000,000 in Mannix school funding for next year and oppose government Lamont's budget that removes this important funding to magnet schools operated by regional education service centers. I enjoy attending my correct school because of the diversity special education and the arts program at my school. I wasn't always in a crack magnet school, but I've always been in a magnet school since elementary school. I've been around a diverse group of people, but crack magnet schools are the most diverse. I get to meet people from all over the state, and get to know their interests and hobbies, and get to see their view on the world. I believe being in a diverse school helps kids and teens to be exposed to more than one background and view on other people's perspectives. Without these funding other kids and teens won't be able to get this experience like I have. I strongly feel that if I didn't go to Anna Grace for middle school and Greater Hartford for high school I wouldn't be the confident girl I am today. In the five years I've been in CREC I've learned to embrace my curly hair. I've learned how to dress to express myself and I've learned not to be embarrassed of my learning struggles. In 2020 when I was 10 years old I was diagnosed with a learning disability. I struggling with processing and working memory. When I read sometimes I have to reread a page in a book more than once and sometimes I forget how to spell certain words. But when I went to Anna Grace that all changed. I joined the special education program where I met a teacher who helped me in sixth and seventh grade and freshman year to the 2025 along with many other teachers in the years between. There they used there they taught me to be confident in my writing. They went over strategies and rules for me to use when writing and taught me how to remember spelling certain words and help me sound out words I didn't know. Without this program I wouldn't be standing in front of you today speaking as clearly as I am now. Manette schools help kid help kids with learning disabilities, give them the opportunity to have an education that incorporates their interests. This helps them with motivation and drives them to succeed. One thing that I love about my school is that we have arts built into the schedule. I've been a competition dancer for thirteen years and when I get older I would like to continue that into my adult life and having dance classes at school helps me get more training than just taking dance classes at my studio. Having teachers in the professional world is beneficial because we get to have connections in the art world which can help us in the long run. We also are getting the best training to succeed. Our magnet schools are at high risk If this funding is not maintained into the budget please maintain $12,000,000 in the R E S C magnet school funding for next year and oppose government Lamont's budget that removes this important funding. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. And that was so well done. I'm sure that your teachers are very proud and you are too. Thank you. Thank you. Next Jack Major followed by Caitlin Dobos.

[Jack Major (ACES Chase Academy student)]: Good afternoon, Senator Austin representative Walker and honorable members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Jack major. I live in Watertown and I'm a student in eighth grade at ACEs chase academy in Waterbury, which is a steam magnet school. I'm asking for support in preserving $12,000,000 for an R E S C magnet school grant for fiscal year twenty seven and creating a long term fair funding plan for schools like mine across the state. My parents and I decided to have me attend ACES Chase Academy because they wanted me to be challenged at a school that offered more opportunities than the public school I came from. Because of the opportunities I gained from attending Asus Chase Academy I have been able to be a state finalist in the Invention Convention in 2024. Our student our school has also given me the opportunity to participate in several after school clubs such as the school newspaper where I have become the editor in chief the history club dedicated to our campus's history and our school chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. Finally, I have learned many things from our school's Project Lead the Way engineering classes, which have taught me how to code, construct items out of provided materials, and help me become a more critical thinker. This school has given me so many opportunities to grow as a student without the funding and a sustainable funding plan to go along with it. Magnet schools like Asus Chase Academy will have fewer resources, fewer programs and fewer opportunities for me to succeed as a student. A long term funding plan is essential to ensure that all students in Connecticut regardless of where they have access to a high quality education. I urge you all to continue working towards a sustainable and equitable funding plan that supports RESC magnet schools and all public schools in Connecticut. Investing in our education today means all of us will have a stronger future tomorrow. Thank you so much for your time and support.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. I'm just so impressed by these students. Next we will have Caitlin Dobos followed by Doctor. Frank Labanca. Caitlin. Okay. Oh thank you. Caitlin number 31.

[Caitlin Dobos (ACES Chase Academy student)]: Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Caitlin Dobos and I am from Waterbury. I am 15 and currently attending Ace's Chase Academy in Waterbury as a tenth grade student. Before we start I would like to thank you for letting me and my classmates be heard. As many of us are aware there is a large concern about the lack of funding for magnet schools. You see magnet schools mainly rely on things for for us students such such as letting us be able to take more unique classes that other schools do not offer such as technical theater digital photography personal finance etcetera. Without these classes our magnet schools would mean nothing but the same as other public schools. The inadequate funding would also affect the counselors who have helped kids like me who have gone through things in our lives. This is one of the main reasons why I'm going to ACES the public schools I had used to gone to for sixth and seventh grade before I went to ACES for eighth and beyond was Swift Middle School. For me it was not one of the most welcoming environments to be in for a child to grow and learn in. Other students and I were picked out for who we were by the staff for for our race our religion our gender our style. I remember one time I had got called into the principal's office at Swift to explain why I was being called a witch by the other kids. I had to explain that I was a pagan so calling me a witch was the right terminology. Even after my many explanations they called my mother to have her personally explained. After this and events that had happened I didn't trust the staff around me. The staff at swift saw me as something to be belittled. So when I got to aces I had expected the same because of what I had gone through. However my experience was completely different. I didn't realize that there were so many students from different towns and all of them came from many different backgrounds. They accepted me for who I was along with the other students. They didn't pick us out for who we were. They cared for us all the same. They didn't pick favorites for the differences. We have many as time went on I learned to trust them and be able to feel like I could tell them anything with the help of my counselor Miss Noto due to my PTSD. She helped me be able to stay calm around them when I used to fear them. The counselors at ACEs truly care about the students along with their mental health. They also care about our grades. They check-in and make sure to see if we need any help. The teachers are also the same. They make sure to stay with all of us until we understand something we don't. If we don't understand something they don't walk away and casually dismiss us. They sit with us and explain it. ACEs saved my life not as a joke but literally the people there understand and are willing to help even if it's something large. The classes are very engaging and very fun in my opinion. And without the funding that is needed for these schools there are many classes and services on that might not be able to keep running along because of this. It is also a lack of funding that might affect the staff that cares about the students so much. Thank you for your time.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Doctor. Frank Labanca followed by Christina Ellington. Speaker

[Dr. Frank Labanca (Principal, ACES Chase Academy)]: two: Honorable members of the Appropriations Committee. I'm Doctor. Frank Labanca a resident of Sandy Hook and the principal of ACES Chase Academy, a six twelve steam interdistic RESC magnet school operating in Waterbury. I'm a magnet school leader because I firmly believe in the values of public education and opportunities for school choice. I'm here speaking on the long term equitable funding of RESC magnet schools and I'm asking for your support in preserving the $12,000,000 in RESC magnet funding for fiscal year twenty seven. This is the second magnet school I am leading. I purposefully choose to be a magnet education instructional leader because providing an environment for a tremendously diverse community and doing education different is the heart and soul of magnet education and my own philosophy of education. Our school attracts students from 30 different towns. Our students consistently outperform their cohort match counterparts from their respective hometowns on state achievement measures. We are the only school in Connecticut to be recognized as a Project Lead the Way school of distinction for the past ten years. All of our middle school students participate in this engineering program and almost 50% of our current high school students do as well. By the end of the school year 50% of our sophomore students which is currently our oldest class will have earned post college, post university college credit, and our goal is to be over 90% of students by the time they are seniors. This year, ACES Chase Academy was named a Magnet Schools of America National School of Excellence. I am proud of our school's accomplishments but we are doing this on an unsustainable fiscal model. The state determined that the tuition paid by sending towns to magnet schools should be capped at 55% of the previous years with the intention of the state magnet grant covering the balance. Sadly, this did not happen, and our school basically receives a little over $14,000 per student. With a state average of $22,000 we are approximately $8,000 per student lower. That equates to a $4,400,000 relative deficit. If we take the absolute last place district for per pupil expenditures in the state at 15 16.5 ks, that still equates to a relative difference of 1,375,000.000. We are significantly behind last place in funding. Those numbers are just for my school. Compounding these fiscal challenges is the consideration to transfer fiscal responsibilities for the rehabilitation section five zero four act from home district to the rest schools. We strongly oppose that idea. With its moral obligation to the spirit of the Sheff settlement beyond the Hartford boundaries the state should be embarrassed at the fiscal mistreatment of magnet schools. The same de facto segregation that exists in Hartford and its affluent suburban surrounding communities is commonplace with the other urban centers. Rest magnet schools fill an important gap in opportunities for all students. I urge you to continue to work toward a sustainable and equitable funding plan that supports them. Thank you.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: SPEAKER one:

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we will have Christina Ellington.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yes. Okay.

[Emmy (Emmeline) Franklin (CT Community Nonprofit Alliance)]: I'm here. We're

[Representative Tammy Exum]: good. Yes.

[Veronica Burnell (GHAA student, CREC)]: Thank you.

[Christina Ellington (Chief Schools Officer, Elevate Charter Schools; Danbury resident)]: Okay. Good afternoon, everyone and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee and to everyone today. My name is Christina Ellington. I am a Danbury resident, mother of three, and the chief schools officer for Elevate Charter Schools. Over the course of my eighteen years in my public school career, I've served as a teacher, a tutor, a grade level chair, a dean, a behavior interventionist, an administrator, and a principal. And I've worked across k-eight schools and high schools throughout the state of Connecticut. But today I'll name that my number one hat is as a Danbury mom and resident of Danbury for over thirty years. So I graduated from Danbury High School back when you had to shuffle step just to make it from one side of this building to the other. And now my teenage daughter is shuffling in that world. I gave birth to all three of my children at Danbury Hospital. I worship every Sunday at our beloved, New Hope Baptist Church. This community is home. And throughout my career I have worked in both traditional and public schools, charter public schools, and I believe deeply in public education. But I also deeply believe in choice within public education. One thing I'll share is that when I was earning my master's degree in education in New York City, I worked as a nanny and one of my responsibilities was to help families navigate school options. I sat at kitchen tables looking at brochures, visiting schools, helping parents weigh their options. Some families chose public schools, some chose private schools. And it was exciting. It was an empowering process. But what I learned was this, choice should not be a privilege. It should be a non negotiable and it should be accessible. In Danbury, we're fortunate to have several educational options, traditional public schools, magnet programs, Catholic schools, private schools, Abbott Tech. Yet access is limited and highly competitive. I was fortunate that one of my children was accepted into Westside Middle School. My other two were not. That is how lotteries work, and I respect that process. But the reality remains, only one out of my three children was able to access the choice that we had hoped for. I personally had to relocate my son because of his needs to be with his father in another state in town to get his needs met. That is a lived experience of many Danbury families. The Danbury International Academy Charter School has already been approved. Families know about it. They see the building. They stop me at school events, at church, at talent shows, at science fairs. When is it opening? What is happening? Is it finally gonna move forward and when will it open? They're waiting. This is not about taking anything away from traditional public schools. It's not about competition. It's about expanding public school choice. It's complex and our students have different strengths and different needs. And Danbury's diverse and growing and they've waited patiently. I'm simply asking the committee to fund what already has been approved and to honor the promise that we made to our families. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. Next we'll have Julie Hall followed by Edwin Garcia. Good afternoon please. There

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: you are.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Perfect. Thank you.

[Julie Hall (LoomAbility, KIDSTEPS/Birth to Three)]: I saw a red light.

[Dr. Rohini Saxena (Board Member, Proud Academy)]: I thought it was off.

[Julie Hall (LoomAbility, KIDSTEPS/Birth to Three)]: All right. My name is Julie Hall and I am with Loomability. My role there is as the deputy program officer for the birth to three program called kid steps. And I know you heard this morning from the commissioner about the birth to three system. And thank you representative Exham for your questions this morning. They were very pointed and I want to be able to share with you some information that will help answer some of the questions that you had and that maybe was information that hadn't been shared openly. This this tiered system and rate study that you heard of the tiered system is proposed to have three tiers for a professional level status. The what you need for each one has not been clearly identified yet. However it has been brought up that what could be in each of those tiers. But what has been said is that the top tier is a credentialing program. The intention of it is to provide quality for the system. And, the commissioner had said that it it is to, ensure that it works on workforce retention and recruitment. As providers, we don't believe that that's actually going to happen. We think that it's detrimental to our program because of the additional costs. That top tier, while it does offer quality and no one is disputing that, it is going to make it so that programs have to eat the cost of trying to help get staff to that level that are currently in the system. And it means that somebody coming in with you know, fifteen, twenty years of experience as a physical therapist is going to be considered entry level, where somebody coming in with a bachelor's degree, and I should say that a physical therapist are now graduating with doctorate degrees, the somebody coming in with a bachelor's degree and having just gone through the credentialing could actually be, in fact, earning far more than the other person, and yet the rates and the the rates difference won't reflect that. The challenge is the cost of providing the service is the same. And in the rate study there were two options. The other one was to keep the current system that we have interred that is in tiers of a professional and pair of professional status. And so the only way that you are getting the cost savings is because just a little over 20% or sorry a little over 80% of the clinicians in the system currently are at the bottom tier. There are only two people that have graduated from this credentialing program in the system. To date it is gonna take in order to get to that top tier of going through these additional trainings while the one that was given as an example this morning is fairly simple. It's a few hours of a learning module and one day of training. Thank you. I'll the rest of the stuff is in my testimony.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Okay great. Thank you. Because I'd like to read that and learn more. Thank you. Next we have Edwin Garcia followed by Gabriela Scott Edwin Garcia. No. Okay. Gabriela Scott.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: No.

[Iris Biscarondo (Danbury community leader)]: Good afternoon. I come on behalf of Edin Garcia's. I'm a community leader. My name is Iris Biscarondo. And I am here today as a Connecticut parent who believe that every child in the state regarding Danbury. The city that they were born most likely Danbury deserve a quality public education and a real choice. Thank you to the committee for allowing community voices from across the state to be heard today. I am a mother and I know what it means to lie awake at night wondering if your child is in a right environment. Getting what they need being prepared for the future. Every parent in Connecticut shared experience and because I know the feeling I cannot still silence. When I see families in Danbury who wants to have a choice, who wants to have a charter school. In this, in this where it's happening in the city in Danbury, they have approved a school, a charter school, an international charter school since 2018, and it's still in the limbo, it hasn't been open. The building has been donated so it's not a burden for the city of Danbury. I am here because I believe in Connecticut. I believe that Danbury should have another option for free for the public school, for the kids so they can go and choose whatever they wanna go if they wanna go to the charter and have an international curriculum. The one that's gonna help them go to any university they want. I believe we are a state that follows through on commitments and that stand up for working families and children. Danbury Public Charter School is a tuition free public school. It has nothing extraordinary of this legislature, only that is on our decision already made. The school has been approved by the board of education. We only need the funds. Please stand with Danbury families today. Their children are Connecticut children too. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next we have Shenoy Clark followed by Ed Hunt. Bosey. Okay Shenoy.

[Speaker 49]: SPEAKER 20:

[Shannara Clark (Bassick High School student, Bridgeport)]: Hello is everyone hearing me.

[Speaker 2]: Yes

[Shannara Clark (Bassick High School student, Bridgeport)]: We are a group, so, my partner will go first and then I will go. Is that okay?

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Yeah. Yes. That's fine.

[Shannara Clark (Bassick High School student, Bridgeport)]: Okay. Perfect.

[Najalee Roman (Bassick High School student, Bridgeport)]: Good afternoon. My name is Najalee Roman, and I'm currently a senior at Bassett High School, and I am the class valedictorian of 2026. I am here today because the students of Bridgeport Public Schools deserve better. Bridgeport students on average struggle on state assessments. Only about 20% of students are proficient in English Language Arts and about 12.5% are proficient in Math. Some might assume that this is a student's fault and that we simply don't care or lack motivation, but that isn't true. Students do care. Students want to succeed. The real question is, how are we expected to perform at the same level as students in better funded districts when we don't have the same resources or opportunities? We are constantly compared to schools that have more funding, more programs, and more support systems. That comparison isn't fair when the playing field isn't equal. People say our district receives a lot of money, but students don't see that investment reflected in our classrooms, materials, or daily experiences. So we have to ask, where is that money going and why are students feeling its impact? The lack of resources doesn't just affect students, it affects staff too. Teachers, counselors, and support staff, the very people students rely on for academic help, guidance, and emotional support, have been cut in order to balance budgets. What may look like a financial solution on paper is actually creating real harm for students in practice. And what about ESL students? They deserve the same opportunities as everyone else, yet many don't have the access to resources they fully need to succeed. Education should be equitable and not selective. No student should feel like they're being placed on a back burner simply because they need additional support. Students in Bridgeport are intelligent, capable, and determined. We are not asking for some special treatment, we are asking for fair investment, the kind that gives us a real chance to succeed, grow, and contribute to our community and state. Because when you invest in students, you invest in the future. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much for your testimony.

[Shannara Clark (Bassick High School student, Bridgeport)]: A pleasant good afternoon to the members of appropriation and to everyone else. I am Shannara Clark, a senior at the Bostick High School. I must express my gratitude for the opportunity to be here, to be the voice for many silent students of Bridgeport, specifically Bostick High School. Bitchward has a dream, a dream to be someone, to make an impact on this community and in the world, and we need your help. In our schools, we are still in need. We are suffering daily with minimal resources in our classroom. Though Bassick's though Bassick High School has improved, we must still acknowledge and adhere to the struggles we still that are still active, sorry, in our school. Our schools consist of students with special needs and multilingual learners. We need you to pour into us to give us the resources that we need to be the teachers electricians lawyers engineers of tomorrow. Our students our students. Thank you so much.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. Sorry about that. Thank you so much. Gabriela Scott followed by Eden Hot Boise.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: SPEAKER

[Gabrielle Scott (ACES Chase Academy student)]: one: Good afternoon. My name is Gabrielle Scott. I'm a 15 year old student from Seymour who attends Ace's Chase Academy a magnet school in Waterbury. Schools such as my own are not given an equal opportunity financially which needs to change. Magnet schools in Connecticut are currently not given the same amount of funding as traditional schools are which is very challenging. What makes magnet school special is the environment we have compared to traditional schools. Magnet schools provide a diverse and uplifting community to students of many backgrounds often those who are less fortunate like myself. I am someone who chose to attend a magnet school because my former middle school failed to Provide an appropriate environment for me. I was bullied not only by students but by staff as well. While I was dealing with a chronic illness my school did not provide and accommodate for my situation and I eventually ended up having to. Leave my middle school and attend a better place. So that led me to. Search out a magnet school. And what attracted me specifically to ACES Chase Academy was the community. The small class sizes allow students and teachers to work one on one which helped me grow academically and the class sizes also include a diverse student body. We have students from many different backgrounds cultures and towns And this is just like what makes our school welcoming. So. To keep this going. We do need equal funds for our community.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: We need our education to

[Gabrielle Scott (ACES Chase Academy student)]: be supported just like traditional schools are. To be supported just like traditional schools are. Students from less fortunate backgrounds should receive the same future and opportunity as those who go to traditional schools do. I hope that my words

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next we will have Id Hunt Boise followed by Logan Locke.

[Adant Bosley (Rocky Hill High School student; CIAC Student Empowerment Advisory Board)]: SPEAKER 10: Good afternoon. Members of the Appropriations Committee and my fellow committee members. My name is Adant Bosley and I'm a senior at Rock Hill High School. I'm here today in reference to House Bill 5,032, specifically lines two fifty one through two fifty eight, which proposed reducing funding for the Connecticut Association of Schools from $400,000 US dollars to $200,000 US dollars in fiscal year twenty twenty seven. For the past three years I've had the esteemed privilege of serving on the CIAC Student Empowerment Advisory Board and the State Student Advisory Council on Education. And I'm also a Connecticut Association of Schools conference speaker a program funded through this very appropriation. Through CAST funding programming, I've spoken at over nine statewide events, elementary, middle, high school, and administrator events reaching more than 2,000 individuals across Connecticut. And as a presenter, I've taught over a thousand students, through breakout sessions on public speaking, mindfulness, and student leadership for learning, growth, and change. But what stays with me the most are the moments after these sessions. At one conference, a high school student came up to me and said that the mindfulness session had given them a new perspective on life. That instead of stressing over everything happening around them, they were going to start focusing on what they can control rather than what they couldn't. That shift in mindset may seem small, but for a teenager navigating academics, athletics, and personal pressures, it is transformative. At another event, an elementary school student told me that they were nervous about public speaking at the student upcoming student council meeting. But after that public speaking breakout session that I had given them, they felt ready to stand up and lead. That confidence at that age changes trajectories. And it's not just younger students. Peers my own age, already leaders in their schools have reached outward after saying they have felt more empowered to take initiative and speak up in their communities after these crucial CIAC events. CAST doesn't just host conferences or host board meetings. It creates ripple effects throughout our beloved state of Connecticut. I've also had the opportunity to share panels and collaborate with current school leaders, administrators, and statewide education stakeholders. Through these experiences, students like myself are not just preparing to lead someday. We are learning to lead to to learn lead alongside those shaping Connecticut's education system today like yourself. Through the student empowerment board and Sassy, we have actively developing a statewide mindfulness initiative and researching AI integrated math models to responsibly explore how artificial intelligence can enhance learning locally. This is what your investment supports, confidence, perspective, and leadership in action. Reducing this appropriation by half would not simply adjust the number, it would limit the platforms that create these moments for students across Connecticut. CAST serves more than 170,000 students annually. For that reach, 400,000 is a modest but transformative investment. When you fund cast you are not funding an organization. You are funding students who learn to lead and who help others to do the same. I respectfully urge you to maintain the 400,000 U. S. Dollars appropriation in the HB 5,032 and thank you for your time and your commitment to Connecticut students.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. That mindfulness is a skill that we could all use so thank you for mentioning that. Next we will have to have a little. SPEAKER

[Logan Locke (ACES Chase Academy student)]: one: My name is Logan Locke an eighth grade student at ACES Chase Academy. I came to ACES to improve myself with the collegiate education and to build a foundation for my future. In Lao my grandma always says meaning go to school learn life to be a good person on this earth. Today me and many other people come to ask for preserving the $12,000,000 in funding. This is my testimony at ACES. Many students are surrounded by friends and teachers who care not just for student grades but for student growth and well-being. A part of well-being is feeling safe and protected throughout the country. Many students worry about being taken from schools because of their parents being immigrants. Manny Chavez a commentator at a town meeting who said I shouldn't be scared. I should be focused. I should be focusing on school and I can't focus as a child of immigrant parents. I worry every day about being able to see my family again and that's just me. Aces Chase Academy. I feel safe here. Here I know teachers won't let this happen to students. School is not just a place to learn. It's also a place you feel safe. But how can I feel safe and other students feel safe with low funding in Connecticut schools? This is why I'm advocating for my school. I'm advocating for a better funding in Connecticut schools and all Connecticut magnet school. So as a whole we can have a safe campus a safe environment and better education for our future present students and future students students who are the future of our world which is why I ask for more funding for our schools. All schools say something along the lines of, this school will have your child a bright future. But how can I have a better future with low funding in Connecticut? Think about the limitless possibilities we can make with more funding. As a personal testimony at ACEs Chase Academy, I've learned so much from the PLTW program and much more. So please consider my testimony in our country's future with better funding in Connecticut. I ask for the $12,000,000 for RESC magnet schools such as ACES Chase Academy. So with the money that I hope will be provided, I know our schools will use the money as soon as it is given to help make better schools for our future of the country. Thank you for your time and consideration for hearing my testimony.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much for

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: your

[Representative Tammy Exum]: testimony. We have two students that I'm going to move up because they need to catch a bus back to Bridgeport Colin Jims and followed by Omar Rayashi.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: SPEAKER

[Colin Jims (Fairchild Wheeler student; RPI admit)]: four: Elected officials and Appropriations Committee members. Thank you for holding this public hearing on the governor's proposed budget budget for elementary and secondary education, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to advocate for myself and my peers. So my name is Colin Jims. I am a former student and in the Shelton School District and a current Bridgeport student and athlete. I'm a senior enrolled in Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet Academy who will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for Biomedical Engineering in the fall. So coming from Shelton, I have a much different history and view than my peers when it comes to schooling. Though I've enjoyed my time in the Bridgeport school system, it is in no way related to the resources given to me. When attending school in Shelton, there was no lack of resources or participation in school. In Bridgeport, I have noticed there is an abundance of students that do not participate or try in school at all. Students are clearly not engaged by the teachers and the curriculum. The different the difference that I have noticed between these two school districts is the time and money sorry. The the time and money provided to make the curriculum valuable and engaging. If the proper amount of funding is provided to Bridgeport, then it will allow for more funds being used to develop the curriculum, which will lead to more student participation. The poverty rate in Bridgeport is 42% higher than the state average, and I see a vicious cycle of poverty taking place in Bridgeport. The only way to break this cycle is through school. And participating in school is critically essential to furthering education and entering the workforce in a higher earning educate in a higher earning position, thus breaking the cycle of poverty. Revising the ECS profile is necessary in this pursuit of breaking the cycle of poverty in Bridgeport. Please consider this change for the welfare of the youth of Bridgeport. Thank you very much.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much for that. And also congratulations with Rinsler. Good luck to you. And next we will have. Omar. Rasheed.

[Omar Ayashi (Fairchild Wheeler student, Bridgeport)]: Good afternoon.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Good afternoon.

[Omar Ayashi (Fairchild Wheeler student, Bridgeport)]: Senator Olson Senator Sommers distinguished representatives and members of the approach appropriation committee. I'm Omar Ayashi a student at Fairchild Wheeler High School in Bridgeport and I'm here to discuss the lack of funding given to Bridgeport Bridgeport as a result of the ECS formula starting since the fiscal year 2019. Bridgeport has received $92,100,000 less in funding than what was called for by the ECS formula. This large underfunding in Bridgeport creates and amplifies serious problems within the district. In 2025 in order to save money Bridgeport was forced to cut many positions including librarians counselors and many others. These are not trivial positions. These are essential roles that students need to thrive. The worst thing that you can do to a student is to deprive them of access access to books access to guidance access to basic resources that we should not have to advocate for here. These numbers and talking points are not just statistics or budget lines but real lives with real consequences. Each teacher has a family to provide for. Each student has their own dreams and untapped potential all to be neglected by a failing system that cannot encourage or support growth. So I plead. Please adjust the budget for the ECS formula for the fiscal year 2027. I plead to increase the base foundation cost that has stayed stagnant for over a decade. I plead to increase I plead to adjust the cost of living requirements and modify the ECS formula to account for inflation each year. And I plead that you hear me and my peers and see the people of Bridgeport not as an expense but as an investment an investment in a better educated tomorrow. Thank you.

[Speaker 56]: Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Next, we will have Albert Benihan Grealis followed by Maria Paredes.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Hi.

[Speaker 57]: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Abig Benihangaraj. Thank you. My name is Abdul Benahangara. I'm the board member for Bridgeport Public School. Be in my district for almost twenty years. I'm gonna be brief because I know my colleague and everybody know what we want from Bridgeport Public School. As I say, as a leader from the end of Bridgeport Public School for so many years, we want you to help our students. Our students are future, our city. It's very obviously that and everybody know that our city is one of the biggest in Connecticut. We ever have almost, like, around 20,000 students. We have amazing staff, amazing parents, and everybody. So please, I want you to please help our students and be sure that funding our schools. I know my colleague, everybody know what we want, but we want you to support. So as a board member, as a parent, as a taxpayer, please help Bridgeport Public School. Thank you for your time, and God bless you all.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next Maria Paredes. Next we have a panel. Zachary Kravitz Molly Markowitz Emily Hoagland and Katie Sweck from the Connecticut American Academy of Pediatrics.

[Dr. Katie Sweck (Pediatrician, AAP-CT)]: Good afternoon and thank you to the members of the Appropriations Committee for the opportunity to speak today. I'm Doctor. Katie Sweck. I'm a pediatrician in New Haven and I serve as the early childhood champion and healthy mental development champion for the Connecticut chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics which represents more than 600 pediatricians across our state. And I can say that we're all very impressed by all of the students here today. I am here to strongly oppose the elimination of funding for reach out and read in governor Governor Lamont's proposed fiscal year twenty seven budget revisions. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reach out and read as a proven program to promote early childhood development and school readiness by strengthening early child caregiver relationships. More than 600 pediatric clinicians in Connecticut incorporate this evidence based model into well child visits from infancy through age five years. Providing new books and early literacy guidance as a result nearly 80,000 Connecticut children many from families facing economic hardship are impacted each year over 20 peer reviewed studies demonstrate that reach out and read increases shared reading at home improves preschool language development enhances positive child caregiver interactions reduces maternal depression and increases well visit attendance supporting reach out and read is one of the best investments in Connecticut's children if we propose reducing funding for roads and bridges. We would recognize that as counterproductive and unsafe. The same is true for this proposal. It is counterproductive because early high literacy environments build the brain architecture that supports language acquisition cognitive development and emotional regulation Weakening this infrastructure limits our children's potential. It is also unsafe. Research clearly links early emotional and behavioral concerns in the first three years of life including postpartum caregiver mental health challenges to later childhood and adolescent mental health disorders substance use and suicide risk. These risks are even greater for families facing poverty and racism and remain elevated since the pandemic. Reducing funding for Reach Out and Read would weaken one of the most evidence based psychosocial interventions that pediatricians have to promote healthy brain development strengthen relational health and prevent developmental delays and future mental and behavioral health disorders. I do not exaggerate when I say that providing a new book with shared reading guidance to a young family and to a young child and their family is as important as using my stethoscope. At a time when Connecticut's birth to three system is seeing significantly increased referrals for developmental concerns equipping pediatricians with effective preventive tools is critical in pediatrics prevention is power paramount. Earlier is better and time is brain without reach out and read. I cannot provide the standard of care recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

[Emily Hurst (Chief Strategy & Talent Officer, Hebrew Public/Olam)]: Thank you

[Dr. Katie Sweck (Pediatrician, AAP-CT)]: for your time and consideration and I'm happy to answer any questions.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. That was very impactful. Thank you. Oh. I'm sorry. No no that's fine. Thank you.

[Dr. Molly Markowitz (Pediatrician, AAP-CT)]: Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank thank you for the opportunity to speak today as well. My name is doctor Molly Markowitz and I'm a pediatrician that works in New Haven. And I'm chair of the advocacy committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics. I'm here today to speak in strong support of free school breakfast for all Connecticut's children with the and the elimination of fees for students who currently qualify for a reduced price lunches as proposed in the governor's budget. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly advocates for expanding access to nutrition programs such as WIC, SNAP, and other school nutrition programs. Access to healthy food is fundamental to child health. We know nutrition is essential for brain development, strengthens immunity and builds strong bones and muscles and ensures healthy growth. Food insecurity defined as lack of access to enough nutritious food puts children at serious health risks. Hunger also affects learning. Children who have not, who have not eaten enough struggle to concentrate in school, are at increased risk of developmental delays and are more likely to experience emotional and behavioral challenges. Food insecurity does not just affect children, it affects families. Parents who face food insecurity experience chronic stress and air increased risk of anxiety and depression. In Connecticut, one in six children experience hunger.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: That was five minutes. Okay.

[Dr. Molly Markowitz (Pediatrician, AAP-CT)]: I'm now gonna pass off to one of my colleagues to share a story.

[Adant Bosley (Rocky Hill High School student; CIAC Student Empowerment Advisory Board)]: Good evening. My name is Doctor. Zachary Kravitz. I hear we have a minute left.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Doctor. Kravitz. I really. The time is up. I'm going to do just one additional minute but we really

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: have three minute panels. Okay.

[Adant Bosley (Rocky Hill High School student; CIAC Student Empowerment Advisory Board)]: Understood that I actually would like to make sure that the. From my colleagues behind me has a chance to talk just because she has her children here and they have a more impactful story so I'm gonna step out.

[Dr. Emily Hoagland (Pediatrician) with Rosie and Andy]: Hi. My name is Doctor. Emily Hoagland and I'm a pediatrician based here in Hartford. Every day I also witness firsthand the detrimental effects of food insecurity and children falling behind in school because they're hungry. But this funding is really about the kids. So I'm gonna turn it over to my two children who attend Connecticut public schools for their thoughts. SPEAKER four:

[Rosie and Andy Hoagland (West Hartford students)]: Hi. My name is Rosie. I'm six years old I live in West Harvard, Connecticut, and I'm in first grade. It's hard to eat breakfast before I go to school. And when I don't eat enough breakfast, it's hard to focus, learn, and play. So it would be great if me and my friends could get free at school. Thank you for your time. Hi. My name is Andy. I'm nine years old and I'm in third grade. I think breakfast should be free for everyone because some people may not have a lot of money and can't afford breakfast at home. And if it costs money at school too they probably can't afford that either. If breakfasts are free at school every kid no matter how much money their parents make would be able to have it. Breakfast is important because if you don't have it you can't really focus well and then you can't do your work or do well in school. Please support breakfast for all. Thank you for your time.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. And I was so happy

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: to hear from both of

[Representative Tammy Exum]: you and that you're from West Hartford. I am too. So thank you. Wonderful job. Next we will have. Philip Song followed by Evan Evan. Gabriel. Tell me how to say that properly when you get up. And, as real prevail.

[Philip (Fairchild Wheeler student, Bridgeport)]: Good afternoon. Distinguished members of the appropriate committee. My name is Philip. I'm a sophomore at Fairchild Wheeler in Bridgeport. I am proud to be a part of the Bridgeport Public Schools community. I am testifying today on

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: the

[Philip (Fairchild Wheeler student, Bridgeport)]: government's proposed adjusted budget for 2027. I respectfully urge the general's assembly to increase education's cost sharing foundation amount, which has remained frozen at $11,525 since 2013. And to modify the ECS formula so that it automatically adjusts each year for inflation. For more than a decade, the foundation amount has kept not kept pace with the real cost of educating a child. If it had simply kept up with inflation, it would be closer to $16,000 per student today. Meanwhile, transportation, utilities, wages, special education services, and multilingual learner supports have all increased significantly. When the foundation does not rise with inflation, districts are forced to absorb those costs locally, thus shifting the burden onto property taxpayers. In Bridgeport, this is a this is a real consequence. Our district serves more than 19,000 students. We are the largest in Connecticut, and more than half of them require special education or multilingual learning services. Special education alone now exceeds $115,000,000 annually, nearly one third of the district's entire budget. Out of our district's placements can cost over $107,000 per student. Multilingual learners enrollment has grown dramatically in recent years requiring bilingual teachers, translators, and family engagement support. As a student, I see firsthand what underfunding means. It means larger class sizes. It means stretched special education caseloads where teachers struggle to provide individualized attention, it means educational experiencing burnouts. Without increasing and indexing the ECS foundation, we are look locking out districts into structural underfunding. Without increased investments, needs will continue to go unmet. Educators will continue to burn out, and young people's potential will be limited. Increasing and indexing the ECS Foundation is not just an education policy decision. It's an economic one. Strong public schools reduce long term social service costs, strengthen the workforce, and stabilize communities. Now it's time for real action. I urge you to increase the ECS foundation amount and permanently tie it to inflation so that all students regardless of zip code receive the resources they deserve. Thank you for your time.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Next, we will have Evan. Let me there you are, Evan.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: How are you?

[Speaker 64]: Good evening, members of the committee. My name is Evan Gevirtan Saha. I am currently a senior at the Fairchild Wheeler Aerospace School. And I will be attending Columbia University in the fall. I came to The US when I was eight years old from Eritrea, a country that knew no education. Arriving with no English, I first attended Louis Monez Marin School and later Geraldine Johnson School and was up to the school district to shape, and my community, to shape my educational future. With the lack of resources throughout my school years, my teachers and principals have gone above and beyond working tirelessly to ensure the success of me and my peers. In the beginning of the school year, I learned that Bridgeport had cut the library and media specialists. This class these classes has had been so important for students like me, helping improve reading, writing and English skills alongside ESL, which thankfully still continues. For many multilingual learners entering Bridgeport schools, these programs could be the could mean the difference between falling behind or thriving. But now but now with these resources gone, these students will have to work even harder just to reach the same starting point. This issue extends beyond multilingual learners. It affects every student in Bridgeport. The effects of the outdated ECS formula are felt in classrooms every day. Teachers work incredibly hard, but many are not given the resources needed to teach at a deeper level and fully demonstrate what is in the curriculum. The ECS formula was designed to promote educational equity yet many high need districts still experience the reality of unequal resources. This is especially concerning for the younger generation whose future begins to look unpromising if these conditions continue. The goal is to prepare students for higher education, but without proper funding, gaps in their educational experience become clear when compared to peers from other towns. Bridgeport Public Schools aims to give every student the chance to dream big and reach high, including my younger brothers. But without proper funding, this is not possible. Without proper funding, Bridgeport will not be able to hire great teachers and staff members. Without proper funding, we will not have the equal access to curriculum, technology, and resources. Without proper funding, the futures of countless students will be limited, not because of their talent or hard work, but purely because they were denied the resources they deserve. I hope you remember when you're thinking about the budget that real students real teachers and real futures are affected by these decisions and that every student in Bridgeport deserves a fair fair chance to succeed. Thank you for listening.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: SPEAKER one:

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. And congratulations. Good luck at Columbia as well. Thank you for your testimony. And Evan. I'm sorry. Israel Preval.

[Speaker 65]: Good afternoon. Dear members of the committee. My name is Israel Preval. I am an army reservist constitutionalist, and an incoming freshman at the Southern Connecticut State University, and most importantly, a proud Bridgeport senior. One that has experienced student life from traversing the halls of Beersley Elementary as a kindergartner to the thralls of Fairchild Whitler as a senior. Not only in the city which I not only the city in which I reside, but the great state that I am able to call my home. We are gathered here today in the name of discussion, which may only result in mayor rhetoric rhetoric per the state's track record. Would we, the students, taxpayers, voters, and people have come in the name of reform demanding more than speech demanding more than strenuous verbiage. We demand action action from both this committee and the chamber of which it resides. The chamber that is elected to serve the good people of this great state. I come unto you earnestly asking that great consideration be placed into the ECS formula. Today's general discussion has been based mostly on the great lacking of funds and so far to the distribution on the state level. I would like to direct this conversation towards the elephant in the room, which the state has not only placed into the room, but in doing so, attempts to disregard it. This elephant, of course, is the ECS, that being the education cost sharing formula. What was once seen as a beacon of an equitable distribution of funds now monstrously falling from its former glory, only acting as a measure of suboptimal distribution of funds. Members, hear me now if you haven't. We come due to the lack of funds, but why is it that we're lacking if not due to the ECS formula? Yes, we are in need of funds. But even if we are granted them, this is only kicking the can down the road for the next administration and or generation. This is why, most importantly, even greater than funds being allotted, we must not only advocate fervently and with haste, but cause reform of the ECS formula itself. We can start by implementing colon to the ECS formula, which hasn't adjusted for inflation since 2013. My dear committee members, do you beg to hear the same rhetoric and witness the same public face as next year as you do now? That will be the result if the ECS formula is not changed. I plead with you. You elected officials whom being representatives are to do the will of the people, not of the governing body. Think not of your upcoming elections, but rather gather your thoughts on the people. For we are Connecticut. There are no representatives without us. Therefore, make haste in your deliberations. We present you an opportunity, one which may bear fruits greater than any seed that you have sown in your life. These fruits are the bedrock of young people's lives. How are we expected to produce an upstanding citizen when the school systems themselves are lacking a base for the citizen to stand on. Do not only give us funds but give us a future. Give us UCS reform. Thank you.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Douglas Foley followed by online followed by Kate Erickson.

[Doug Foley (Hamden Legislative Council; Working Families Party)]: Good afternoon. Good afternoon distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Doug Foley. I'm a resident of Hamden, Connecticut and also a newly elected at large member of our legislative council. Additionally, I'm a member of the Working Families Party, and we belong to Connecticut for All, a statewide coalition fighting for better future for everyone in Connecticut. I'm testifying on the governor's proposed adjusted budget for fiscal year twenty twenty seven, and I'd like to advocate for the following changes. Number one, increased funding for public school districts in need. The foundation amount should be $16,000 per student, not $11,000.525 as set in 2013. The foundation amount and formula should be adjusted to ensure that the funding tracks with inflation, if not yearly, every five years at minimum. Property wealth is a factor in the base eight ratio of the formula. If property revaluation occurs every five years in Connecticut, so too should ECS funding. Adjust the education cost share formula as well to better include and account for the needs of special education students. Making these changes would result in the state contributing more every year to support all students across the state in your communities and in mine. Not only am I here as a local elected official, but I'm also here as a new father. I have a 14 old son at home whom I plan to send to Hamden Public Schools. My understanding is that our school district and board have been focusing on maintaining the status quo for a number of years and that we're allowing vacated positions to go unfilled as a way to make cuts. Our schools, it seems, have been on the brink of an austerity budget, a budget which would ensure that education is available, but continues to lack the funds needed to improve outcomes and cater to the holistic health, safety, and success of all students equitably. I cannot sit and allow that to be the case for another thirteen years. Without increased investments and support, needs will continue to go unmet, educators will continue to burn out, and young people's potential will be limited. Now is the time for us to take real action by increasing funding and improving services for all children in our state. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and have a great legislative session.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Have a good evening. Next Kate Erickson followed by Betsy Garra.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: SPEAKER 21:

[Kate Erickson (Executive Director, LEARN RESC)]: Good evening. Good evening.

[Ana Cecilia Lopez (Danbury community member)]: Good evening. Distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee my name is Kate Erickson I serve as the executive director of learn a regional educational service center that serves 24 member districts and more than 1,300 students in our magnet schools across Southeastern Connecticut. I am here today to express serious concern regarding the proposed elimination of $12,000,000 in the operating, that would have supported rest magnet schools for learn alone. This proposal proposal represents a loss of more than $1,000,000 in critical funding, this funding, that was intended to stabilize magnet schools costs and prevent additional financial burden on the districts that partner with us to serve students. As a reminder, two years ago, this legislature invested approximately $50,000,000 to reduce the fiscal burden on sending towns. Not a dollar of that 50,000,000 went to the magnet school per pupil fund. It went all to reduce the burden on the towns. If the $12,000,000 funding is eliminated the cost of educating these students does not disappear. It's simply shifted to local school districts. Learn will be forced to increase tuition and reduce programs to close the gap. In either case the impact will be felt directly by our member districts their local budgets, and the students and families we all serve. At the same time, this moment highlights a larger issue. Connecticut needs a sustainable, long term, equitable, and student centered funding system. Connecticut needs a system that reflects the true cost of educating students and provides stability for districts, regional programs and families. Temporary adjustments and cost shifts create uncertainty and force local communities to absorb expenses that are part of a statewide public education strategy. Learn along with our colleagues across the RESC Alliance remains committed to working with the legislator to develop that kind of long term funding model. However, the immediate priority must be the restoration of this $12,000,000 investment to prevent disruptive cost shifts to local districts. In addition to the equitable magnet school funding the RESC Alliance has also identified an additional critical issue around student success and district stability across Connecticut. We respectfully request the establishment of a $1,500,000 line item with the State Department of Ed budget for the Connecticut teacher residency program managed by the Resc Alliance. This program is helping address educator shortages while increasing educator diversity across the state. Since 2019 it has placed nearly a 178 teachers of color and more than 40 districts across the state. We hope you can support us. Thanks so much.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you. And next we have Natalia Duran. There's a panel.

[Steve Tracy (Chair, Danbury Charter School planning team)]: Representative Exer my name is Steve Tracy. I'm sitting in from Ms. Duran's group. She's not able to be with us at this hour but I think I can get several names off your list in the next three minutes,

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: if that's okay. Okay.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you.

[Steve Tracy (Chair, Danbury Charter School planning team)]: Again, my name is Steve Tracy. I'm a retired public school teacher and school superintendent. And I'm here today as the chair of the planning team for the Danbury Charter School. It was, my privilege back in the nineteen nineties to chair the task force that this general assembly established to look at the then novel idea that we could improve student performance in our state by empowering, citizens, educators, civic leaders, to create new independent public schools, on charter from the state, and then empower parents to choose those schools if they felt they offered their children the best opportunity for academic success. The group that I've been privileged to work with, filed an application in 2018 to create a public charter school in Danbury, And we were enthusiastically approved approved by the state board. In fact, we achieved the highest score of any applicant that year. Unfortunately, Representative Walker, good to see you. Unfortunately, the General Assembly has, has not seen fit to fund our school in the intervening years, even as it has funded other charter schools that were approved subsequent to us. And so now, here we are for the eighth year, parents, educators, community leaders asking this committee and the general assembly to fund the Danbury Charter School. We have a compelling curriculum featuring the international baccalaureate program. We have solid leadership in the person of John Taylor and his team from elevate charter schools. We have a fully equipped facility that's ready to go. We have a commitment to provide competitive compensation and solid professional development support to our teachers. And thanks to a generous philanthropic contribution, we're prepared to build a brand new public school building for over 700 kids in Downtown Danbury at no cost to the Danbury taxpayers. So there's a lot to like here. These families have played by the rules. They've been very patient, and we're hoping that you will join us now this year in getting them the public school that they deserve. We're prepared to work with the with Danbury's mayor and superintendent with the Danbury legislative delegation to get this done this year so that these parents can provide their children with the public school choice that they deserve and that they've worked for years to achieve.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: So thank

[Steve Tracy (Chair, Danbury Charter School planning team)]: you for hearing us.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you so much. Thank you. Have a good evening. And next we have Tamari Duarte followed by James Boucher.

[Tajari (Tamari) Thorpe (ACES Chase Academy student)]: Thank you, community man. I'm Tajari Thorpe. I'm a student here at a student at aces chase academy. I'm 16 years old, and I'm in the tenth grade. I live in Waterbury, Connecticut. Most of you know as the Brass City Of Connecticut. I'm here representing magnet schools across the country, across the state. ACES gave me the opportunity to become the student body president, where I fought for affordable things in our school, like having lunches become better. I fought for values that our school has, values of educate, taking risk, and community, and making sure family is more than school. I our school view our school views ourselves more as a family. Than a school. Rather than, having social life over education with smaller classrooms where you're able to talk to your teacher directly or talk to a student or even go to your principal with any matter that you have. With the smaller classrooms, students are, less likely to get distracted or lose get lost gets, lose focus in class. Teachers actually have relationships with the students. And you can indirectly go to the principal with your concerns and he will hear about it. The thing that makes Chase different is that we have classes that are funded by budgets that no other no other high school has, like a personal finance class. The only one in Wadbury, Connecticut. We are typically a high school of different towns, communities. Chase strives to have a value of educate anyone regardless of their race, gender, or sexuality. We believe that everyone has a chance in education. We have classes that teach you TLE's that brings you projects that other schools don't bring. Magna schools bring the back all the backbone of, the Board of Education of Connecticut. The opportunities that our school has cannot go away. Many students will disappear. And I say that the budget from Ned Lamont from the fiscal year of 2027 will put our Macomb schools back a thousand years. ACES at Chase only received 14,558 thousand dollars where the cap is 2,000. We want to preserve the $21,000,000 The, the take the ACES, ACE ACEs students, teachers advocate and they want us to stand for what is right. For us to continue with the fight that we have in our school and especially what is happening in our country. We want to make sure we are able to fund our sports, education, classes, and to make sure everybody has an everlasting good experience at ACES at Chase and every single Magnum school. I end off with a quote by a philosopher saying, it's not because things are difficult because we don't because we do not dare. It's because we do not dare that they are difficult. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. James Boucher. Online. Online.

[Jim Boucher (Capital Workforce Partners; Hartford Opportunity Youth Collaborative)]: Thank you, to leadership of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Jim Boucher. I'm here on the behalf of Capital Workforce Partners, for workforce development board for the North Central Region Of Connecticut, and wanna thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the urgent importance to invest in programs and systems to support Connecticut's disconnected youth population in our future workforce. Again, I'm also involved, in addition to Capital Workforce Partners, very involved with the Hartford Opportunity Youth Collaborative, Campaign for Working Connecticut, and also with the, very involved with the governor's workforce council's youth committee. I also want to acknowledge the contributions of the one nineteen k to zero collective and the National Youth Employment Coalition and others who have helped elevate this issue. Connecticut continues to have another important opportunity to make major progress on supporting disconnected youth programming and systems improvements. Last year's disconnected youth bill, I believe it was bill number fifteen eleven, was supported through the education committee and referred to the appropriations committee, and I believe that's as far as it went. And there were some elements of that bill that made it through, but also need to be further considered for action this year. While the number of disconnected youth declined in recent years, that progress was driven primarily by a number of highly effective disconnected youth programs, economic recovery, and time limited federal investments, and additional, state action that occurred with a number of leaders. We are very concerned that this year, federal reductions across workforce education, housing, and human services are already taking effect to spend selling many youth employment programs and reengagement pathways statewide. Without immediate state action, Connecticut will reverse hard won progress and deepen workforce, shortages at the very moment employers need talent the most. At this point, also, capital workforce partners, we are seeing a significant drop off in federal funding for these kinds of programs, which are now having a major impact. We also know that for employers in 2025, Connecticut had more than 76,000 job openings while tens of thousands of young people still remained remained disconnected from school and work. That disconnect reflects an investment gap, not a lack of potential in education pathways, workforce training, and reengagement supports. We know what works. We know that paid work experiences work, and we know that high touch navigation, mentoring, and family advocates, and career navigators keep young people engaged. Alternative and recuperative education pathways and mental health, housing, transportation supports are all vital. We know that there have been there's been progress on justice involved system, and we really encourage that the appropriations committee considers taking action on investing in these critical priorities for disconnected youth. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, Jim. Have a good day. Thank you. Next, we have July Milano. And after July Milano, Emmy Emeline Franklin. Is Emeline Franklin here?

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Yes. Okay.

[Julie Miliano (Danbury resident; Alliance for CT Charter Schools)]: Good afternoon. Distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Julie Miliano. I'm a Danbury Connecticut resident mother of three. I'm also a former member of the Dan my local Danbury Board of Education and I currently work with the Alliance for Connecticut charter schools. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I want to begin by saying this clearly. I believe deeply in public education. I have seen firsthand the dedication of educators in our traditional public schools. I have served along alongside leaders who work tirelessly for its students every single day. This conversation is not about competition. It is about ensuring that every public school's option has the resources needed to serve children as well. As a mother I understand how personal education decisions are. Every child learns differently. Every family looks for an environment where their child feels safe supported and inspired for some families that is the neighborhood district school for others it might be the public charter schools. What matters most is that the choice exists and that the funding follows the student fairly. Charter schools are public schools and charter school students are public schools as students as well yet they receive a lower a lower per pupil allocation currently 11,525 which has not kept pace with the inflation of the true cost of education a child today. From my experience in education governance I know budgets reflects priorities when fund is not aligned with the student needs. Schools are forced to do more with less equity should be a student centered. It should not depend on the governance model of a school including charter schools within a unify needed base funding formula which is not which is not about shifting support away from anyone. It is about ensuring fairness for all public charter schools and all public education. Overall I also respectfully ask to consider the five schools that have already been approved but remain unfunded. Approval represents trust trust from families communities and the state. When funding is delayed opportunities delay for children who are already and waiting. As someone who has sat at the board of education table and as a mother who has made occasional decisions for my own child I can say this family simply want to work best for their children. Our role as leaders is to ensure that all public schools pathway are supported equitably when we invest fairly in public education. We are strength not only one sector but the entire education system in Connecticut. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your service and your commitment to our students.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Have a great day. Thank you. Emmeline Franklin and after Emmeline Franklin is Natasha Velez here? Is Natasha Velez here? Okay. Anika Russell here? Is Anika Russell here? Remote. Remote. Okay.

[Emmy (Emmeline) Franklin (CT Community Nonprofit Alliance)]: Go ahead. Good thing. Senator Austin, Representative Walker, Senator Summers, Representative Nuccio, and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Emmy Franklin, Public Policy and Advocacy Associate at the Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance. The Alliance is the statewide organization representing the nonprofit sector. Community nonprofits provide essential services to over half a million individuals and families in Connecticut every year and employ more than a 118,000 Connecticut residents, improving the quality of life in communities across the state. Thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding H. B. Fifty thirty two the governor's budget. I'm here to thank you for the increased included the increases included in the enacted budget in FY '27 and to request that you protect this funding and appropriate an additional 155,000,000 for community services in FY '27. The alliance appreciates the significant and real funding increases that the governor and the legislature have approved for nonprofits in recent years and in the coming year. Reimbursement rates for birth to three do current reimbursement rates for birth to three do not cover the true cost of services. In addition the cost data and report is already three years old meaning underfunding has worsened Overall service intensity is dropping during FY '25 birth to three delivered only 69% of the service intensity provided in FY nineteen while issues related to workforce and capacity increase While the enacted budget increases funding to birth to three for birth to three services OEC and DSS do not yet have not yet specified how those increases will translate to an increased reimbursement rate for services. Last year the legislature rejected the proposal to implement a tiered reimbursement structure but the governor's budget we're here testifying about proposes it again. We urge you to reject the new tiered reimbursement structure. It won't support recruitment of staff or the stability of programs. The underlying budget also reduces gap payments for eligible children. This payment was intended to stabilize the system until the rate study was implemented which has not yet happened and the system instability remains. Connecticut has always charted its own path and nonprofits have benefited greatly from the bipartisan support of members of this committee with a projected $2,500,000,000 state budget surplus, Connecticut can meet the needs of its residents, stabilize community services, and remain fiscally responsible. Please support increasing funding for community nonprofits by $155,000,000 in FY '27, which includes an increase

[Kathleen Sadolino (Creative Interventions/Birth to Three parent & staff)]: for birth to three services. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you for your testimony. Anika Russell you're online. No, not present. Okay. Susanna Hull Holzenbach? Online. Online?

[Susanna Holzenbeck (Executive Director, Read to Grow)]: Yes.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Okay. And after Susanna, Anita Ford?

[Committee Staff (Zoom tech/host)]: Also online.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Okay. Thank you.

[Danielle Middlebrooks (The Arc Connecticut)]: Thank you so much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Mhmm. Go ahead.

[Susanna Holzenbeck (Executive Director, Read to Grow)]: Can you hear me? Okay. Representative Walker and members of the Appropriations Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on how the governor's proposed f y twenty seven budget adjustments could impact Connecticut's earliest readers. I am Susanna Holzenbeck, the executive director of Read to Grow, the Connecticut based statewide nonprofit working to build strong foundations for lifelong learning by promoting language skills, increasing access to books, and supporting families as their child's first and most important teachers. For over twenty five years, our organization has centered its efforts on the premise that every child needs the power of words and stories to thrive starting at birth. Our free services reach families across a child's lifetime. Read to Grow's books for kids program distributes books to children of all ages, helping to nurture strong reading habits throughout their childhoods. Our bookmobile also brings the joy of reading right to children all across the state, creating an engaging interactive space for children from birth all the way up through third grade. But we are perhaps best known for our flagship books for babies program which is established in partnership with nearly every hospital in our state as well as health care providers. This program offers free developmentally appropriate books and literacy guides to families starting even before Connecticut children are born so that we can encourage new parents to understand their role in their children's educational journeys. We reach Connecticut's earliest readers through and their families through three targeted initiatives. Our prenatal project, which provides expecting families with educational materials and board books through community health centers and clinics. Our newborn project which gives families of all babies born at partner hospitals free literacy packets filled with resources to help parents support their children's early learning and literacy development. And our NICU early literacy project which is designed to support the development of infants in the neonatal intensive care units across our state. We also partner with peer organizations such as Reach Out and Read to connect literacy and health care for children in the care of pediatric doctors. These are key resources for budding families across our state. In Connecticut, on average, only 51% of families read to their children daily. After one books for babies touchpoint from read to grow, the number of families reading together daily jumps to 71%. And after a second point of contact that number rises to 80%. This effort is a meaningful investment that amplifies other existing state priorities like early childhood education and early literacy. This year alone, we've distributed more than 100,000 book children's books. That is why we are incredibly grateful that the Books for Babies program has been partial partially subsidized by the state for the past several years in partnership with funding we have secured from philanthropic donors. The funding the state has provided has been essential to our work, and Connecticut families rely upon these resources to start their children's literacy

[Speaker 77]: journey. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, and have a great day. Thank you for testimony. Thank you. Anita Ford and followed by Anita, Mike Papel. Is Mike Papel here?

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Yes.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Is he's remote. I

[Rita McDougall Campbell (Retired educator; ARTC)]: do not Hello?

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Okay.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Can you hear me?

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Yes.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Okay. Great. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, madam chair, members of the committee. Thank you for providing this opportunity. My name is Anita Ford Saunders. I live in Middletown, Connecticut, and I am cochair of the Capital Prep Middletown Planning Committee. I'm here to speak to the ongoing challenge of granting funding to an already approved school. Capital Prep was approved in 2023. It received the highest score of public charter school applications that year. That's important because despite its top score and approval, the Connecticut, and the Connecticut general statutes that explain the funding process that if in any fiscal year more than one new state or local charter school is approved, the one with the highest score should be funded. In an SDE meeting last year, the SDE attorney labored to convince the board that it was the legislature who attorney labored to convince the board that it was the legislature who approved funding. They passed the buck to you, appropriations. It's my understanding that the funding is a block grant, with no school names assigned to the funding. Middletown is an alliance district. That means our school system has not met the state's accountability standards. A school system is required to be accountable for the educational pros progress of our students. Capital Prep would be a solution. The proposal has had strong, consistent community support, and yet we are still we are still not open. Public charter schools in Connecticut have shown strong results for low income students, students of color, multilingual learners, and the capital prep model of social justice has been very successful. Governor Lamont even has a capital prep graduate working in his office. Capital prep harbor, their their success in Bridgeport demonstrates that this model work works. It's the number one school in the state for sending students to college. Families in Middletown deserve the right to choose the educational setting that best supports their children's success. Charter schools are public schools, and we are part of the public education system. They provide families with choice, and the, the part the public charter school does not take money away from students attending neighborhood public schools. That would be against the law. We have preached and been preached too that education is the great equalizer, yet we are still being denied in Middletown. But for what reason? Capital Prep is not just a school. It will be ingrained in this community. Capital Prep will always do what's best for the students in Middletown. Ask the Bridgeport school system how they have worked together for the benefit of all students. Families are not asking for special treatment. An excellent education is a right, not a privilege. We are asking lawmakers to honor the approval already granted. We ask legislators and the State Board of Education, State Department of Education to listen to the community, to parents, and just try to imagine the children, our students, who are just asking for a chance and a choice. Please urge the State Department of Education to follow the laws already on the books. Please don't turn your back on us again. Thank you so very much for letting me speak.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. At this time, I'm going to ask telephone number (203) 808-9321 to please identify yourself.

[Speaker 79]: If they could please change their name in the Zoom

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: to reflect their name rather than their telephone number that would be greatly appreciated. Okay. Next, Walt Kiplinski, and after Walt Fran Rabinowitz, and after Fran, Chad Cardillo. Yes. Okay.

[Walter Plinske (ARTC Insurance Committee Co-Chair)]: Hey. Good afternoon, to Senator Austin, Representative Walker, Senator Summers, Representative Nuccio, and to each of the members of the, Appropriations Committee as well. My name is Walter Plinske, a retired teacher and currently ARTC insurance committee cochair along with Jane Wilson. Let me thank you for this opportunity to submit testimony regarding h b five zero three two. On behalf of not just ARTC members, but the thousands of other retired teachers who are being penalized by an unfair state subsidy reduction, I urge this committee to restore the full one third state subsidy to the TRV Medicare supplement health care plan during this session. The restoration of the subsidy as written in statutes is projected to cost between 3 and $4,000,000 per year, and yet we'll benefit 4,600 retired teachers by making the TRB supplement more affordable. The cost is modest and sustainable for all parties. The state of Connecticut, retired teachers health insurance account, teachers both active and retired. During previous legislative sessions, one improbable assumption cast a shadow on the cost of restoring the state subsidy. The faulty assumption was that 33,000 retired teachers would suddenly switch to the TRV supplement plan leading to financial distress. Appropriations deserves realistic costs based on realistic assumptions. And the ARTC's written testimony will include several scenarios that illustrate a more realistic range of potential costs. Retired teachers choose a TRB health plan primarily for two values. Which is the best plan that meets my medical needs and which plan can I afford? Younger and healthier retirees tend to choose the lower cost advantage plan to save money. Older retirees, more likely to have health issues, see the need for the protections that only the Medicare supplement plan provides. Though it costs more, the supplement plan is free from insurance company imposed prior authorizations. Those can delay or deny access to vital medical care. And that is why an affordable TRB supplement plan is so important to retirees. Affordability here is not because of the cost of Medicare insurance. Medicare was designed to from the beginning to be affordable. It is the way that the state subsidy has been reduced for supplement enrollees at TRB that makes the supplement much less affordable. Restoring the statutory one third state subsidy ensures that retirees can get the medical care they need and when they need that. Thank you so much for your attention. I do appreciate that.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Fran Rabinowitz, I don't see her online. Oh, for sure in person. Okay. That's why. Hey, Fran. Go right ahead. Three minutes. Thank you, ma'am.

[Fran Rabinowitz (Executive Director, CAPSS)]: Good evening. Representative Walker, senator Austin, and members of the appropriation committee, thank you so much for the opportunity to testify here this evening. I'm Fran Rabinowitz. I'm the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. I intended to talk to ECS funding, but I have to say this, the students who testified did a much more eloquent job than I could ever do. As a former superintendent in Hamden and Bridgeport, I'm just so proud. I'm so proud to hear them, articulate what the needs are just so perfectly. But I will speak to, excess cost, funding. We do need excess cost funding. Our special ed, numbers are growing. I have many thoughts about that, but, what I do believe is, we were promised full funding for excess cost for our children. And, at last year we only received 68 to 71% of that. And it really hurts all districts but certainly the most challenged districts. The other piece is the seed funding. That's been a real gift to districts to build their own, build out their own special ed services. I happen to believe, after a long career, that keeping kids in their own district with their, with their peers is one of the best things we can do. We need to continue the seed funding, and I also like the fact that it has the intervention piece in it, because we have to build a system of intervention for children. I absolutely believe that. I would also say, please restore the magnet school tuition, the $12,000,000 because if you don't, it's going to really affect districts. I've been a long time in this profession. I remember when magnet schools came on board, and they were promised full funding by, the feds in the state. And, you know, neither has worked out, but they serve a wonderful purpose. And New Haven is built on wonderful magnet schools. I think we need to continue them. And, you know, that's it. I wanna be brief. I think I, come here each year. I know appropriations has a very difficult job, but education and public schools are the pillars of our democracy. And I continue to have the impact that they have on all of our students. So thank you very much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Chad Cardillo. Thank you. And after Chad is Crystal Dennis Morocco. No. How about Steven Rue? Yes. Okay. Go right ahead, sir.

[Chad Cardillo (Meriden City Council; teacher)]: Thank you very much. Good evening, members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Chad Cardillo. I am a Meriden City Council Deputy Majority Leader and a Social Studies teacher at Maloney High School in Meriden. I'm here to urge the general assembly to increase the base ECS foundation amount immediately and create a sustainable plan for the future. Because of skyrocketing education costs, the Meriden public schools would require an $8,200,000 increase to maintain current services

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: for fiscal year twenty seven.

[Chad Cardillo (Meriden City Council; teacher)]: Even after a 1.88 preemptive administrative cuts, we still face a $6,300,000 gap. The major cost drivers as in all districts are double digit increases in special education tuition, dollars 1,700,000.0 for next year, along with transportation and health insurance increases. As a municipality, we cannot simply tax our way out of this. In Meriden, our residents are already hard hit by the affordability crisis. 27% of our owner occupied households are cost burdened, and that rises to 50% of rental households in the city of Meriden. That means they spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs. We cannot ask these families to choose between their homes and their children's education. We're at a critical inflection point. Meriden's draft budget now proposes these painful cuts, 16 certified staff in teacher positions, including a middle school counselor. This will lead to increased class sizes across the district but especially at the elementary level. Essential support staff like para educators will be cut as well as elimination of facilities maintenance and upgrades and instructional software. The blue ribbon panel has been proposed, but we don't need time to study what we already know. Local funding works during the ARPA years. Meriden students made great strides because we had the resources for math and reading tutors. As that funding dries up, we lose the frontline educators to prevent our children from falling behind. In Meriden and across Connecticut, the children most vulnerable to these cuts live in communities with the least ability to pass rising costs onto working families. The future penalties of continuing to underfund education do not stop at town lines. It's a statewide crisis. We must protect and focus on funding true public education. The pillar of our society that serves every child, regardless of their needs or economic conditions with the most robust form of public oversight, which are elected boards of education. Thank you very much for your time.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. Steven Rue After Steven Lou Rosado Birch is Lou Rosado here. Nope. Marisol Rivera, Marisol Rivera. Nope. Okay. Isabel Romero. Go ahead sir. Go ahead.

[Steven (Steve) Ruede? (Superintendent, Putnam Public Schools; CAPS President)]: Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate all the hard work that the appropriation committee is doing for the state of Connecticut. I'd like to thank Fran for the shout out for the students. It was inspiring to hear their words and the great work that's going on at Bridgeport schools and all as well as our other students. I'm currently the superintendent for Putnam public schools and also serving as president of CAPS organization. I just want to share that exactly what the student said. I would just say ditto when it comes to the ECS formula. All the points that they made were spot on and it's particularly impactful for some of the districts that have been considered overfunded when a district has been considered overfunded for the last fifteen years. The town's contribution for ECS has been flat for over a decade. So that meant that local taxpayer is absorbing all of the costs. So a 3% budget increase overall is really a four and a half percent increase on the taxpayers. The seed grant has been a critical grant in providing real dollars to school districts right away. And I like to recommend that the seed grant be fully funded as soon as possible. We all have been talking about excess cost grant for many years, and we know, this is a game changer for a lot of districts. In particular, I like to point out that 50% of the school communities and school districts in Connecticut have less than 1,200 kids. So when your budget appropriation is around $10,000,000 one out of district placement could be almost 2% of your overall budget. When it comes to the story of Putnam when we think of the disadvantages and the problems that some of our families have in rural communities in Putnam when we look at the 2024 census data for poverty and the kids living in poverty we ranked all of the communities Putnam is twenty eighth and we look up and down the three ninety five corridor. It's the same thing. If you look at communities that have less than two than 20,000 residents Putnam is now ranked seventh. So here we have a community that has a lower per pupil expenditure than state average has higher poverty rates and has many disadvantaged students. An unknown fact I'd like to share with people is DCF tracks three major indexes. The amount of calls made the amount of calls accepted and the amount of calls substantiated. When you look at all those three calls per capita, the town of Putnam has a higher rate than Bridgewater and New Haven. And if you look up and down the 395 Corridor, our per capita rate is very similar to those numbers. There are real issues and real poverty measures within the Eastern Connecticut that has not been I think appropriately has been appropriately addressed addressing a rural index on the base aid ratio of even 10% would make a significant difference. And because those 50% of the communities that make up less than 1,200 students it really only makes up about 50,000 students in the state. So addressing the real needs for rural communities really is not going to have a significant impact on the overall of the overall points. We truly support, the seed grant, the excess cost grant, and putting an index on, the, the ECS formula. And I just want to say thank you for your time.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. Steven Rue? No. Okay. Isabelle Romero? Eva Eva from Bermuda Zimmerman. Oh, there she is. Hi. After her, Christina Goley. Is Christina here? Eva? Come

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: on come

[Gabrielle Scott (ACES Chase Academy student)]: on.

[Eva Bermudez Zimmerman (Child Care for CT; Early Childhood Advocate)]: Hello, Representative Walker and, Representative Corpus and honorable members of the Appropriations Committee. Always an honor to be here. I wanted to start first and foremost, thank you, with the appropriations of last session in child care. My name is Eva Bermudez Zimmerman. I represent child care four C. T. We have 25,000 and counting members as well as 70 different nonprofit organizations throughout the state of Connecticut all advocating for child care funding. I mentioned last year because for the first time ever in Connecticut's history we had transformational change in overhauling the child care system. In Connecticut it's been a long fight to be accepted as early education being accepted as education at all. And that's not just with the conversation with experts and leaders and state legislators and elected officials. It's been at least thirty years of scientific proof showing that if you start early and if you invest early, the outcomes are gonna be insurmountable. They're gonna be impressive and they're gonna return on investment $13.14 for every dollar that you spend. And last year was the first time that this community felt seen. I'm here today because right now with the appropriations coming into conversation, last year was fantastic, but of course, we have to build on that. The building blocks of education do not just start with one opportunity, they have to continue. The investment that you do right now with that historical change means that early education needs the creation of the early education endowment that started last year but the additional funding that was promised in order to support it decades to come. That continued investment builds on each year for early start slots that just started this January, and making sure that families have support and have access to affordable child care. Your investment means that parents who are paying $17,000 all the way up to $23,000 for childcare have the ability to access free or affordable childcare. If a parent was making a $100,000 or less, then they qualify or less than a $100,000, they qualify for early start slots that are totally free. And if you're making a $100,000 or more, then you have the ability to cap your childcare cost at 7% of their annual income. That is what the early childcare endowment investment believes in, supports, and is creating. And if we don't continue the endowment money being added every single year, then we're going backwards. And no one wants that. Backwards mean, means that the economy is hurting, that backwards means that workers can't go to work, and that definitely means that the workers in the education realm, don't get paid enough, don't have access to fringe benefits, don't have access to affordable, affordable, childcare themselves, which is insane. And we've worked so hard to get here in advocacy and with partnerships with the legislature, we wanna make sure that that success continues. The sustained public investment that we have is essential. I urge this committee to support the recommendations from other advocates as well as HB 5,033 as a vital step forward to ensuring the success. We do hope that you institute the full amount that was promised and keep moving forward. Thank you so much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Christina Gulley?

[Senator Gary Winfield]: There we go.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: And after Christina, Eric

[Christina Gulley (Birth to Three provider, LoomAbility)]: Tools? Eastcom? Go right ahead. Good afternoon. Distinguished members of the committee. My name is Christina Gujulle. I am a Birth to three provider with Loon Mobility. Loon Mobility is the largest nonprofit Birth to three agency in the state. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I'm here to speak to the urgent need to increase funding to support Connecticut's birth to three programs. The governor's increase still does not cover the full cost of delivering services. According to the state's own birth to three rate study, proposed increased reimbursement rates do not cover these costs. Compounding the issue, the data used in the rate study is already three years old, meaning the true extent of the underfunding is even greater today. Recruitment and retention of providers remains difficult when programs are unable to offer the salaries that reflect fair, reflective market value. Experienced providers may be discouraged from maturing a remaining as for three to five to one reimbursement rates are tied to a tiered structure of reimbursement, even which the highest tier falls below the levels indicated in the rate study under such conditions it's approximate estimated to approximately 80% of current providers would not qualify in those tiers which would result in minimal abilities to really increase the salary to keep the providers without a meaningful and sustained investment and reimbursement rates. The workforce shortage will persist and more importantly families will face barriers in accessing their services that their child child and family needs during this most critical developmental but no. By investing in the young children and families they are well established correlations with long term cost savings by intervening intervening early decreasing milestone gaps and building capacity of caregivers. My request is to add those additional funds requested and eliminate the tiered reimbursement structure for birth to three. In addition some of the other points included in my testimony written testimony is to reinstate the statutory gap payment. You know administrative payment of $200 per the eligible child so that we can reduce that instability that we have right now. We ask that 1,000,000 reduction in gap funding be of the budget restored and that we ask legislative language to be adopted to ensure that birth reimbursement rates are reviewed and adjusting consistently to keep pace with inflation. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. Let's see. Eric? Then after Eric Gillian Lynch. Is Gillian Lynch here? Remote? Yes. Thank you. And then Charlene Wright. Is she here? Yep. Okay. Great. Go ahead. Eric.

[Eric Prochoulis (Executive Director, EASTCONN RESC)]: Thank you. Good evening. Appropriations Committee. Thank you for this opportunity to testify today. I am Eric Prochoulis. I'm the executive director for EASCON, one of the six regional education service centers for rest serving thirty three communities here in Northeastern Connecticut. First

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: I want

[Eric Prochoulis (Executive Director, EASTCONN RESC)]: to personally thank this committee for the empathetic year and partnership you extended throughout 2025. Your willingness to engage with the funny realities of our schools has been a great deal to our educators and families. Specifically, we're we are grateful for the stabilization funds allocated to Eastcon in next year's fiscal budget. These are vital for our long term stability, in Northeast Connecticut where we serve communities with the highest rates of child poverty and the lowest median household incomes in the state. I am here to urge you to restore to Easecon the allocation in the original $3,000,000 allocation, and re, reject the governor's proposed 20% reduction. Furthermore, we must address the $12,000,000 in funding risk magnets that has been eliminated in the governor's proposed budget. The reality of a broken promise. Two years ago risk operators reluctantly agreed to a 58% tuition cap for local districts with explicit promise that magnet schools would be fully funded in this biennial budget. While the cap provided a meaningful relief to our towns it did not provide new money to the magnet schools themselves. There is a human cost to this lack of funding and of a decade of stagnation outside of a 2% increase in fiscal year twenty. Magnet funding has remained flat for over a decade while costs for salaries health insurance and utilities have soared with the flat funding for this school year. Our 27 rest magnets were forced to eliminate over 50 consolidated positions including special education, math, science, and behavioral support. As you've heard today, the average per pupil expenditure in Connecticut is $22,054 yet the average resc magnet tuition is only 14,879. We are being asked to provide a 100% education on roughly 67% of the budget for east con. The proposed elimination of $220,000 in support may seem so small to some, but is critical to preventing further financial burdens on our local communities Without a plan for adequate funding, the long term sustainability of these national models of equity is at risk. In partnership with my RESC Alliance colleagues, we are also asking for 1,500,000.0 for the Connecticut teacher residency program managed by the RESC Alliance. TRP managed by the RESC Alliance is is a successful model for recruiting, developing, and retaining high quality, diverse educator workforce. It is the only educator prep program requiring districts to provide a living wage and benefits to residents and also offers mentoring and support. It has successfully placed 178 teachers in 40 districts in seven years to continue expanding the program. The rest of Alliance is requesting a designation of 1,500,000.0 in a new budget line item specifically for the Connecticut TRP managed by the RESC Alliance. Thank you for your efforts, and thank you for your support, and I wish you a good evening.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, sir, and have a good evening to yourself. Gillian Lynch?

[Gillian Lynch (Music Teacher, New Haven; NHFT Local 933)]: Hi. Can you hear me?

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Yes. Go right ahead.

[Gillian Lynch (Music Teacher, New Haven; NHFT Local 933)]: Members of the Appropriations Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Gillian Lynch, and I am a music teacher at Nathan Hale School in New Haven and a member of the New Haven Federation of Teachers local nine three three. I am testifying on the governor's proposed adjusted budget for fiscal year twenty seven and adding yet another voice to those before me who have asked to increase the base ECS foundation amount that hasn't changed since 2013 and to modify the ECS formula to annually adjust the formula base to account for inflation. As a music teacher in a pre k through eighth grade building, I have the unique and special opportunity to watch students grow, take advantage of what their school has to offer, and develop their passions and skills. In my fourteen years as a public educator all in New Haven, I have watched resources for my students dwindle instead of grow and flourish. In a time when we know the benefits of getting students out from behind a screen, the governor has even expressed support for a cell phone ban in schools, we are losing opportunities for students to participate in the activities we know support their growth and development. The following examples are a tiny fraction of the losses New Haven students and other urban students have endured as we continue to go without needed funding. Nathan Hill School in New Haven used to have a part time dramatic arts and dance teacher. At one point, the community was petitioning the board of ed to make that a full time position since it was so meaningful and transformative for the students. Today, we no longer have the funding for that position at all, and that position is gone. Nathan Hill used to also host summer theater summer theater camps for New Haven students across the city, allowing passionate theater students an outlet for their summer vacation while simultaneously offering this experience to students who wanted to try something new. That program was also cut due to funding. In addition to my job as a music teacher, I'm also a union steward. As a steward, I see how this impacts my coworkers as they spend time, energy, and often their own money to create exciting learning experiences in their classes. Special education teachers and related service providers come to me asking how they can possibly fit in the mandated hours for every student while working as a skeleton crew, attending PPT meetings, and covering classes. My answer to them remains the same. Just do your best. I know my words sound empty to them. How can we possibly expect professionals to do their best without the resources they need to complete the task? How can we expect this when I know that one person is doing the work that is best done by two or even three people? We do not need a blue ribbon panel to research and discover that nothing costs the same as it did in 2013. Inflation needs to be taken into account in funding the futures of Connecticut's children. The best time for meaningful change to the ECS formula was years earlier, and the next best time is now. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, and thank you for your testimony. Kevin Barbosa? Kevin? Oh, Charlene Wright? I'm sorry.

[Charlene Wright (Danbury parent/resident)]: Thank you so much for your time today. I will be speaking I'll be speaking on behalf of Danbury residents to advocate for funding. When you discover a place to call home, you envision a life, you envision a family, you envision joy, peace, fellowship in that community. You trust that the system in place will nurture your children, protect their growth, and prepare them for the future. I am here today as a mother, a resident, an advocate, not just for my children, but for all the children in Danbury. And I sit before you to say clearly that I support Danbury Charter School. Danbury deserve to have a choice. Danbury is a vibrant and growing community and according to the two census, there is over 87,000 residents and of that 87,011 are students enrolled in the Danbury school system. Those 11,000 students are served by 13 elementary school, three middle school, and two high school. As of today, 12,000 students are being serviced by 18 schools in Danbury. That is not just a number, that is a reality that parents face every single day in Danbury. Thousands of children with unique needs and learning styles and strength are being challenged by the system that they face. Let's face it, we don't all learn the same way and we all want an environment where her our children can strive. Let me tell you my story. I've got four children born in Danbury Hospital. My name is Reverend Wright. And of those four children I drive 66 miles to Hartford every single day because my children deserve the choice and Hartford Public School Choice Program gave them the opportunity to join Hartford Public School. So I drive 66 miles in rain sleet snow to bring my children to school every day. The first year in 2023 they were in three different Hartford schools. We lived vicariously on KFC $5 menus because our life was on the road. Was it worth it? Yes. My daughter is about to graduate and her her program of choice is to become an astrophysicist. Tell me it wasn't worth it to drive sixty sixty six miles one way every day for my daughter. But that's a privilege that most people don't have. Most Danbury residents don't have the privilege to get up every single morning and drive their kids to school. Thank you for your time.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you for your testimony. Kevin Barbosa. Jose. Jose. Crystal. Hi, Jose. After Jose, John Prescott. Is John Prescott? Yeah. Online. And then Laurie Ferguson? Online? Okay. Go right ahead. How you doing?

[Jose Crespo (New Haven advocate; Charter school supporter)]: Thank you Madam Chair. And good evening or good afternoon to every committee member. My name is Jose Cresspoint. I am no stranger to this committee. As a former alder for ten years I've been advocating for the best interest of my community. Now I stand for my community which is Connecticut. I stand in support of every charter school that has spoken today

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: for

[Jose Crespo (New Haven advocate; Charter school supporter)]: the ones that have been created those that are awaiting funding and those that will come in the future as a lifelong resident of New Haven. I'm also a community leader but as an advocate for public charter schools I'm here to work to expand the educational opportunity for families across the state of Connecticut especially those children that have been historically undeserved, like the one that you just heard a moment ago. I'm here to speak on those matters of fairness, equity, urgency, and the funding for Kinetics public charter school students. Charter schools are public schools, just like my colleague, Julie Miliano, stated earlier. And charter students are public school students, yet they are funded differently and at a significantly lower level. And those students are expected to have a current per pupil amount of eleven five hundred and twenty five, but that has not kept up with the pace of inflation, the rising educational costs, the growing needs of students. Yet the schools are expected to deliver high quality instruction, mental support, special education services, safe facilities, all while funding lags behind. Equity cannot mean asking some public school students to do more with less simply because of the governance structure of their school. We urge the legislature to include the charter schools within the educational cost sharing framework. True equity means funding students based on their needs not based on whether the public school is operated by a district or charter organization. Public dollars should follow public school students fairly and transparently. When a child walks into a public school classroom, the state should value them equally regardless of the name of the building. Today, there are five schools, as you've heard, charter schools that have already been approved by the State Board of Education, yet they are unfunded. That means that we have to have a commitment by this legislature. When funding is delayed, the opportunity is also delayed for every children, and they only have one opportunity. We cannot ask families to wait indefinitely while the children futures are put on hold. In my city in the city that I serve for many years I spoke with families. I currently attended the New Haven School of Choice Expo and several parents have asked for several years when will the schools be funded. When we talk about funding formulas, we are really talking about whether their child and thousands like theirs all have access to opportunity. It's not about politics. It's about a system or a system competing with each other. This is about the children. We're talking about fairness, about justice, about equity, an educational option that they deserve. I'm a public. I'm a I'm a a product of public schools. I know what it is, public schools, and I wish I had a choice when I was younger. That's why I'm advocating for my nieces and my nephews. I have five of them. I respectfully urge that you increase the per pupil the per pupil funding. And I thank you for your time.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Thank you for your advocacy. John Prescott. Online. Online.

[John Prescott (United Way of Central and Northeastern CT)]: I'm I'm virtual. Good evening, esteemed representatives and members of the appropriation committee. My name is John Prescott. I am the director of education initiatives for United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut. I'm here testifying on behalf of the need that has been expressed by several of the people that have presented this evening to support early childhood literacy and education. With United Way, I work in tandem with a group, Read to Grow and Reach Out and Read, and we've been working together since 2023 to support the needs of our community and our families. United Way specifically works through delivering free books to the homes through Dolly Park And Imagination Library. And in just over the five years that we have been active in providing those resources, we have provided 222,000 books at no cost to our families, to, family students. And it's not just about providing books as you've heard from the different entities, from the pre the pediatricians to the providers to the educators. It is about building a literacy community and making sure that our families that have to make hard decisions at times are able to be resourced. And so that a family doesn't have to make a decision between, am I able to meet the the early literacy needs of my child and the the development the brain development needs of their children and pay my bills and put food on the table? Through programs like Dolly Parton Imagination Library, we help take that stress off the table. We provide resources. So it's not just putting a book in the hand of a family. It's also providing the resources so they understand the importance of cognitive development in those first three years. The importance of developing a household and a culture of literacy and the ability to read to their child, with their child and develop those bonds and those relationships at an early age. As currently proposed, we were receiving funding, the collective, and we have seen that it's proposed that with the reductions that a $100,000 are this going to be taken off the table and reduced. And I am respectfully asking that we continue to keep it at the level that it is, that we do not reduce that, that we maintain this investment in our children and in their futures. An investment on the front end, all data says it will exponentially yield greater returns on the back end. And you've heard that from some of the wonderful students that have come and testified about the need for resources. A little bit about me. I started off in this work. I've been in this work with youth and families for over thirty years, but I started off in a juvenile lockdown. And so I've seen what happens when we do not resource our children on the front end, when we do not provide them the opportunities for growth and development, both from brain literacy, social emotional at a early age. And I am asking you to support this work, to support the investment, to continue to affirm your commitment to the work by not reducing what was already established, and to helping us build stronger children. One of my favorite quotes is from FEDGUSLIS that says it's easier to build stronger children than it is to repair broken adults. We have seen some strong children, some strong community partners come on here, testifying to the need for these resources. And I just want to thank all of the members of the appropriation committee for your support in the work that you're doing. And thank you for this opportunity to testify on behalf of United Way and Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Have a wonderful evening.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, sir. Thank you for your testimony. Next, Laurie Ferguson online. Good afternoon. Laurie?

[Speaker 17]: Hello?

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Yes. Go right ahead, ma'am. You have three minutes.

[Laurie Ferguson (Stamford parent)]: Hello, members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Laurie Ferguson, and I'm a parent of four year old twins living in Stamford, Connecticut. As a parent, I want my children to have access to an excellent education that fosters both academic excellence and strong values. And like many families in Stanford, I'm seeking a school that will not only provide a rigorous curriculum, but also nurture cultural awareness, critical thinking, and a sense of global citizenship. Olam Public Charter School will be a game changer changer for families like mine. Currently, my wife and I are experiencing a lack of affordable options for a high quality pre k program. For two children, we'll be facing tuition of roughly $60,000 for one year because you make too much for financial help, but not enough to carry that kind of financial burden. The one charter school that exists today in Stanford does not offer pre k. And if they did, the likelihood that that we would be selected is limited, and the limited lottery is very small. In fact, the odds of successfully winning the lottery for any of the alternative options here in Stanford are very low because of the number of applicants. We need more options here in Stanford. The Olam School's mission to provide students from all backgrounds with a rigorous academic foundation, a supportive learning environment, daily instruction in modern Hebrew, and a focus on global citizenship aligns with the values we hope to instill in our children. Today's increasingly polarized world, Olam's commitment to teaching children how to listen, empathize, and bridge cultural divides is more important than ever. These are the very skills that will help shape our children to be thoughtful and successful adults. I urge you to approve funding for Olam Public Charter Schools opening in Sanford. The demand for high quality education options in our community is strong, and Olam will provide a valuable opportunity for students to grow academically and personally in a diverse and exclusive environment. Thank you for your time and consideration. I sincerely hope you'll support this effort for the benefit of families like mine and the future of our children.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, and thank you for your testimony. Next, Minerva Antigua

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Tera.

[Speaker 92]: Good afternoon members of the committee. My name is Jason Ballesteros. I'm a student at Capital Prep Harvard upper. I'm also the son of Minerva Antigua Gutierrez. My mom works hard every day so I can have opportunities she did not always have because of a public charter school have a safe place to learn teachers who believe in me and the chance to dream about college in a real future. That is why I'm I am here today in Danbury. Many students like me are still waiting for that same opportunity. They are growing up without access to the kind of public tuition free charter school that can change the direction of their lives For adults waiting since 2018 may feel like time passing, but for students, that is almost our our entire childhood years we cannot get back. Opening the Danbury Public Charter School would mean that that other that other children can feel what I feel every day when I walk into my into my school safe supported and full of hope. It would mean that their dreams are not too big for where they come from. It would mean that their future truly matters. I'm not asking for something special. I'm asking for the same chance that changed my life to be given to students in Danbury. Please honor the approval of already granted and allow the Danbury public charter schools to finally open because families are ready and the community is ready and the students cannot wait any longer. Thank you for listening to my voice.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, family. Dan Danielle Middlebrooks?

[Speaker 93]: Online. Online.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Online. Online.

[Speaker 13]: Online. Online.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Online. Online. Online.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Alright. Right ahead. You have three minutes, ma'am.

[Danielle Middlebrooks (The Arc Connecticut)]: Good evening, leaders and members of the appropriations community. My name is Danielle Middlebrooks, and I serve as the director of advocacy and public policy for The Arc Connecticut, the advocacy and policy arm for 14 of Connecticut's largest disability services providers. One of whom is Lumability, the largest nonprofit birth to three provider in the state, serving more than 2,200 children and adults across 68 towns. I'm here today to speak directly to the need for funding in the state's birth to three program. The governor's recommendation to increase birth to three birth to three and Department of Social Services funding is an important step. Recognizing that an investment in birth to three has a positive impact on reducing serve the services children will need as they enter the school system, but more work is needed to make the program sustainable. Without a sustainable and well funded birth to three system, children risk poor developmental outcomes. Families are left without the support they need during a critical stage of growth, and childcare providers are left without the tools to address behavior needs, increasing the likelihood of expulsion and creating unstable childcare arrangements. This, as you know, makes it harder for parents to maintain stable employment and housing. So my ask today are reinstate, restore, keep, and implement. Reinstate the statutory general administrative payment or GAAP of $200 per eligible child. The GAAP is necessary to cover essential costs and stabilize the birth to three program. Restore the $1,000,000 reduction to gap funding in the proposed budget. This reduction further weakens a system that is already under strain. Keep the money the governor has proposed in the budget and decouple it from the tiered system. I can't stress this enough that the tiered rate model will not support workforce recruitment or program stability and implement language and statute to ensure that birth to three rates are reviewed or adjusted with consistency to keep place with inflation. And action in these areas will have a cascading effect on families, the economy, and Connecticut as a whole. And so in this time of need, I'm asking that our legislators invest in one of our state's most vulnerable groups of citizens, our children. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. Daniella Daniella Middlebrooks? Daniella? Jason Debley?

[Representative Tammy Exum]: She Danielle's online.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Oh, oh, Danielle is online? Okay. Oh, yep. I see her. Go right ahead, Danielle.

[Danielle Middlebrooks (The Arc Connecticut)]: So, Danielle, is who just spoke? Did you hear me?

[Joanna Corbecki (Meriden resident)]: I can

[James Angelopoulos (Former educator; Door Dasher)]: do it again.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: That's okay. Thank you. Sorry.

[Dr. Royce Avery (Interim Superintendent, Bridgeport Public Schools)]: Take care.

[Brian Greenleaf (CFO, EASTCONN RESC)]: You got it.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Alright. Okay. And after Jason Maria Lourdes.

[Jason Diebel (East Lyme Selectman; Middle school teacher in Groton)]: My name is Jason Diebel. I'm a member of the Eastline Board of Selectmen. I'm a parent of two teenage children and I am a middle school science teacher in Groton with over twenty years of classroom experience. These three facets of my life placed me in an overlapping center of public education Venn diagram. And what what I can say from my unique perspective is that our public schools need better funding. The mechanism currently funding education in our state and our nation have created artificial scarcity, and this artificial scarcity plagues our community's most vulnerable residents. I say artificial scarcity because we are blessed with billions in budget surpluses. As a selectman, I see how towns tear at themselves fighting over every last dollar. I see opposing priorities pitted against each other, seniors versus young families, safety and security versus educational resources and experiences. But these fights don't have to happen. Our surpluses could take the pressure off the fractious elements in our communities. Schools don't need to be a battleground for public policy. We can't let communities rip at themselves to shreds while worth wealth is stockpiled in useless pools of money. As a teacher, I see firsthand the way schools are asked to do more and more with inadequate resources. Schools are, of course, places of teaching and learning, but they are increasingly places where the hungry are fed, the disheveled are clothed, and the broken and dispirited are healed and mended. There are places where young can receive the young can receive important public services, but the needs are growing greater and greater. If we were to use schools as places to deliver services, that is fine. We the educators of Connecticut stand ready to help but we cannot use outdated ideas about school funding to address very real and very current modern crises. Inflationary pressures divert dollars away from kids and oftentimes teachers have to make up the shortfalls out of their own pockets. I know I have as a parent. I have seen my children and their friends grapple with issues that I didn't even know existed when I was a kid. For better or for worse our students now have access to all the information in the world all the world's troubles all its bile and cruelty whether it's the phone we posit in their pockets in the name of safety and connectedness or the laptop slipped into their backpacks in the name of access. We've connected them to a world and it is too much for the young developing brains to handle. They need help to navigate it all and the best place to teach children how to deal with this world. Awash in information is school. But again resources more resources resources are needed. I encourage lawmakers to enact a $5,000 increase in the per pupil allotment and adjust the ECS funding formula to account for inflation. I can tell you that the center of this Venn diagram is fraught and frightening. Being a child today is difficult. The good news is that we have a lot we can do to ease the burden for our kids. The question is not whether or not we know how to connect Connecticut's needs to its services. The question which rests with you all now is do we have the political will to make these connections happen. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you sir. Thank you very much. Maria Lourdes? No. Okay. Jason I'm sorry. James Rosa? No. Andrew Feinstein? Andrew here? I don't see him. He's

[Joanna Corbecki (Meriden resident)]: She's online?

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Oh, okay.

[Speaker 37]: I'm here. I'm sorry.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Let me turn

[Speaker 37]: up the camera. Just a second.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: You got three minutes. Go ahead.

[Speaker 37]: There we go. Okay. Thank you, chairman Walker and members of the committee. I'm Andy Feinstein. I'm the legislative chair of special education equity for kids in Connecticut. You have my written testimony. Let me just make five points pretty quickly. One, special ed, as you know, is wildly, grossly underfunded. And we see that in teacher shortages. We see that in paraeducator shortages. We see that in shortage of related service personnel. We need to better fund special education. And where you have shortage occupations, we need to adjust pay to actually fill those slots, point one. Point two, excess excess cost reimbursement does nothing nothing to support children in school getting special education, which are 95% of the kids designated as eligible for special education. We have no problem with excess cost reimbursement in order to better fund municipalities, but let's not call it money for special education because it is not. Three, we call on you to fully fund the seed program, the seed grant program created last year. But we've got to eliminate that exclusion that says that no money can be used for hiring of contract employees. For many small districts, there's just not enough need to have a full time speech pathologist or a full time occupational therapist, so they hire them by contract. For a lot of other district, they can't fill the slots, and so they have to fill them by by contract. It makes no sense to continue that exclusion in that program. Fourth, we've gotta be aware of the fact that Connecticut is grossly low in the percentage of education funding that comes from the state. In fact, we're forty first in the nation in that. We've gotta get our percentage up from the 35% range to the national average of the mid forties in terms of state funding of education. And five, just incidentally, if the foundation amount for ECS is supposed to be based on what it costs to educate a kid without special needs, if you do the math, it turns out to be about $20 per kid in the state. And, obviously, we don't have the money to get to that level, but raising the foundation amount is really pretty significant and and really does need to be done. So I thank you for your time, and I congratulate you on spending the the rest of your night here listening to people, and I'll see you up there soon. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, Andrew. Have a have a good evening.

[Speaker 37]: You too.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Next, we have Edwin Garcia. Not on line. Not on line. Not on line.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Not on line. Not on line. Not on line. Not on line.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Jim Williams. Right here. Good. The floor is yours after Jim, Thomas Baird. Is Thomas Beard? He's online. Okay.

[Jim Williams (American Heart Association, CT)]: Good evening. My name is Jim Williams. I'm the government relations director for the American heart association here in Connecticut. We are the nation's oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. I would like to thank the leadership and members of the Appropriations Committee for providing me with the opportunity to provide brief, brief comments today on this bill, specifically in support of the governor's $12,000,000 proposed funding to provide free breakfast to all students and lunch for a reduced price kids. We strongly support funding that gets us closer to healthy free school meals for all students free of charge regardless of family income which the governor's proposal does federal child nutrition waivers passed during the pandemic decreased child hunger and poverty, allowing all students to have access to free school meals. That funding has expired and now children who depend on it are going hungry again. States right now are stepping up to fill the gap and ensure that all children, regardless of family income, can obtain healthy meals throughout the year and have the best chance to learn and thrive in school. California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont have all, passed legislation to prevent students from going hungry. Connecticut must be next. Why is this issue important. Food insecurity dropped by 14% among students who participated in the national school lunch programs free or reduced price lunch meals. Students who eat school lunches tend to take in more whole grains vegetables and dairy and fewer refined sugars and empty calories than those who bring their lunches from home. Students who have more nutritious diets tend to perform better and pay more attention in school. Participation by all students in school meal programs increases when meals are provided for free resulting in increased revenue by way of federal reimbursement. Healthy school meals for all will eliminate issues of unpaid school meal debt and reduce administrative paperwork, freeing up school nutrition staff to focus on feeding kids. I wanna thank you very much for taking the time to listen to me today, and I hope you strongly consider, supporting this, this particular request.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, sir. And thank you for your testimony. Thank you very much. Thomas Beard?

[Sheila Robinson (Bridgeport parent advocate)]: He's on

[Dr. Royce Avery (Interim Superintendent, Bridgeport Public Schools)]: Good evening.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Go right ahead, sir.

[Dr. Tom Baird (Superintendent, Hebron Public Schools)]: Thank you. My name is doctor Tom Baird, and I'm the superintendent at Hebron. I'm gonna echo a lot of, Fran's testimony. Thank you for giving me the time. As a superintendent of a Connecticut school district and as a parent of a student with significant disabilities, I've witnessed firsthand the impact of the state budget on the children of the state and on the local taxpayer. The excess cost reimbursement grant is of great concern. Hebron should be getting 88% within the tiered reimbursement grant. We will likely only receive 70% this year. As the reimbursement continues to decline, local budgets are driven up, negatively impacting the overall education experience for all students. Special education expenses will be incurred regardless, leaving a smaller share of resources for the general population. It is my strong opinion that the state has a responsibility to students with disabilities, like my son, who are legally entitled to services. The state should be fully funding the excess cost grant to ensure all districts are receiving a 100% reimbursement rates. At the same time, the shape should lower the threshold for in district expenses to create an incentive for districts to create more of these programs so students can remain in their home districts. For a smaller district like Hebron, the excess cost grant has a huge impact on our bottom line. It's shocking to see how much of our overall budget needs have shifted to the local level driven by a significant increase in students with disabilities. Our number of students with autism has nearly tripled since 2021. Our number of students with emotional disabilities is five times higher than 2021. Not surprisingly, our number of students needing more intensive therapeutic settings and our number of special education teachers and paraeducators has increased significantly as a result. In our local budget proposal for next year, we're using an assumption of a 65% excess cost reimbursement rate. We're a small elementary school district and just our special education budget is increasing by $586,613 This represents a 4.09% increase to our entire budget proposal before we even consider contractual obligations. If we could budget assuming 88% reimbursement rate, we would expect to receive an additional 117,000. At a 100% reimbursement rate, we would expect to receive an additional 177,000. Our entire budget proposal would then drop by 1.24%. I also just wanna, off the cuff echo some of the comments of the last speaker and just talk about, free free meals that's also being an economic driver for for communities. When we had free meals during COVID, we hired an additional staff person. We had additional revenue to also invest in equipment, and we were improving the quality of the food. So help me in in supporting that and echoing other colleagues and talking about raising the thrust the the base formula in these ECS as well. Thank you very much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, sir. Thank you for your testimony, and have a good evening. Catherine Cruz?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Hi. Hello.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Hello? Go ready for me. Three minutes.

[Catherine Cruz (Canterbury parent)]: Hi. Yes. How are you? This is Catherine Cruz. I am from Canterbury. I have my son. He's just go to the the middle school this year, but I feel so bad and frustrated because he changed I mean, your mind allowed in the this come the the the school. I don't know why, but I feel so bad. I just put my son in the in the home school because I feel I need I think so we need some more option option of education. So I really want to you please approve this school. I know it's approved for 2008 since 2018, but I think so now it's time for the families of temporary have have more education optional education. So thank you for for that, and please listen as we are a lot of people who try I get the the Denbury Charter School in Denbury. I think so we really need I really appreciate your your time for us. Thank you very much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you and have a wonderful evening. Thank you for your testimony. Next, Felipe Sam.

[Joanna Corbecki (Meriden resident)]: I apologize. Maria Reyes, needs to I apologize Maria Reyes needs to accept the promotion to panelist so she can show up on the as the next speaker. Maria. I'm gonna send it right now again.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Okay. Well while we're waiting for Maria to tell you how about Felipe Sam Palo Peo?

[Cindy Jackson (Children’s Therapy Services/Birth to Three director)]: John Pelo.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: I'm sorry?

[Director Harris (Legislative Staff)]: John Pelo. Felipe.

[Anshminar Chaudhary (Fairchild Wheeler student, Bridgeport)]: No problem.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Felipe? No? No.

[Speaker 9]: Felipe is not here, but I'm also a member of the Danbury, group.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: No. I can't do that. No. Sorry. Maria are you there? She's there, but she's not there.

[Joanna Corbecki (Meriden resident)]: She won't accept the

[Ernest Newton (President Pro Tem, Bridgeport City Council; former legislator)]: promotion. Okay.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: We're gonna go on. Felipe is not here? Okay. James, Angela, Angela. There you go. Thank you. After James, Jenny Graves. Is Jenny Graves here? Okay. Go right ahead sir.

[James Angelopoulos (Former educator; duplication of Speaker 94)]: Thank you. Hello members of the Connecticut Appropriations Committee. Hello chair representative Walker. It's good to see you. My name is James Angelopoulos. I'm a former educator and currently a door dasher. As the former educator for both the towns of Cromwell and Montville Connecticut. I know all too well that the ECS grant is one of the most crucial components ensuring our children's future is bright. Multiple towns and cities in Connecticut are all too aware that the cost of education is rising. As our budget hearings in each of the towns are rapidly approaching. Multiple boards are seeking to not increase their education budget. This exploration is not being made because the boards believe that we don't need the money. It's that that's not the case. Every board is aware that the cost of living and to educate our children are going up multiple educators and staff that include custodians paraprofessionals lunch service workers bus drivers and health service professionals are a threat of being laid off due to these rising costs. It's these rising costs that make it nearly impossible for people like me to return to the field of education. And meanwhile, we can barely maintain the staff we already have in order to maintain a high quality of education for our children. Our children require resources in the realms of special education, behavioral and rehabilitation education, technical education, and in the broader spectrum of education. Our children need resources in

[Luis Yanes (Facilities Director, Elevate Charter Schools)]: the form of books, writing utensils,

[James Angelopoulos (Former educator; duplication of Speaker 94)]: pencil sharpeners, art tools, tutoring programs, food, computer tutoring programs, food, computer labs, and most importantly, staff in the form of educators and professional staff. Without these resources, we face illiteracy, the inability to critically think, relying on flawed AI systems to guide our youth, a lack of creative outlets, and a vastly undereducated and unskilled workforce. As my own town of Ledger is actively hearing proposals to cap the budget in the face of rising taxes and costs, our Board of Education knows we need help from the state. I ask that the ECS budget increases and is adjusted for inflation to safeguard our children's futures. In these uncertain times, we cannot allow our school, communities to become overloaded or desolate due to differing political views on how to approach our school budgets. We need to come together not as towns, not as cities, not as boards of education, rather as a state. The state needs to act, and it needs to prioritize our children above all else. And I thank you for your time.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, and thank you for your testimony. Jenny Graves?

[Speaker 104]: Good evening, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Jenny Graves. I'm a resident of North Haven, and I am a preschool special education teacher in New Haven Public Schools and a mom to a public school student with an IEP. I am also vice president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers. We belong to Connecticut for All, a statewide coalition fighting for a better future for everyone in Connecticut. I'm testifying on the governor's proposed adjusted budget for fiscal year twenty twenty seven to increase the base ECS foundation amount that hasn't changed since 2013 to keep up with the cost of living adjustments and then modify the ECS formula to annually adjust to the base of the to to modifying the foundation for inflation would result in the state contributing more every year to support all students across the state. As a teacher and a mother, I see every day how deeply school funding affects our children. An increase to the ECS Foundation would benefit every student in New Haven Public Schools. Right now, many of our buildings are not safe or well maintained. I've worked in classrooms without reliable heat or air conditioning, in buildings with leaky roofs and mold, conditions that no child should have to learn and no educator should have to work in. Our special education students are also paying the price because special education teachers and related service providers carry overwhelming caseloads As one out of six students in New Haven receives special education services, students often receive less intervention than they truly need. These are some of our most vulnerable learners, and they deserve better, my son included. Continuing with the current level of state education funding will not will only deepen the challenges our schools face. Our city has made real efforts to increase local funding, but there are limits. With more than half of the taxable property owned by Yale and New Haven, the burden falls heavily on working families and taxpayers who already stretched thin. We are still operating under an outdated funding formula created thirteen years ago. Our students' needs have changed, our costs have risen, and our schools cannot keep up with being asked to do more with less. Increasing the ECS Foundation would allow us to hire more support staff and interventionists, improve the health and safety of our learning spaces, and prevent layoffs that disrupt students' education. I'm not here just as an educator, but as a parent asking you to invest in our

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: children because the conditions we create in our schools today

[Speaker 104]: shape the future of our communities tomorrow. Schools today shape the future of our communities tomorrow. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony tonight. Have a good evening. Marietta Marquez? Elizabeth Dominique? Dominique?

[Director Harris (Legislative Staff)]: Good evening. My name is Elizabeth Dominguez and, I don't speak English. My partner, Giselle Leonardo, translate for me. This okay? Mhmm. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you the legislative and the member of committee for the opportunity to speak today. We solicit the Assembly General of Connecticut to honor the approval that was, given on 2018 for the Danbury Public Charter School for Education. That will give the opportunity to be able to be open and be able to serve the students. She said that in 2018, they received the approval but the families are still waiting for the charter school to be open. I'm an educator of the early childhood education. And I'm also an instructor of early childhood education.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: And for

[Director Harris (Legislative Staff)]: me, it's an honor to thank for the children that are on middle schoolers from sixth grade to twelfth grade to have the opportunity to have a public, charter school in Denbury They're gonna have a a different, you know, to to be able to receive a different education. As an educator. I put my heart in front of you. To see these children growing. To see the opportunities that they need. And that they can have it at Danbury. I wanna share my personal testimony. My my daughter My daughter, She graduated at New Haven College. And right now, she's doing a master. And she said to me Mommy. Mom. The children nowadays They need an inclusive education. More more more free education. When they express themselves About the academic process They feel frustrated. And to have the freedom to have a a charter school Study art. That they be able to learn things about businesses. And that they can have the freedom when it comes to the, academics. Also. And because we manage different languages to be Latinx, Hispanics it's a little bit complicated. And to have a school to be able to express myself in the academic with freedom. Make me reach to the top. And when I go to college having challenges a different academics, process my mom is gonna be more open and more easier be able to adapt. And her daughter to be twenty twenty three years old. She is still called the children. So those are the children's that she's in right now. And she'd be able to give her the when it comes to the academics. And because they get in there with sadness. She studied. Clinical psychology. She's doing her masters right now. And her daughter expressed to her that she's very offshore. That she's able to help. Her community. Her children. And be able to be open. That they be able to reach it. That's why it's necessary. To have this, shadow school. I'm very thankful from the bottom of my heart. That we have the opportunity to be here today. And that you that you also have to be able to listen with open hearts to us with empathy I am the voice of those children's that they said express I want to be free and when it comes to think and a different academics

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: thank

[Director Harris (Legislative Staff)]: you very much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Nice mother and daughter team. Doctor Royce Avery. Online. Online.

[Dr. Royce Avery (Interim Superintendent, Bridgeport Public Schools)]: Good evening. Representative Walker, Senator Olsten, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee, I wanna thank you for holding this public hearing on the governor's proposed budget for the elementary and secondary education. My name is doctor Royce Avery. I'm the interim school superintendent for Bridgeport Public Schools, and I stand before you today today on behalf of the Bridgeport Public School community. I do wanna give a shout out to the Bridgeport students that testified earlier. They made me proud. They made the the town of Bridgeport proud. Bridgeport is the largest school district in Connecticut, serving more than 19,000 students. More than 50 of our students receive special education services and multilingual language, services as well. We serve students with some of the greatest needs in the state of Connecticut, yet we rank one sixty out of one sixty six district in net current expenditures per people, the seventh lowest in Connecticut. And year after year, we are asked to do more with less. While we while we respect the governor's proposal to convene a blue ribbon panel to study the re the review of the education cost sharing formula, our students cannot afford to wait. We need ECS formula updated now. The ECS formula has not been meaningfully increased in more than thirteen years. It does not reflect inflation, right, rising operational expenses, and and growing academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of our students. We strongly support increasing the ECF foundation level by at least 6% immediately with a a commitment to the to an annual increase that keeps pace with inflation. When state funding does not keep pace, district meet must either cut staff in programming or shift greater cost to taxpayers, and neither one of those options are sustainable. We're also deeply concerned about the ongoing underfunding of the education cost, excess cost grant. For decades, the state has not met the statutory commitment to re reimburse districts for increased special education cost. In addition, we support strengthening and expanding the c grant to build in district special education capacity and reduce out of cost placements. We also are are urging store restoring magnet school funding. This is not just a Bridgeport issue. When Connecticut's largest school district is underfunded, the impact is felt statewide. Our students in Connecticut are Connecticut's future workforce leaders and community members. Connecticut's constitutional obligation to provide free and public education, it, you know, requires sustained, adequate, and equitable state investments. We cannot delay meaningful reform while districts continue to absorb the, consequence of an outdated funding formula. We respectfully urge the committee to take immediate action and to increase education's, funding, fully fund the excess cost grant, strengthening seed, and restore magnet funding, and ensuring that the budget reflects a true cost of educating the students in Connecticut. Thank you for your time and consideration for my request. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. Next, Joe Dominique Dornique. No. Okay. Next, Brian Greenleaf.

[Brian Greenleaf (CFO, EASTCONN RESC)]: Good evening chair Walker and other honorable members of the appropriations committee. My name is Brian Greenleaf. I serve as the CFO of Eastcon. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify tonight. In my role as the numbers guy. I spent a lot of time thinking about budgets, formulas, dollars and cents, but education budgets are not just financial instruments on paper. They're choices about what kind of future we're building. I'm here to take today to speak about how the proposed fiscal twenty seven budget adjustments affect magnet school operators and Eastcon's financial stabilization. And to suggest that while maybe while these appear to be minor adjustments in a very large budget, they carry important consequences for the why these systems were created in the first place. For more than twenty five years, Connecticut's magnet schools have expanded opportunity and reduced barriers for students based on the zip code in which they reside. They are proven part of our public education infrastructure, giving families meaningful public school choice. Yet magnet operators have worked under flat state funding for many years while labor transportation and benefit costs continue to rise. The resulting gap increasingly shift this through to districts through tuition and the legislature recognized this taking an important step to move towards a more student centered funding model. The $12,000,000 that was included in the fiscal twenty seven budget, simply sustains the system. It's not a new investment just made sure that we can maintain what's already there. Allowing tuition, to rise at CPI, as proposed would cause immediate sustainability concerns for magnet operators and uncapping the tuition altogether would simply relocate the problem to already stressed districts. The same principles of sustainability applies to Eastcon stabilization funding, which the proposal, would reduce by 20%. In budget terms, it's a modest line item. For us though, it's, a runway to correct past structural deficits, through our disciplined cost controls and restructuring, specifically without increasing, costs to our member districts. Last year's $3,000,000 allocation recognized that need. Reducing it now shifts that pressure back to the 33 communities and 36 districts that we represent. We're also in a moment when both magnet schools and traditional districts need greater investment from the state to deliver on the promise of our education system. The legislature has made real funding progress for ECS over the past decade, and we thank you for that. But without inflationary adjustments, even strong systems will lose effectiveness over time. Before I was a CFO, I was a seventh grade social studies teacher, and I tried to teach students to look to history for perspective on the present. Every budget should consider what we get in return for that investment. But I think Benjamin Franklin sums it up nicely that an investment in knowledge, pays the best interest. So, you know, we talk a lot, about formulas, technical discussions about spending caps and things like that as, as we move forward, this legislative session. But I do encourage you to take a step back, and, and reflect that, you know, these investments are truly about setting the next generation of students up for success. So I appreciate your, time.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you. And have a good day, sir. Jennifer Perez.

[Speaker 106]: Good evening. I'm online.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Or good evening. Yes. Good evening.

[Jennifer Perez (Chair, Bridgeport BOE)]: So good evening, representative Walker. Representative Brown, I see you there too. Other members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Jennifer Perez. I'm the chair of Bridgeport Board of Education. I'm also a licensed social worker working in adolescent mental health. What I what I see in schools and what I see in clinical work are connected. When systems are under resourced, kids, families, and staff feel it. I'm here to urge you to increase the ECS Foundation amount and to build an automatic annual adjustment for inflation so districts aren't back in the same position every single year. The foundation has been stuck since 2013. That's over a decade of rising costs with no structural adjustment in how the state calculates what it takes to educate a child. And districts have adapted. We've been asked to absorb higher costs, higher expectations, and higher needs year after year. The funding formula hasn't adapted with us. In Bridgeport and other cities, our students are more likely to be living with poverty, housing instability, unmet health and mental health needs. We educate large numbers of multilingual learners and students with disabilities, and we do it with fewer local resources than wealthier communities. When the ECS Foundation stays flat, it doesn't keep things steady. It quietly widens the gap between what's expected of districts and what they're actually funded to do. As a social worker, I don't see this as a line item. I see it in students waiting too long for services, staff managing crises without enough support, and educators burning out as they're asked to do everything at once. Schools have become a safety net, but we're not funding them that way. Special education makes this clear. Underfunding drives high caseloads, staffing staffing shortages, delayed evaluations, and reactive rather than preventative services. That's unfair to students who are legally entitled to support. From where I sit, this isn't about pitting districts against each other. It's about whether the state is willing to do to be honest about what it actually costs to run a school system today, especially in communities like Bridgeport, where student needs are higher and the margin for error is smaller smaller. If we want outcomes to improve statewide, the foundation has to reflect the real cost of educating students now, not what it cost more than a decade ago. Connecticut has the capacity to act. We've seen consistent surpluses and a strong reserve fund. And without even a modest inflation adjustment, districts will keep falling behind while students and staff pay the price. We need ECS to be a formula that stays relevant, not one that slowly becomes detached from reality. I'm asking you to increase the ECS foundation amount and create a mechanism for annual inflation adjustments to so districts can plan responsibly, hire and retain staff, meet student needs, and avoid year after year budget crises and destabilize schools. If we don't make this change, needs will continue to go unmet, staffing shortages will worsen, and burnout will continue to drive talent out of our schools. If we do make this change, we give districts the ability to build consistent supports and give students a real chance at the education Connecticut says it values. Thank you for your time, and have a great night.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: You too. Thank you, and thank you for your testimony. Adrian Rodriguez. Adrian Rodriguez?

[Speaker 108]: Yes. Good evening, representative Walker and, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Adrian Enrique Rodriguez, and I serve as the director of organizing and early education for CSEA, SEIU Local two thousand one. Our union represents more than 25,000 members across Connecticut, including state employees, municipal employees, board of education workers, and family childcare educators who participate in the care for kids program. I'm here today to recognize the vital work that family childcare educators and providers, do in our communities. And first, I would like to thank, this committee for the work that we've accomplished last session to prioritize early childhood investments. And second, to, to urge you to fully fund the systems that support them and the families that the providers, serve. Later this evening, you will also hear from some of CSEA's family child care union leaders, and I will also be translating for some of our Spanish speaking members as well. Family child care educators are small business owners. They open their homes before sunrise. They feed, teach, and comfort, and prepare children for children, for kindergarten and beyond. They create safe, stable learning environments that allow parents to go to work. And when childcare works in our state, Connecticut's economy economy works. When it breaks down, the, the impact is immediate. And right now it's breaking down. It is taking about eight months before a family is invited off the Care for Kids wait list as of 02/09/2026. Families being, invited to our, families being invited to apply had application dates of June 2025. And that is an eight month delay. There was approximately 3,009 families that remain on the wait list. And these are families, not children. The number is much greater. Providers are carrying the burden and they are operating with lower enrollments and in some cases without payments while families will await for subsidy approvals. The instability threatens the programs that are already operating within thin margins. The most devastating impact is on families, especially grandparents, aunts, and uncles who have stepped away from their jobs to care for child, for a child believing that they will receive the subsidy. Many do so not realize that they will have to wait eight months and not be compensated for that time of care. That lost income means unstable housing, unstable employment, and ultimately unstable care for the child. We must also increase funding for the birth to three program while on, as underfunding has led to capacity issues, limiting early childhood and, intervention for the children with developmental delays and developmental needs. Early intervention cannot be a waiting game. Once support is delayed, development is delayed. And finally, we must protect and continue to, to protect the projected contrib contributions to the endowment fund. Providers have been promised health care access, rate increases, and long term to be long long term stability. Without full funding, we risk moving forward and commitments, and risk moving backwards on commitments that were made in good faith. We was we respectfully urge the committee to fully fund the care for kids, program and eliminate the wait list, increase funding for birth to three, and protect the long term sustainability of the endowment fund. Thank you for your time this evening.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you, and have a good evening. Next, we have Robert Raider and then, followed by John Taylor and then followed by that, Christopher Roach. Go right ahead, sir.

[Bob Raider (Proud Academy Board member; former CABE Executive Director)]: Chairman Walker and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Bob Raider. I reside in Glastonbury. I am a member and former chair of the Proud Academy Board of Directors. I am here in support of funding Proud Academy in the upcoming budget PROUD Academy, which has been approved by the state board of education is open and wait to only for your support. I am here joined by founder and executive director, Patty Niccolari and founding principal David Brown, who you'll hear from later sometime tonight. Hopefully I retired in 2022 after nearly twenty six years as the executive director of the Connecticut association of boards of education, where I hope I made a difference in helping school board members see the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Since I retired, I've been working to help proud Academy establish a public charter school for LGBTQ students, their peers, and other students who wish to attend an extraordinary school. Just as a reminder, the school's enrollment will be through a lottery. So proud academy will provide a high quality education, not only for LGBTQ students and their allies, but for any students who want to be educated in a safe, secure environment, will there be more support and mental health backing? Tade, I ask you to approve funding for that school that will help strengthen Connecticut's commitment to some of our most vulnerable students and send a signal to the whole LGBTQ community. Last year, when I testified, I said, these were terror, terrifying times for many families and students in the LGBTQ plus community. Against the, our hopes, these times today are even more dangerous and frightening for this targeted community. Imagine how would you would feel if your trial with the target of new policies that take aim at transgender individuals, those that don't fit into a binary category and children needing gender affirming care, anxiety, distress, feelings of victimization, and other indicators of worry will only increase as this administration, this federal administration continues to ratchet up its fearful attacks. I know that members of this community are searching for places outside of our own country where they can be treated as any other citizens. Even my son, who is transgender, has been looking for here. He has been looking for where he can be treated as an equal. You can imagine how we as parents feel as our own government bears down on our children. Again, I ask you to please show how Connecticut leads in this very important area. Let us serve as a role model to this nation, and please include proud academy in any changes to the budget. Thank you very much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. John Taylor and after John Taylor, Christopher Roche, was that He's online. And I just want everybody to know that we are at the 100 mark. No. Wait, okay. For four hours, three, 100. Go people. Go ahead.

[Speaker 9]: Okay. Good evening, Representative Walker, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, other members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is John Taylor. I'm CEO of Elevate Charter Schools. We, currently run, the Booker T. Washington Academy in New Haven, and are the, School Management Organization for Danbury International Academy Charter School. Since the school was approved in 2018, families in the city of Connecticut have been waiting impatiently, for the school to be funded. It's been really difficult as the person who's responsible for ensuring the school is launched appropriately, and that the program is developed to meet the needs of every student that attends. To explain the families why this school hasn't been funded after all these years. Super difficult because they've done all the right things. They've advocated in the right ways. They've talked directly to their legislators. They've, shown up here in Hartford every year, 200 deep, and sometimes more.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: 300.

[Speaker 9]: 300 deep, to, to express their continued commitment to, to, to this school. And, it's probably the most difficult part of this is that they're starting to lose faith in the democratic process. And that there are just a couple people literally who are blocking the funding for the school. And in many cases, use of misinformation as to why they're blocking the school. It's going to take money away from the school district. Not true. The district is, protected by the Hold Harmless Clause. In fact, there are some statutory, obligations of the district, transportation and special education, which at the high end, would represent probably 30¢ on the dollar, which means 70¢ on the dollar for each student stays in district, and you're serving less students. So, there's a lot of misinformation. And, you know, at some point, we got to figure this out, because there are a lot of other charter schools on deck. And, and, and we feel very strongly that the charter, that the law, relative to the funding of charter schools, is sort of being misinterpreted, that it should be a line item, that the charter line item is approved by the legislators, and that, the, State Department of Education, are the ones who determine which schools, based on the ranking of their applications, actually get to use that money, at any given year. So hopefully, we get this resolved. We can't keep coming back here, but we will. But really appreciate, it's through this process that we've been able to get into the budget, just have not been able to stay in. That blocking, continues to happen. And so, hopefully, this is our year. Please put us in the appropriations process and to the budget. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Christopher Roach?

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: Yes. Good evening. Can you hear me?

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Yep. Go right ahead, sir.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: Good evening, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Christopher Roach. I serve as the superintendent of the amazing Woodstock Public Schools. The best part of the four hour wait, and congratulations on reaching that four hour mark, was the student testimony today. Outstanding great advocates for public ed. So I'm here today because Connecticut's education funding system is no longer equitable. It's not sustainable. It's actually broken. ECS formula was created to equalize opportunity to ensure that a child's education is not determined by their ZIP code. Today, it no longer does that. School districts across the state are facing structural deficits, not because of overspending, not because of mismanagement, but because of mandated costs. Special ed transportation, health care, energy, student mental health services. These are not optional. We were required by law to provide them, and we should. Yet the ECS, foundation allocation remains rooted in funding levels from thirteen years ago. Costs have surged. State support has not kept pace. Woodstock Public Schools where I work funds approximately 73 of the per pupil expenditure. Not acceptable. The result is simple. The burden has shifted to local property taxpayers. ECS is no longer an equalization formula. It's a partial reimbursement system. The excess cost grant only formula this morning? Someone's interrupted.

[Speaker 110]: Can I

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: get my time back?

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: I okay. Yes. I I

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: don't Special education funding makes, this even worse. Connecticut treats special education as a catastrophic expense, but for school districts, it is not catastrophic. It's what we do. It's routine. It's required, and it's growing. Districts must pay these costs upfront in full and then hope for partial reimbursement later, like an IOU. That's not a partnership. That's a cost shift, and local taxpayers cannot sustain it. So the solution is clear. Fully fund DCS foundational rate at 17,000 index to inflation, integrate special ed into a ECS as a core instructional cost plus reimbursement for higher than expected cost, create a minimum state contribution floor of 50% for school district expenses. Towns cannot sustain these costs, lower the excess cost threshold, increase reimbursement to a 100%, provide funding within the fiscal year, and modernize the the municipal capacity to index reflect income poverty, poverty concentration tax effort and senior population. Anything less is not partnership. It's abdication. And please stop passing unfunded mandates onto local communities. If we can't fund it, don't pass it. States mandate the services. State should fund the services. Connecticut ranks fifth in the nation per people expenditure, but forty fourth in the nation in the state's contribution. That's not equity. That's a cost shift. Education is a constitutional right. Rights require resources. The data is clear. The impact is real. The urgency is now we cannot wait. We cannot delay. These issues require real leadership. It's not simply a fiscal issue about it's about fairness, sustainability, and shared responsibilities. Having led in multiple states, I could say with certainty, high performing systems are not legally fund mandated services this way. Some states have figured this out. We need to learn from them. Education is a constitutional right. The state has a duty to ensure districts have the resources, not shift the burden to taxpayers at the local level. We don't need another committee work in perpetuity and don't need another comprehensive study. This is common sense. We need action and leadership. Exigent circumstances demand courageous lead leadership. I urge you to act now for our students, for our communities, and for the future of public education. And I wanna thank all of you for your service to our state and your true caring concern for our schools and for the late night ahead. I appreciate your service. Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Thank you for remembering us. Thank you.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Next, Thomas Reyes. Thomas Reyes.

[Thomas Reyes (Newtown/Sandy Hook resident)]: Well, good evening. And, thank you, I guess. No, I guess, thank you, rep representatives, Walker Brown and representative Reyes. Thank you for hanging in there. I think I've seen both of you, hanging in there for most of the hearings and prior hearings. So thanks. Thanks again for doing this. I truly appreciate the opportunity to, speak to the committee as a privacy. So I I come in support of a few initiatives, all of them, with, equity in education. So I'm a resident of Sandy Hook. I'm a parent of a child that goes to the Waterbury Arts Bank in a school. And I'm here to ask to support the funding of the Danbury International Academy. As people reminded, it has been approved since 2018. And we want to make sure that not only that school gets approved, but also the bills that make equity in education a reality and not a mirage. Right? Since, chef versus Neil, there's a lot of battles and there's a backlog in the state department of education of there's more than thirty years old department just trying to fix that and lawsuits left and right. And so it consumes a lot of energy, and the the state is driving its feet. Right? And the state is made up of not just of this body, but also the executive. They cannot hide behind, inaction. Right? They own this. So I want to make sure that, you know, the state department of is given a mandate, but in practice, it gets stripped of their ability to carry the their obligation, and the hurdles that are put to them to carry the work hurt the people that need it the most, the people that were put there in the first place. So I, I came here also. I was part of the group, that now we kind of split, in in in today's order of just coming in here. But I, the parents are coming here again to voice their support. We're speaking as one voice because we watch the same pattern re repeat. The families show up, testify, petitions are signed, bills advance. Okay? So they actually advance, and then they disappear. Okay. So what is the power? What voices have more power than the people that come here and, and speak? Last year there was a bill that was advanced all the way through the committee, passed through the committee, and education and then never heard from again. Okay. So what voices stop this because they were not present, as an opposition. So there is not a a a opposition out there anymore, that you can point out too, but we want to make sure that we equip the people and the parents with the same power that those voices have. Right? They're voters, they live in the state and they pay their taxes. So I support, the bill fifty two zero seven for funding of special education, because when you do that, you also make sure you're not putting undue burdens on the district. I support the bill introduced by the senate, build s B 204 to build skilled trade centers. I believe that they've given the opportunity to upskill people. And now in the area of AI where you're gonna have a lot of necessity to fill roles, but also people that might be displaced. This is a way to be proactive and not let AI and robotics create a problem that can be prevented. Right? So we can use that in in advance. And I also look for support of the, bill fifty one eighty that removes the roadblocks that keep already approved schools from getting funded. So we have friends from, all I am here. We have friends from, a proud academy there. They also got approval and funded. We have friends from Middletown capital prep, and these are fantastic people. I met with the principals. I met with the CMOs and I know them and they have a lot of great things in store. I, I hope we can let them do their work. We can also let the state department of education do their work. They do their due diligence, they get the schools scoped out. They get improved. They review. They are very thorough in their work and they have a mandate and they have a mandate. So we can't give a mandate and then cut their feet. Right? So hopefully, this is the time where things happen and we have something to celebrate and then come back here for something more important. Thanks.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. And thank you for your testimony. I'm going to do a quick, Kevin Barbosa, a young man who should be going home and then going to bed along with me. Just let everybody know I'm here on my birthday to celebrate it with you guys. So you know. Good evening sir.

[Speaker 112]: Hello. My name is Kevin Barbosa. I am an eighth grade student at Brasity Charter School in Waterbury and I'm here to inform and I'm advocating for the Danbury Charter School movement because I feel like kids at Danbury should have a choice and they should have an opportunity to have many open doors to a lot of great things in their futures especially as a scholar in a charter school myself. A lot of my teachers and a lot of my counselors have opened a lot of doors for me especially because because our school provides a lot of relationship with students who are not in need who feel they are lost. So teachers do that help charters and charter schools do help teachers and students combined with each other because they feel like a student should have a second chance and they should have a chance in life and in the futures. So I feel like a charter school in Danbury will be a great fit for a lot of communities in Danbury and what Brac City charter school is a great community in Waterbury especially it has opened a lot of doors for Waterbury children and teenagers itself because there is a lot of kids in our school who graduated our school and gone out to amazing schools in in Connecticut. One of our like one of our aluminis went to amazing schools high schools and now our first graduates are going to a college amazing colleges. So I feel like a charter school has a chance for a kid and for a person itself to have a better life and to have a better future for themselves and especially as a scholar myself who is going to a secondary school experience. I feel like this school prepared me for a lot of lessons and for a lot of deals in life. So I really feel a charter school will be a great chance for Danbury and I really hope you guys give a great chance for Danbury just like you gave a chance to Braske Charter School and I really hope you do that. Thank you so much. And have a great day.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: DIRECTOR And

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: I'd be glad to because you're a scholar.

[Speaker 112]: Thank you so much.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. I like that.

[Speaker 112]: Remember And happy birthday.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you.

[Speaker 113]: Thank you.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: I'm going to now turn it over to senator Winfield or senator one of the senators.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: I'm here. I'm here.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Okay. There you go. Senator Winfield. We're at number 100.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Melissa Wilkins?

[Speaker 13]: Yes.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: That one? Alright. Melissa Wilkins, you are up.

[Melissa (Lissa) Wilkins (Creative Interventions; Birth to Three coordinator & parent)]: Thank you. I first and foremost would like to wish you also a happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you to the Appropriations Committee for the opportunity to offer testimony today. I 100% support all of the schools that are speaking and talking to the points of being able to support individuals, not only in education, but also beyond that with all of the mandates that are coming out. But I'm here today to talk about the impact of the budget on early intervention and specifically birth to three. I'm submitting testimony as a mother whose family participated in the Connecticut birth to three program. I'm a Birth to Three coordinator at Creative Interventions, which is an agency that currently serves over 600 families across the state. And I know that it's critical for this program to be sufficiently funded to support the retention of qualified providers and address growing family needs. I also have seen from the NEALS study, the national early intervention longitudinal study, that with early intervention, we can really support a more robust budget for those schools because forty two percent of the children receiving Part C don't require those special education services by kindergarten. So, we can really proportion funds better for them by supporting early intervention and starting at the beginning. Literally birth and catching things before they unravel and get to the point that they're cumbersome on our school districts. Early intervention is unfortunately suffering from what many of the schools are expressing, flatline funds. I'm grateful for the budget accounting for an increase of funding, but the increase isn't enough. The current budget elimination of the requirement of the off for the Office of Early Childhood to pay the general administrative or GAP payment to programs allows them the opportunity to reduce payments, and the fiscal year twenty seven budget reduces the gap line by 1,000,000. As a program coordinator, I'd like to share that gap payments average 30% 36% of the funds received monthly from the Office of Early Childhood for our program in 2025. That means a significant portion of our funding will be impacted if there is a gap adjustment. As a provider, I would like to share that I personally struggle to achieve my goals for credentials within the budget and time allotted by my commitment to remain in the early intervention field. It's the reason I transitioned from being a direct service provider to an administrator within this field. As a mother whose family participated in the birth to three program, I personally experienced the ripple effects of family success as my child's team supported our growth and our child's development. As an individual, I'm hopeful that this testimony sheds light on the importance of providing financial stability to the Connecticut birth to three system. As previous members have mentioned, even with the additional funds, rates will still fall significantly short of covering the true cost of services that were identified in the Office of Early Childhood sanctioned birth to three rate study released in 2024. The current paid rate of a $120 per hour was established nearly a decade ago in 2017. The 2020

[Speaker 79]: expired. If you could please summarize. Thank you.

[Melissa (Lissa) Wilkins (Creative Interventions; Birth to Three coordinator & parent)]: I apologize. So in summary, I'm asking to reinstate the statute that holds the gap, eliminate the red the $1,000,000 reduction in the gap, and add funds to birth to three. Thank you so much for your

[Senator Gary Winfield]: time. Thank you for providing us with your testimony. Okay. We will next hear from Anthony Paoletto. Mister Paoletto, you are up.

[Anthony Paoletto (Bridgeport Mayor’s Office; former student)]: Good evening. My name is Anthony Payoletto. I'm a lifelong Bridgeport resident, and I also work, for the city of Bridgeport in the mayor's office and a former student of the Bridgeport Public Schools. I'm here to urge this body to increase the education cost sharing formula for all school districts, but especially for the Bridgeport public schools. Bridgeport educates approximately 19,000 students, making it one of the largest school districts in Connecticut. A significant percentage are multi language learners, and many require specialized services and interventions. These demographics are not abstract statistics. They represent real children with real needs that require real investment. Despite these realities, Bridgeport continues to operate with fewer resources, pure pupil than many wealthier districts across the state. While the ECS formula is intended to promote equity, the current funding levels do not fully reflect the concentrated poverty, language needs, and special education demands, all challenges that our district faces every single day. Municipalities like Bridgeport already shoulder one of the highest tax burdens relative to income in the state. Our residents, many of whom are working class families, cannot continue to make up the difference for underfunded state obligations. The Bridgeport public schools have been underfunded for many years from both the city and the state. The city in recent years has consistently increased its local contribution to education within its within its fiscal constraints. This still isn't enough. Under the steady leadership of doctor Roy Savery and his team, the district has implemented accountability measures, strengthened operational efficiencies, and focused strategically on student outcomes. From facility improvements to curriculum alignments, the district is making responsible decisions within its limited resources that it has. I work closely with doctor Avery and his team on a regular basis. I can attest to the level of collaboration, transparency, and fiscal responsibility that is guiding the district's work. They are not asking for a blank check. They are asking for equitable support that matches the scale and the complexity of our district. ECS funding must reflect the true cost of educating students in high need urban districts. Without increased state investment, Bridgeport will be forced once again to make difficult decisions that impact every child's education. If Connecticut is serious about closing achievement gaps, strengthening workforce development, and creating long term economic stability, then funding urban education is not optional. It is essential to fund an ECS fully, which not has which not which has not received updates since 2013. This is simply not a Bridgeport issue. It's a statewide issue. Today's students are tomorrow's leaders. I urge this legislature to fully fund and adjust the ECS formula to reflect current realities and provide Bridgeport public school students and all students of Connecticut the resources necessary to deliver the education our students deserve. Equity cannot be a slogan and must be reflected in the state budget. Thank you so much for your time.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you, mister Paolato, for joining us this evening and providing us with your testimony. Emily Hurst. Good evening.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Good evening.

[Emily Hurst (Chief Strategy & Talent Officer, Hebrew Public/Olam)]: Good evening, members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of continued funding for Olam Public Charter School in Stanford. I'm Emily Hurst. I'm the chief strategy and talent officer at Hebrew Public. We're a nonprofit charter management organization that operates a network of racially, economically, and culturally diverse public charter schools in New York and Philadelphia. We also have two students who are registered for about over 300 tonight, so they're gonna be very late. We've asked them to go to bed so they can be in class tomorrow, but we're very grateful and we're gonna submit their testimony. We're really grateful for Connecticut State Boards of Education vote of confidence in granting alum's initial approval, and we respectfully request you approve an appropriation to make the school a reality for Samford families. As Laurie shared earlier tonight, Olam, public charter school will provide Stanford families with a high quality public education option that meets the needs of an increasingly diverse and interconnected world. With a rigorous academic curriculum, a focus on world language as a bridge to global learning, and a commitment to teaching critical thinking, problem solving, and cross cultural understanding, alum will prepare students to thrive in college careers and in civil civic life. Our track record speaks for itself. Our three New York schools consistently exceed both city and state in proficiency rates on standardized test assessments, not just overall, but across student subgroups, such as students with special needs, those from low income families, students for whom English is not their first language and students of color. This means our model works for all students, regardless of background language or learning need. The demand for schools like alum is evident. I think we've heard that a lot tonight and I very much appreciate Laurie speaking on behalf of her family. Stanford families are seeking more choices for their children's education and we've already seen strong community support from a diverse array of students. Strong community support from a diverse array of families. At full size, alum will serve about 500 students from pre k through eighth grade. Like our other network schools, alum will serve a substantial number of students with special needs, English learners, and students whose families are facing economic challenges. What makes the alum's approach particularly distinctive is our deep commitment to community partnership. We've developed a vision for alum that will serve as a nonprofit organizational community hub that will support not just our students, so sorry, but youth and families throughout Stanford. This is an education as community building, not just a school, but a center of connection and support. Hebrew public has a proven track record of managing high performing charter schools efficiently and effectively to ensure that public dollars are used wisely to maximize student success. We're committed to being responsible stewards of public funds and collaborative partners to the district, to families, and to community organizations. We respectfully urge you to approve an appropriation for Willamette Public Charter School as an investment in Stanford and Connecticut's future generations. Really appreciate your time and consideration on this late night.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you, and appreciate you, sticking around to testify with us. Torres? Hope I got that right.

[Speaker 79]: One one moment, please, senator.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Okay.

[Speaker 79]: Senator, we had this person testify earlier. However, someone else from their group is going to, testify now in their place. She is number 2237, which is

[Speaker 17]: is she set? She set.

[Rev. Dr. Barbara Headley (Middletown; Capital Prep Middletown supporter)]: Oh, she set. Sorry.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Oh, okay. Alright.

[Director Harris (Legislative Staff)]: Good evening, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Gisette Leonardo and I'm here as a servant of the community. I am currently a step mom of three children raising an eight year old and also representing our community, but also representing myself. Once I was a student coming to this country without knowing the language at all. And I know the struggle when you are in, you know, in just a regular school, you don't have the resources, right, available. So I'm here representing also that as well. You know, like all parents, we want everything for our children. We want the best possible future for them, And we want to we want them to be able to learn all different environments that they have, you know, that they're able to fulfill their rich potential, you know? Through my work with families, I often emphasize that education is one of the most important assets and investment that we can have for future generations and I'm currently also serving in the Danbury community as an educator. For us, education is very important. As a parents, we continue to search for educational environments that can meet the children's needs, often without finding the right fit, and that's something that we're advocating for today. This is not asking for special treatment, and it is not taking away from traditional public education because I come from there as well. It is about honoring and assisting a commitment and recognizing that families deserve choices when it comes to their children's education. Education is something that I always said no one can take it away from you, you know? Always seeking knowledge is something that we all want for us and also for our children and childhood doesn't doesn't pause, right? We always want them to grow and learn and this year of delay represent opportunities that can never be recovered. I'm here as a as a parent, educator, and also a community, member of Danbury. I respectfully, ask you to stand with local families and be able to allow, the Danbury Public Charter School to finally open, right? We've been, you know, waiting for years, right? And doing that will expand the educational opportunities and affirm that parent voices matter and for those children to have the opportunity that I didn't have when I came to this country and is struggling, with English being as my second language. So I wanna thank you for your time, thank you for your service, and thank you for your consideration.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: And thank you for coming to testify in front of us tonight.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Freddie Fajardo. Freddie Fajardo?

[Speaker 79]: They are not online.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. Anne Riddle.

[Speaker 79]: They are also not online.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. Mary Helen Bautista.

[Speaker 79]: They are not online.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. Bill Myers.

[Bill Myers (Retired teacher; TRB/State Treasurer councils)]: Good evening, and thank you for my testimony, senator Walker. Oh, sorry. Representative Walker, happy birthday to you. I'm here as a retired teacher. I'm also a member of the treasurer's investment advisory council, and I'm also the chair of sorry, the vice chair of the teachers retirement board. I wanna thank the legislature for fully funding the teachers retirement system. We still have twenty three years to go, but we're on a fantastic track improving our situation year by year. I'm concerned about the health care system for retired teachers. There is a contract between retired teachers, active teachers, and the state to share costs one third each. The active teachers have never missed a payment. The retired teachers have never missed paying their share. It's the state that has varied a lot. It's 33% of the total cost, and I just want to say we have done well the last five years. But the five years before that, we funded this way, zero zero twenty five, '25, 1716, and '15. When the state's contribution goes down, the fund becomes seriously challenged. This budget that's proposed changes the state's funding from 33% down to 25. I fear we'll we're starting a slippery slope as we've done in the past, and I ask you to return the state's budget to the full one third that it's contractually obligated to through statute. Thank you. I hope you I really appreciate your listening, your work. I know these evenings go along, and I truly appreciate the work you do and, the time you give to the state. So thank you very much.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you. And we appreciate you, spending some time with us and providing us with your testimony. Angelica Cervantes?

[Cindy Jackson (Children’s Therapy Services/Birth to Three director)]: Yes. Good afternoon, members of the committee. I'm happy birthday, representative Walker. I I'm going to read my full testimony in Spanish, and then Adrian Rodriguez will do in English. And thank you for the opportunity. My number is my name is Angelica Cervantes.

[Mikaela (Michaela) Mallon Bernstein (St. Joseph’s Parenting Center)]: Thank you.

[Speaker 108]: My name is Angelica Cervantes. I'm a licensed home based family childcare educator in Waterbury, the owner of Smart Kids Family Daycare LLC, and a proud member of CSCA SCIU Local two thousand one. I have served families in my community for ten years. I'm here to speak about the real harm the care for kids wait list is causing. Families are living in constant stress because they don't know if they will be able to keep childcare and continue working. Many families wait more than six months. For a parent who needs to work, six months is a crisis. While they wait, children lose stability, routine, and continue continuity in their learning. And for providers, empty slots means lost income and constant uncertainty uncertainty that forces us to cut back even on essential support like a substitute, or an assistant. Family childcare educators make it possible for Connecticut's workforce to show up every day. I urge you to fully fund care for kids and eliminate the wait list. I also urge you to increase funding for the birth to three program and fully fund the endowment. Thank you for your time and your commitment. Angelica Cervantes has also submitted a, longer written testimony for the review of the senators and representatives of this

[Senator Gary Winfield]: committee. Thank you. And thank you, Angelica, for providing us with your testimony, both in English and Spanish, and and then time required. That's pretty good. Right. Kathleen Sadalino?

[Speaker 79]: One moment. We need to promote them to panelists.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Okay.

[Kathleen Sadolino (Creative Interventions/Birth to Three parent & staff)]: Hi there, everyone. Hi. Well, senator Winfield and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Kathleen Sadolino. I am a proud mother of a birth to three graduate as well as the director of staff development at Creative Interventions, which is a birth to three agency, that provides services to over 600 families across the state of Connecticut. I have submitted a longer written testimony, where I expressed myself, and my support for funding for Birth to Three, and I wanna acknowledge that, I stand with my colleagues, Melissa Wilkins, and many other folks who have spoken about Birth to Three. But, here, I'd really like to share a bit about myself to help put things into context. The budget right now, as written, includes added tiers, which were not part of the cost study and would be difficult to achieve even for the system's most experienced providers. A little bit about me, I have over twenty years of experience in special education, seventeen of those within the VERTHA three system. I have a master's of science degree, and I'm a certified licensed behavior analyst. I'm a trained service coordinator and Russian Sheldon family coach with twelve years of supervision and leadership experience. Despite this experience, as well as my degree and certification, it would be really impossible for me to even obtain the highest tier in the proposed system. Across my time as a birth to three provider, I've seen a growing need for Connecticut families and dwindling staff to provide these necessary services. We've heard about rate waitlists all day today. As a member of the staff development team, I'm actively involved in the onboarding process with our newest employees. It's become increasingly difficult to recruit staff beyond entry level positions, and the initial training requirements have increased significantly over the last few years. Among those training requirements, are a ten hour online training sequence, natural learning environment training, as well as that, six month mentorship in the Russian Sheldon model that I'm currently certified in. These increased cost really, really, impact our agency's ability to provide comp compensation increases, promotions, and significantly impact our bottom line. I fear that eventually, Bertha three will not be a sustainable contract for many agencies like ours. It's imperative that the gap payment continue to help supplement these expenses as well as retain employees, and encourage more folks to join the workforce. If that information that I've shared is somehow insufficient, my my primary role is mom of birth to three graduate, and I would like to share that experience. Our twin children were born five weeks premature, placed in the NICU for two weeks, and were pretty fragile. Our daughter was diagnosed with torticollis, which is a condition characterized by an involuntary persistent tilting, or turning of her neck to the side. That incur happened in utero, and there was nothing that you can do to prevent. Right? So it it treatment was the only option. We did everything. We tried every single bottle on the market. We were feeding and nursing her in front of a cold, bright refrigerator door. We did it all, and it really impacted us and almost led to a diagnosis of failure to thrive. To say it was trying and scary does not adequately capture, what we were experiencing. And, please, also remember, she has a twin, so we also had to do this again, right, with the next one. And with the incredible help of our birth to three team, we were able to learn techniques, stretches, and activities to not only help her feed, but thrive in her development. They're scurrying across the back here. My family is a success story, and we were able to discharge from birth to three. Without birth to three, the impact of Ellie's torticollis could have led to secondary diagnosis of failure to thrive, and the need for costly medical and therapeutic interventions. Because of birth to three, we did not need any additional intervention, therapy, or special education. She is at daycare now with her twin brother having a great time, And she's even a better eater than most, believe it or not. She picks out her vegetables first. So, I just want to say that this is, the birth to three system is imperative in setting kids up for success and really supporting our school systems and limiting the cost. We wanna get in there early and support, children. I thank you all for listening to my testimony and staying here till late, and now I'm gonna put them to bed.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Well, thank you for providing us with your testimony, and and please go go put your children to bed.

[Speaker 30]: Thank you. Good night.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Diego, Arojo, Tovar?

[Speaker 79]: They will not be testifying.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. Denise Davio Davio? Yes.

[Denise Daveau (CEO, LoomAbility; Birth to Three)]: Yes. I'm here. Thank you. Good evening, members of the Appropriations Committee. I'm Denise Daveu. I'm the CEO for Loomability, and we are the largest nonprofit, Birth to three provider in the state, serving 2,000 children and, across five counties. It's been apparent for several years that the state's Birth to three system has been unraveling its chronic underfunding has led to severe staffing shortages, which in turn means children are receiving fewer service hours than they used to, at precisely the time in their lives where it made the most difference. My submitted testimony details the data analysis showing the true level of funding needed, which currently is in the budget, the consequence of ongoing staffing shortages, and the return on investment from Birth to the Street that provides, which you've heard from other people testifying today, not only for families, but also for their children and for reducing special education costs and stronger long term outcomes. The FY twenty seven budget does include a rate increase. Unfortunately, the value is substantially eroded by two additional factors, reducing the gap, the general administrative payment, and the new tiered reimbursement system. At the end of last session, HB 7,287 removed the statutory requirement for the Office of Early Childhood to pay the provider gap of $200 per eligible child, and there's a reduction of a million dollars in the FY27 budget. That gap covers significant indirect costs that are inherent with the birth to three fee for service system. Scheduling billing supports, documentation time, travel, and mileage, which are significant professional development. Any reduction in the payment of the gap is gonna is going to negatively impact any rate increase we get. So I really urge you to reinstate the statutory gap of $200 per eligible child. As the new tiered rate system, during today's budget presentation, the Oxford Child would describe the new payment structure as a strategy to stabilize birth is free and improve staff retention and recruitment. Providers respectfully disagree that this rate system would help with those issues. Tying this funding to this new structure diminishes what providers will actually receive. Under the proposed model, the highest tier is contingent on staff completing a complex, intensive, and credentialing process that for most would be a multiple year process. To the best of my knowledge, only two staff across the entire state have reached this convention level to be able to bill at the top rate, only two. As a result, providers will continue to receive rates that fall short of covering the true cost of services. Rather than supporting recruitment attention, the tiered system will likely make these challenges worse. Newly hired professionals, individuals who already completed rigorous education and certification requirements will have to go undergo additional training to be able to work at the top tier. This is not an attractive recruitment incentive. At the same time, long serving, highly experienced staff like you heard from Kathleen, will see their work reclassified as less valuable unless, and until they complete the new credentialing process. This is not a realistic or effective retention strategy. On behalf of the hundreds of children we serve and the dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to support them, I ask, quite frankly, I urge you to not tie the long overdue rate increase to a new tier reimbursement system, and please don't decrease the gap. Thank you for your time, your service, and your continued attention to the needs of Connecticut's youngest children. We really appreciate it. Have a good night.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you for your time as well. Anna Cecilia Lopez. Good evening.

[Kate Erickson (Executive Director, LEARN RESC)]: Good evening. Good evening, Senator President and members of the community. My name is Ana Lopez. I live in Danbury and I work closely with families in our city. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I'm here as a community member and also as a daughter of parents who didn't have the chance to go to college. My parents worked very hard so the children could have more opportunities. Like many families in Danbury, families who came from other countries and families who have lived here for many years, we believe in education change lives. Danbury is growing fast, our schools are crowded, some students are in temporary classroom. Family feels this pressure every day. For years, families have continued to ask for more public school opinions. They have show up. They have been spoke. They have stayed involved. This show is the real need. Danbury Charter School School is a tuition free public school. It will start grade six to 12. It will grow one grade at a time. It's focused on a strong academic preparation of college and careers. It follows states and is accountable. Families are not asking for something special. They're asking for opportunities. They're asking to move forward. Today, I respectfully ask the Connecticut General Assembly to allow Danbury Public Charter School to open and serve students. The community is ready. The families are ready. The students cannot wait any longer. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you. And have a great evening. Maria Robles, Macias?

[Speaker 108]: My name is Maria Elizabeth Robles Macias. I am a licensed home based family childcare provider in Meriden, Connecticut, the owner of Yo Yo's Home Daycare, and a proud member of CSEA SEIU Local two thousand one. I have served children and families for three years in my communities. I am here to speak about the real impact of the Care for Kids wait list. When families do not know, if or when they will receive a, a childcare assistance, they live in fear and stress. They cannot plan, and they do not know if they will be able to work consistently or be able to pay for childcare month to month. Without safe and reliable childcare, parents cannot go to work. And when parents cannot work, it impacts not only their family, but our state's economy. This same uncertainty also harms providers. When children cannot enroll because families are waiting on assistance, we lose income. A childcare business cannot survive without unstable enrollment. Many providers are fit are forced to reduce their staff or even close their doors. As members of CSEA, SEIU local two thousand one, we urge you to fully fund the care for kids program and eliminate this instability. I also urge you to increase funding for birth to three and fully fund the new endowment. Please take action now to protect Connecticut families, providers, and children, and thank you for the opportunity to share my testimony. Maria Robles Macias also provided a longer testimony in written Spanish and English to the members of this committee.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you very much. Next, we will have, Martha So to Johnson.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Is this on?

[Maria Matos (Chief Advocacy Officer, Alliance for CT Charter Schools)]: Yep. Okay.

[Martha Soto-Johnson (Meriden teacher/parent)]: Hi. Good evening. My name is Martha Sotto Johnson. I am a resident of Meriden and a teacher in the same district. I am here as a concerned mother, citizen, and teacher. As a mother, I have witnessed my son's needs for speech and language services go unaddressed due to unavailable resources. My son, who is now in his second year of college, could not pronounce words with the letter r, s c, and c h. But when tested for birth to three services based on his daycare providers recommendations, my husband and I were told he was just a typical boy who understood two languages so there was no concern. In second grade, his elementary school started pulling him for group speech therapy. How many more students are being left without these services due to budget cuts? What is the impact on these students self esteem when they are unable to clearly express themselves? Sadly, when funding does not keep up with the cost of living increases, we educators have to do more with less. My second son is now receiving a lot of mailers from colleges and universities from around the country. One of the statistics that is constantly touted is the low student to teacher ratio. I asked all the members watching this,

[Director Harris (Legislative Staff)]: do you pay attention

[Martha Soto-Johnson (Meriden teacher/parent)]: to this ratio for your own children and or grandchildren? If so why is this ratio so important in your decision making process. As a teacher I will tell you why this ratio is important. When I had a student teacher to teacher ratio of 27 to one in seventh grade classrooms my class periods of less than an hour meant that I could not offer equal time to students who were struggling and need a remediation. I also could not afford time for those students who needed to be challenged more. In the last three years, I have had students who were absent due to respiratory ailments. In all of these, for all of these students, many of them missed four to eight weeks of school during fall and winter months. Can you miss four to eight weeks of a legislative session and be a productive legislator? How can I, as a teacher, remediate this one student when there are 26 more students with unique needs as well? How about the other students whose parents lost their jobs? This student is now coming to school worried about the possibility of becoming homeless or needing to be uprooted from their community. In the past and in districts with higher per pupil spending, teachers or counselors who would refer these students to math intervention with a math coach or math interventionist now can't really do that when there is no math coach available for tier two interventions. What is the impact on teachers when the student to teacher ratio is so large? Teachers cannot grade and provide timely feedback. The amount of time spent differentiating instruction takes a toll on family life and health. There are in fact only twenty four hours in a day. What gets compromised? Usually it's our health, our eating habits. We start to eat out more often. As a result, our health takes a toll. So with the Connecticut being having the insurance capital of the world why is there a large disparity in health care plan options amongst its public school educators? Why is it that teachers and paraprofessionals just a mile mile away will have such a disparate health care cost and deductibles and prescription costs? Since 2018, the overall cost of living in The United States has increased by 17%, but the cost of health insurance in general has increased by 45%. If you're not going to change the education cost share formula, maybe the state should consider putting all of its public employee sector under the state insurance. So each municipality does not have to negotiate separate contracts with the insurance companies. Surely the health of our public sector is of great interest to this body. In my testimony, I also included a table that includes all the Merit and surrounding towns in a table with, the asset limit income and strain employee percentage cost burden, from December 2025 and the per pupil spending for 2324 from EdSight. In Meriden, the median household income is $58,843 and the per pupil spending is one of the lowest in the entire state with $16,646 We need better allocations.

[Speaker 122]: Thank you. Thank

[Senator Gary Winfield]: you. Have a good evening. Matt Conway.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: One second. He hopped out, hopped back in. We're promoting him to panelists. If he could just accept it, Or we can move on.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. Amari Brandt Brantley.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Hey.

[Speaker 123]: Good evening, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name my name is Amari Brantley and I serve as the policy coordinator, for In Hunger Connecticut. And today, I am here in strong support for the governor's proposal to fund breakfast for all students and eliminate the cost for students eligible for reduced price meals. School meals are foundational to student success. When students start their day with breakfast, they are better able to focus, participate, and achieve academically. When meals are available, specifically breakfast to all students, participation increases, absenteeism decreases, and stigma disappears. These are facts that we saw since 2020 when we provided all students free meals due to ARPA funds. When universal access across breakfast, we saw reduced the co pay for reduced price meals. We saw participation increase in school meal debt decreased across the state of Connecticut. Families throughout Connecticut who are struggling with rising food costs right now see this today. As legislators, last session, we did not pass paid for reduced price school lunches. Therefore, families across the state of Connecticut who hadn't paid for a single school breakfast or lunch in over five years were forced to go through that today. I'd like to throw some statistics out. If a family has two parents that work two minimum wage jobs, they make $800 over the income threshold to receive free school meals. If mom and dad both work at McDonald's, you don't qualify. And even for those who do make over the income threshold, we know that that money does not stretch further enough to be able to pay for school meals in the first place. A study report done by the Commission on Women, Children, and Seniors was released that stated, due to all of our neighboring states, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, we invest the least in food security of all those states. Why not start with children? Why not invest in the 508,000 students that we have here in the state of Connecticut by investing in breakfast? I'd like to debunk one of the statements that may be known. Why feed students in some of the wealthiest towns? This policy proposal in the governor's budget only funds schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program. Some of those cities that opt out of the National School Lunch Program are New Canaan, Darien, Westport, Madison. And I'd like to recognize one more thing. Three elementary schools in Greenwich, Connecticut are a part of the CEP program, which means students have to apply for a waiver to participate in the school lunch program. That means they are below a threshold of income verification to receive free school meals. Connecticut is not alone in doing the work of school breakfast. If we expect our students to succeed, we must ensure that they are nourished because food is not a luxury. It is essential because food is medicine. I respectfully urge you to support full funding for breakfast for all students and to eliminate the reduced price category for meals cost in this budget because this is an investment in Connecticut's children, families, and future, especially during times where school meals are tied to SNAP in the federal regulations that are going on right now. I thank you all for your time.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: And thank you, mister Brantley. Appreciate your time. Don Milletto?

[Speaker 124]: Thank you, Senator Winfield. Good evening to the Appropriations Committee. My name is Don Miletto, and I serve as the chief executive officer of the Connecticut Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs. First, I wanna thank this body for the leadership you showed last year when you made the commitment to invest $1,000,000 in the Connecticut Alliance, and more importantly, in the young people of Connecticut. That decision sent a strong message about the value of high quality education, aligned out of school time programming. I'm here today because the governor's proposed budget includes a $200,000 reduction to that investment. I respectfully ask that you maintain the full $1,000,000 commitment that this legislature approved. This is not this is not a request for new funding. It's a request to sustain a commitment you already made. One that is delivering measurable results. Connecticut Alliance serves as a statewide coordinating convening body for local boys and girls clubs. We provide training, technical assistance, accountability, and alignment with Department of Education priorities, so that local clubs can focus on direct services to youth and families. Through this structure, thousands of young people receive structure, academic support, and enrichment during out of school hours, reinforcing school day learning, supporting grade level progress, and keeping students engaged during critical hours. The impact is measurable. According to Boys and Girls Clubs of America, National Youth Outcomes initiative, ninety percent of survey Connecticut club members expect to graduate high school on time. Last year alone, clubs across Connecticut recorded more than 26,500 academic success program enrollments. Independent analysis shows that in Connecticut, every dollar invested in boys and girls clubs just generates an estimated $5.85 in social and economic return through improved educational outcomes, work for readiness, and reduced long term public costs. Maintaining the $1,000,000 allocation preserves a statewide structure that ensures coordination, accountability, and alignment with education priorities. Without it, we risk fragmenting efforts and weakening impact. This is not new funding. It's a preservation of a proven investment that this legislature already made, an investment in accountability, and measurable outcomes, and the young people of Connecticut. I respectfully ask you to reaffirm that commitment and maintain the full $1,000,000 allocation. Thank you for your leadership and your continued support of Connecticut's youth.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you, mister Milletto. Good to see you, and and great work. Thank

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: you. Patricia Nicolari.

[Speaker 57]: Good evening.

[Patricia Nicolari (Founder/Executive Director, Proud Academy)]: Good evening, Senator Winfield and, Senator Austin in spirit, representative Walker and other distinguished members, Senator Kushner of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Patricia Nicoleari and I'm the founder and the executive director of proud academy. We are long overdue for Connecticut charter schools to be appropriately funded. Connecticut is the only state in The United States to go through this cumbersome process of requesting funding after already being approved by the state board of education. This is a step proud academy and the other charter schools should not have to face. However, I am here advocating for funding proud Academy under HB oh five zero three two to include the only tuition free charter school of choice in the Naugatuck Valley. Not only will proud Academy be the first charter school in the Valley. We will be the first of its kind in all of New England, truly adding to the educational landscape opportunities here in Connecticut. Our aim is to create a truly inclusive learning community for all students while affirming our LGBTQ plus black and Brown youth who often fall through the academic cracks and may not feel they belong, especially in this divisive political climate. Our students deserve the opportunity to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, as they develop a sense of belonging in a school meant to be intentionally small with an affirming environment and inclusive curriculum met with academic rigor and become their best authentic self while realizing their full potential. We are ready to open. We have a building, ironically, we're renting out the boys and girls club. We have interested students. We have teacher applications. We have applications from all around The United States, from students and teachers, as they are eager for this rare opportunity, teachers, resumes, fill our inbox with, without us posting for employment at a time when there is an extreme teaching shortage. Lastly, Connecticut deserves to be on the record as a leader standing strong at this moment in our history. Now more than ever, when some of the very students who would attend proud Academy are trying to be erased, I strongly encourage you to fund Proud Academy. Our Connecticut families deserve this choice. We are so much more than a charter school. I urge you to make this happen. Thank you.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you. And and thank you for your work. Erin Rojas.

[Erin Roxas (Director, Elevate Charter Schools)]: Thank you. Good evening. Honorable members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to testify. My name is Erin Roxas and I am the director of external relations and special projects at Elevate charter schools. Elevate Charter Schools is the operator of the Danbury Charter School and the school was approved back in 2018 but remains unfunded. I urge you to please vote in favor of funding the Danbury Charter School after seven years of a holding pattern. It's our mission to provide every child with the endless opportunities they deserve in more ways than one. We can achieve more when we work together. I also come before you today as a former charter school founder a principal and a director of operations who has led a charter school through renewal. I have over twelve years of experience in nonprofit management and charter schools. I have first hand experience the promise of delivering to families that a rigorous curriculum and invested in ambitious school community that high quality instruction all makes a difference to prepare students to thrive in high school and beyond as a product of a charter school. Charter schools do whatever it takes to make sure that no student gets left behind especially students with disabilities English language learners and students who are economically disadvantaged. If we all agree that educational rigor equals equity then why would anything prevent the attainment of Danbury's goal to offer a new public school choice. I was raised in one of the poorest neighborhoods and lived the disparities that charter schools attempt to positively impact. My parents emigrated from Costa Rica and we lived doubled up with my grandma living paycheck to paycheck surviving paycheck to paycheck. Though my beginning roots were low income and aided by public assistance I knew that education would determine my future and not my zip code. My family endured hardship to give my brother and I a chance at the American dream. If we all agree that the right to a better life is universal which equals more access and more paths to realization then why is Danbury not afforded yet another opportunity for success. We can instill in children to go for more in life because the sky's the limit when the act itself is undermined by more of the same than the right to choose something different like an international baccalaureate school a globally recognized educational option. More school choice permeates more resources into the city city of Danbury which in turn yields a greater educational ecosystem. All types of schools can thrive together because the ultimate act of service is to serve more students and families. So let's uphold equality of opportunity with an additional public school. A public charter school. Our CEO John Taylor founded Elevate Charter Schools because his deep rooted passion and drive is to improve the outcomes of all students. All children deserve equal access regardless if the guardians choose for them to go to a traditional public school or a public charter school. Thank you so much for your dedication to all of Connecticut's students and families. We appreciate your consideration.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: And thank you. Have a great evening. John Catalan.

[John Catalan (CT Alliance of YMCAs)]: Senator Winfield, members of the Appropriations Committee. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on house bill five zero three two, the governor's proposed budget adjustments. My name is John Catalan. I'm here on behalf of the Connecticut Alliance of YMCAs, which represents 20 YMCAs across Connecticut. The Connecticut Alliance of YMCAs appreciate governor Lamont's and the general assembly's continued efforts to address the significant challenges facing Connecticut's child care system early child care system. However, Connecticut's early child care system remains under severe strain. And without sustained and deliberate action, the progress made to date is at risk. To protect and build upon this investment, the state must continue funding the early childcare endowment fund with the unappropriated surplus dollars and urgently address the ongoing care for kids crisis. Meeting Connecticut's childcare needs will require a predictable multiyear investment, not a one time funding infusion. Decades of underfunding have left the system financially fragile, and restoring stability and rebuilding capacity will take time. The office of early child care is established an ambitious important goal. By 2027, families earning under $100,000 annually should have access to free childcare. Achieving this goal will depend on continued deposits into the early childcare endowment fund and a sustained long term commitment. Care for kids remains in a crisis. The program currently has a waiting list of approximately 3,900 children with families waiting nine to twelve months for assistance. During this time, childcare providers are forced to absorb unpaid tuition or carry balances for families who are otherwise eligible, but cannot access the child care slot. Continued investment in the child care endowment and immediate action to address the care for kids backlog are essential to supporting families, providers, employers, and the state's economy. Thank you.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you. Cindy Jackson.

[Cindy Jackson (Children’s Therapy Services/Birth to Three director)]: Good evening. Senator Austin, Representative Walker, and Senator Winfield, and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. I'm Cindy Jackson representing birth to three, and I speak as one of 17 birth to three providers serving Connecticut. First, I want to thank you for your continued leadership and commitment to strengthening birth to three services. I appreciate the inclusion of increased funding for birth to three services in the governor's budget. However, I strongly oppose the rates being tied to an expanded tiered rate system. The commissioner testified this morning that the expanded tiered rate structure would increase workforce recruitment and retention, stabilize and sustain the system, and support high quality services. As a BERTS three program director for over thirty years and chairperson of the BERTS three interagency coordinating council that advises the lead agency on system issues. I fully support the commissioner's vision that every birth to three child and family deserves access to highly trained and qualified professionals. Children's therapy services, we actively utilize OEC trainings to maintain the highest standards of care. However, after thorough analysis of the current proposal, I am deeply concerned that the expanded tier reimbursement structure will inadvertently destabilize the workforce and, therefore, the entire system it aims to strengthen. In regards to workforce recruitment, under the current proposal, professionals can only be hired at the highest tier if they are already working in birth to three systems since eligibility to sit for an exam and submission of videos depends on being actively employed in birth to three. The structure does not expand the birth to three workforce. It simply shifts existing professionals from one agency to another in a very competitive hiring environment. In regards to workforce retention, therapists and teachers new to birth to three would have to be hired at the entry level regardless of their years of experience working in with infants and child children and their educational level. The proposed structure would require a commitment of at least multiple years to complete extensive trainings and credentialing before being compensated at even a mid level. These are highly educated professionals holding masters and doctorate degrees and maintain their licensure, by completing their required continuing ed units. Given that OTs and PTs can earn up to $20,000 more annually working in a ten month school contract, there is little financial incentive to them to remain in birth to three at an entry level pay. The impact on long term staff is equally concerning. Consider a bilingual physical therapist with over twenty years of experience in birth to three, has extensive expertise in training working with infants. Despite despite, advanced knowledge and dedication, this therapist would be considered entry level under the proposed system simply because she lacks a certain credential. This framework devalues experienced professionals and risks driving them out of the system entirely. A payment structure that classifies highly skilled, long serving professionals at the lowest reimbursement tier does not support retention. It discourages it. In conclusion, the path toward a more skilled workforce should be built on incentives and support to professionals and the agencies, not through an expanded tier re reimbursement model that delays advancement and penalizes experience. Implementing rate changes as outlined in the rate study within the current tiered system would effectively strengthen recruitment and retention and result in higher quality of birth to three services to most value, most vulnerable population, and that is what we work in birth to three to do. Thank you.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you. Appreciate you joining us this evening.

[Speaker 13]: Thank you.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Paula Garraway. Carla Garraway with us?

[Speaker 79]: They are not online.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. Daniel Pearson.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Oh, he will not be joining us either.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. Kristen Leloy Scanlon.

[Kristen Malloy Scanlon (West Haven Federation of Teachers)]: Good evening, senator Winfield, senator Austin, representative Walker, senator Summers, and members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Kristen Malloy Scanlon. I'm a resident of West Haven, and I work as a literacy teacher here at Savin Rock Community School. I'm the president of the West Haven Federation of Teachers and School Nurses, local fifteen forty seven. And I'm testifying on the governor's proposed adjusted budget for fiscal year twenty twenty seven to increase the base ECS foundation amount that hasn't been changed since 2013 to keep up with cost of living adjustments, and then modify the ECS formula to annually adjust the base of the formula to account for inflationary increase. West Haven is a proud, diverse, and resilient community. We are a community with four schools that have achieved schools of distinction status for the second year in a row. We are a city which made every effort to be released from the MARV successfully, but we are also a community carrying a disproportionate burden of economic hardship. More than half of our students come from low income households, which meet the requirements for free breakfast and lunch. Many of our students are English learners. Our EL population this school year is 1,351 students representing 24% of the district's total student population. Many of our students require specialized services. In fact, one out of four students have a five zero four or an IEP. 59% of our kindergarten through grade four students are reading at a below or well below level. And our educators work tirelessly to meet these needs, but they are doing so in buildings that are aging, class sizes that are growing, with a shortage of educators and paraeducators, and with resources that are stretched far beyond what any district should be asked to manage. ECS was designed to equalize opportunity, yet the districts with the greatest needs, districts like West Haven, are still waiting for the state to fully fund the formula that is supposed to level the playing field. Underfunding or not allowing for any increases has significant consequences. It means fewer interventionists, outdated resources and technology, and limited access to mental health supports in schools at a time when student needs are higher than ever. It means teachers paying out of pocket for basic supplies. It means fewer educators and paraeducators in the classrooms. And it means that local taxpayers, many of whom are already financially strained, are asked to shoulder a burden they simply cannot carry. Westhaven cannot afford to put the bill. Fully funding ECS and increasing the formula for distressed districts is not just an investment in schools, it's an investment for us all. When we give students the resources they need, they succeed. And when we shortchange them, we limit their futures and our own. I urge this committee to increase the ECS funding to reflect inflation and the needs of the district because the cost of education has risen exponentially. Thank you so much for your time, your consideration, and your support for our children in Connecticut. And thank you, senator Winfield, for always supporting West Haven.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Oh, thank you. I appreciate you joining us this evening. Great testimony. Have a good evening. We have Angel as well

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: next.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Is Angel there? Reynaldo Pereira? Pereira? Reynaldo? Denise Mercedes?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Nope. They were part of a panel earlier.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Okay. I see Eric Nyquist.

[Eric Nyquist (Principal, Regional Center for the Arts, CES Magnet)]: I'll take that spot. Good evening, senator Winfield. Happy birthday, representative Walker, and good evening, esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee. I'm Eric Nyquist. I'm the principal of the Regional Center for the Arts, a part time inter district magnet school run by Cooperative Education Services, which brings together students from 18 different districts for high level study of the performing arts. I appreciate this chance to speak to you tonight to request appropriate funding for magnet schools across the state. But I'd like to tell you really a couple of stories that are representative of the thousands of success stories that magnet schools have across the state that are run by RESCs. One student who comes to mind was a student from Bridgeport. In her freshman year, she was suspended 14 times from her district school for fighting disruptive behavior insubordination. She was also suspended once from RCA for fighting. We worked with her. We raised her self expectation and self esteem. We provided her an environment of supportive peers and teachers who challenged her to always be her best self. Her sophomore year, she was suspended six times from her district school. Her junior year, zero. Her senior year, zero. When I asked her at graduation about the dramatic turnaround, she said, well, it took me some time at RCA to figure out that I don't have to always be ready to go, that I could listen to others and think about things from their angle rather than to throw down. She credits RCA as the reason she graduated from public school. Another case, we had some folks from an outplacement school at RCA for an event. They saw a poster on the wall for one of our graduating seniors. They were shocked. They said to me, he's actually graduating? I explained that not only was he graduating, but he was one of our top students, a leader mentoring younger students, demonstrating outstanding focus on learning. They almost fell to the floor. But that is what magnet schools offer. They offer the opportunity, a place where students can find their group, where they can collaborate with students from all different backgrounds in a supportive and challenging environment. And most importantly, the best thing about magnet schools, we bring together students from Bridgeport, Stratford, Trumbull, Shelton, Monroe, Newtown, Fairfield, Darien, Greenwich, ER Nine, Weston, Wilton, Derby, Westport, Norwalk, Oxford, Milford, and Ansonia, all coming together on a daily basis to pursue the passion that they have in a school they want to be at every day. I'm not here asking for more. I'm only asking for what the legislator legislature promised, to maintain the $12,000,000 that was promised in next year's budget. We have a great relationships with our districts and do not suddenly want them to discourage students from enrolling at RCA because of higher costs. I'm asking you to find a sustainable and equitable funding plan without raising the tuition cap and ensure that magnet schools have the ability to fulfill their mission across Connecticut. The state created magnet schools to serve a noble purpose. We have kept our promise in doing that. We ask the state to try to keep their promise. Thank you so much for listening. Have a good night.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Thank you for joining us. You have a good night as well. Okay. I'm going to put you in the capable hands of representative Conn.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. I'm gonna go down the list. Lisa Cordova, Isabel Mendez. Okay. Emily Ross. Is Sally on?

[Representative Tammy Exum]: I don't see.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Carlos Cadena? Allison Queiron. I see Allison.

[Speaker 28]: Good evening. Can you hear me?

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Yes. Good evening.

[Speaker 28]: Members of the appropriation committee, my name is Allison Querion, and I'm the founder of Decoding Dyslexia Connecticut. We must respectfully oppose, portions of house bill five zero three two and urgently request the following amendments. Regarding the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities, we request an amendment to add additional funding for initiatives. We commend this legislature for creating the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities and respectfully ask you to follow through on your commitment by not only funding salaries, but also the operational funding needed to launch the very initiatives this office is statutorily created to accomplish. Literacy is a fundamental civil right. And in Connecticut, we are currently failing students with dyslexia. There is an identification gap. The national average for students with dyslexia, conservatively, is ten percent. Connecticut has only identified one percent of our students as dyslexic. This is a systemic failure. There's also a performance crisis. More than half of our fourth grade students with disabilities cannot read on grade level. This is also a systemic failure. Investment is not optional. It's the operational backbone needed to meet statutory mandated requirements for this office. Regarding the funding for the Education Ombudsman, we request an amendment to fully fund the Ombudsman. Defunding the Education Ombudsman sends a deeply concerning message to the very families this position was established to serve, a message that the system is functioning well and external support is no longer needed. The reality is starkly different as evidenced by the recent December 2025 WestEd report. This report revealed needed improvements for the Connecticut State Department of Ed's Bureau of Special Education. At a time when the bureau itself requires meaningful improvement and accountability, eliminating the ombudsman is both premature and indefensible. The line item regarding literacy coaches, we request an amendment to redirect funding to the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities. We fully support effective literacy reform. However, the governor's proposal to invest 4,500,000.0 in literacy coaching duplicates initiatives that have already failed to produce measurable literacy improvements over the past decade. This investment funnels more money into a framework that has no demonstrated, accountability for student outcomes. The systemic issue lies with the preparation of our teachers, and that is where this investment must be targeted. If teachers are not adequately prepared at the outset, downstream investments will continue to serve as costly stop gaps rather than sustainable outcomes. Again, to reiterate, we respectfully request that you fund the initiatives at the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities, that you fund the Education Ombudsman, and that you shift monies from literacy coaching to the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities. We thank you for your continued investment in literacy and the support for students with dyslexia.

[Dr. Julie Luby (Superintendent, Winchester Public Schools)]: Thank you.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you, Allison. I'm gonna move to someone in person. Next, George Ray Perry.

[Speaker 132]: Good evening Madam Chair. My name is George Reed Perry, and I'm the Chief Operating Officer with Loomability. We are the largest birth to three nonprofit in the state. In addition to our birth to three programs, we also support adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and serve more than 2,200 children and families across 68 towns in Connecticut. I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify today. The governor's recommendation to increase birth to three funding by 6,200,000.0 and DSS funding by 4,500,000.0 in FY '27 is an important step forward. However, what we need is more. And I would like to kind of outline that for you. As discussed earlier today, the state's own birth to three rate study identified the current reimbursement rates do not cover the full cost of services. In addition, the cost study data in the report is now three years old, meaning underfunding has worsened. At its core, we know that providing any increases to birth to three rate studies since 2017 is not a sustainable practice. So let me share why we need those increases. Respectfully, the OAC does not have a plan where a tiered system supports improvement to the surface system. In no In no world would making experienced therapists jump through additional artificially created hoops in order to maybe receive the rate needed to cover the basic services, improve stability, or encourage future therapists to enter the field. The fact of the matter is that the rates need to be increased, not tied to a tiered system. Despite what was shared by OEC earlier, overall service intensity, which is the number of hours provided is dropping while demand is increasing and workforce issues have increased significantly as we cannot retain staff at levels sufficient for the need. While legally birth to three providers cannot have a wait list as identified under IDEA part C, providers will continue to struggle to meet these obligations when funding and workforce shortages worsen. The reality is therapists are overworked and drained trying to hold together a system that does not seem to want to fund services adequately. When early intervention isn't provided at the level needed, children may require more intensive, long term, and costly special education services once they enter the school system. With the number of children needing special education services increasing, ensuring that birth to three funding increases is a way to mitigate some of these increased service needs once children are school aged. So what are our asks? Reinstate the statutory general administrative payment commonly known as the GAP to $200 per eligible child. This payment was intended to stabilize the birth to three system until a rate study established sustainable reimbursement levels and that stability has not been achieved. Second, restore the $1,000,000 reduction in gap funding in the proposed budget for FY '27 as this reduction further weakens the system that is already strained. Number three, add funds to the birth to three and DSS budget line items in agreement with the state sanctioned cost study to make it possible for agencies to continue to serve children and their families. Number four, do not tie this investment to the proposed tiered reimbursement structure as this model will not support workforce recruitment or program stability. And number five, implement legislative language to ensure that birth to three rates are routinely reviewed and adjusted to keep pace with inflation. The inaction to increase funding will have a cascading effect on families, the economy, and Connecticut as a whole. In our time of need, I'm asking that legislators invest in our state's most vulnerable citizens. Thank you.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Alright. I'm gonna go back to, the list here. One twenty.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: They were earlier. So it should go to one twenty eight.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: K. Samantha Cheatham. I think I saw Samantha on.

[Speaker 17]: Hello.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Hello.

[Speaker 113]: Do you hear me?

[Speaker 79]: Yes. You may begin your testimony.

[Speaker 113]: Good evening. I'm I'm a parent of two Bridgeport students. One that graduated in 2020 and works for Bridgeport Board of Ed. Bridgeport is the largest school district in the state of Connecticut. Our school district has almost 4,000 more students than any other district in the state of Connecticut. With other districts in the state of Connecticut to have higher payer budgets

[Cindy Jackson (Children’s Therapy Services/Birth to Three director)]: and

[Speaker 113]: e ECF's than the city of Bridgeport, board of ed. The city our city is absent for fairness when it comes to the Bridgeport board of ed. Our teachers deserve to get a better pay, which other districts get to 10,000 to 12,000 more than to teach when Bridgeport is, again, the largest the largest school district in the state of Connecticut. 3535% of the teachers in our school district are substitutes, which they are called bodies. We would love for the state of Connecticut to give the students and Bridgeport a fair chance as other districts with less students and and more teachers with a better pay. We are active for better resources and education. Mostly of all Birchford schools are old playgrounds. Teachers shouldn't even have kids playing on. Shouldn't have ours our kids should be able to have the education just as other cities in the state of Connecticut with 4,000 more students. I've been here too long.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Good night. Thank you. Next,

[Jenny Graves (Preschool Special Ed teacher; NHFT VP)]: Rebecca Harlow.

[Rebecca Harlow (Head of Adult Services, Case Memorial Library; CLA legislative co-chair)]: Thank you, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee, for the opportunity to speak today on behalf of libraries. My name is Rebecca Harlow. I serve as head of adult services at the Case Memorial Library and cochair of the Connecticut Library Association legislative committee. I respectfully urge the committee to reject the proposed cuts to borrowITCT funding. BorrowITCT, formerly Kineticard, enables residents to use their hometown library cards in any public library statewide, providing access to more than 13,000,000 shared items. Rather than duplicating collections across 169 municipalities, libraries operate as a single interconnected statewide resource, maximizing taxpayer investment and expanding access regardless of zip code. It is a model of government efficiency and regional cooperation. However, repeated cuts are turning the state mandated resource sharing system into an unfunded mandate. In Orange, we lend nearly 20,000 more items annually to nonresidents than our residents borrow elsewhere, yet we are reimbursed just $10,400 far below the true operational costs. Because deliver it is also underfunded, Orange taxpayers subsidize the statewide delivery service through private contracts as well. Beyond that lies the more critical issue, though. Public libraries are not luxuries. They are lifelines. Every day at public libraries not only lend materials, but serve as vital community infrastructure. Libraries bridge the digital divide that disproportionately affects low income households and seniors, often serving as their only point of Internet access. Libraries are early literacy hubs, tutoring spaces, and safe places for students to meet outside of a screen. Libraries provide essential business and workforce support infrastructure. Libraries serve as passport acceptance facilities, facilitate voter registration, and provide tax forms, acting as access points and guides to government itself. When shelters close during the day, people seek safety, comfort, and dignity at the library. When social isolation deepens, the library becomes the connection. Libraries are one of the only remaining public spaces where access is not determined by ability to pay and where every resident is welcome. Few public expenditures deliver such broad returns across so many policy priorities. While this legislator legislature recognizes the importance of libraries, state funding is falling short. Connecticut ranks thirty second nationally in state support for public libraries, with neighboring states investing far more. Rhode Island at 11,000,000, Massachusetts at 20,000,000, and New York at 65,000,000, it is difficult to justify cuts when full funding amounts to just $703,000 Further reductions are not simply savings. They will destabilize one of the most cost effective, high impact service systems in the state. This is not the time to weaken our investments in one of our last truly democratic institutions. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Arian Rojas. There you go.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: They have repeatedly declined their promotion to panelist. Okay. I've attempted lots of times. So if they'd like to speak they just need to accept the promotion to panelist. Okay.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Matt Conway. Good evening, Matt. You can you can start your testimony.

[Matt Conway (Superintendent, Derby Public Schools; CAPS Legislative Co-chair)]: Good evening, representative Khan. Good to see you. And, co chairs representative Walker, senator Austin, and dedicated and passionate members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Matt Conway, and I'm here tonight as the superintendent of Derby Public Schools and cochair of the CAPS legislative committee to share improvement to the governor Lamont's proposed revisions to the 2027 budget. CAPS appreciates the governor's continued commitment to public education reflected in the 2027 proposed budget, and we recognize and support investments in student mental health, attendance, academic recovery, and school nutrition. The starting mission is to respond to real student needs and support educations. However, CAPS has serious concern that the proposed budget doesn't address three critical issues facing public schools. First, education cost sharing formula, if you have heard from others, remains based at the foundation levels established in 2013. It does not reflect inflation or the true cost of education today. Districts, particularly alliance districts, are forced to absorb these gaps locally, undermining equity and stability. And for a community like Derby, even a modest cost increase creates a disproportionate impact. When the ECS formula does not reflect real costs, the burden falls directly on local taxpayers who are already facing economic hardship. Second, we appreciate the continued investments in excess cost and the seed grant. And thanks to you, representative Khan, and your work with the committee on the seed grant, districts continue to face unpredictable and unreimbursed special education costs. These expenses are not discretionary, yet districts are left to manage significant financial risk without adequate state partnership and support. And third, the proposed reduction in magnet operating support does not eliminate the cost. It simply shifts it to local districts and municipalities through increased tuition. This approach combined with unfunded mandates undermines the trust and strains local budgets, including those of Derby and others across the state. CAPS asks the general assembly to align the final budget decisions with our CAPS priorities of elevate, fund, and improve, elevate the education profession through sustainable coordinated supports, fund education based on real current costs, and improve outcomes through collaboration with districts and municipalities. CAPT stands ready to partner with the Appropriations Committee and the entire legislature to strengthen public education for every child in every community. Thanks for this opportunity to testify tonight.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Matt. Next, we will hear from Elizabeth Turk.

[Speaker 2]: Good evening. My name is Karen Bradford. I'll be speaking on behalf of Elizabeth Turk this evening. Representative Khan, members of the Appropriations Committee. Again, my name is Karen Bradford. I am the coordinator of the Silver Lane Family Resource Center in East Hartford. Elizabeth Turk is a parent who attends our programs and wanted to speak about her experience. However, she is a mom of four young children and has some family responsibilities at at 08:35PM. So I'm gonna read, some of her testimony. She's submitted written testimony as well. My name is Elizabeth Turk, and I'm a stay at home mother to four wonderful children. When my husband and I moved to East Hartford in 2022, we knew nobody and nothing about our town. One day during a back to school event, I approached the family resource center's table. The FRC's lady excuse me. FRC ladies told me about their weekly playgroups and workshops they offer, and I immediately enrolled. Due to our finances, I was unable to enroll my children in preschool around our area. However, the FRC gave me tools to help my children at home for school readiness. The FRC's weekly playgroup helped my children get ready for school due to the routine, schedule, hands on learning, and story time. For example, my son was diagnosed with a speech disorder at the age of three. And with the help from the FRC, I was able to provide hands on learning and developmentally appropriate practices to help my son thrive and learn. At the age of five, he was ready for kindergarten because of the tools and resources he acquired from the FRC. The FRC provides workshops on topics such as potty training, healthy snacks, nutrition help, and more. The FRC helped me get connected to local resources such as the diaper bank, the schedule for the food banks, WIC, and more. Without these resources, my children would starve and struggle in school due to hunger. The FRC even communicates to me and other families about events happening in town and even free events. Some families like mine do not have access to Internet or technology resources, so we lie rely on the FRC for communication. In addition, the FRC even provided family excuse me, field trips, such as going to the library and fun fall events. With a child with developmental disabilities, going to events such as the library was extremely difficult. However, with the help of the FRC, I was finally able to go to the library and get educated about the services available. Overall, the FRC ladies support and encourage me as I parent my young children. I always leave playgroups feeling welcomed and supported. My children always leave feeling loved and ready to learn more. Please do not cut off funding or reduce staffing. In fact, we need more funding because so many families will benefit. More staff could provide more playgroups, especially since there's so many families who can't even afford preschool. More staff will help low income families get connected to resources such as diaper banks, food banks, library resources, and more. More staff means helping more children and their caregivers get ready for school. The FRC helps the whole family. Please reconsider the proposed 1,270,000 cut from family resources. Thank you for the time.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you, Elizabeth. Alright. Next, we're gonna go to Greg Perry. I believe I see Greg on the line.

[Jose Lucas Pimentel (CEO, Alliance for Connecticut Charter Schools)]: Good evening.

[Speaker 137]: Thank you to the esteemed members of the appropriation committee. My name is Gregory Perry. I appreciate the time, so I'm gonna get right to the point and be very brief. I'm an educator, a union advocate, a coach, a board of education member, a parent, and a citizen of Norwich, Connecticut. I am here to ask the appropriation committee to modernize the ECS formula and to fund our schools. So many of our teachers and our school staff's jobs depend on this move. In dozens in cities and towns in Eastern Connecticut and beyond, districts large and small across the state are struggling right now to make a very difficult decision. Our schools and our taxpayers are being pitted against each other in this manufactured zero sum conflict. Do we either raise taxes in the mills rate or underfund our schools resulting in the layoffs of teachers and cuts to programs and services? The ECS foundational amount, inform, and formula have not increased in over a decade while education costs have outpaced inflation. And yet, we have many teachers, professionals making less than $50,000 a year and paraprofessionals making barely over minimum wage. Our superintendents and boards of eds are struggling in this fight of double digit insurance increases and transportation increases and special education cost increases just to try to maintain and support the exceptional school staff that we have while making cuts to all the discretionary discretionary areas of their budgets just to pass a bare bone budget that will often still result in mill rate increases and cuts of our educators. We have an opportunity right now to invest to meet the needs of our schools and our children and to address these escalating costs. The ECS foundational amount needs to increase, and a mechanism needs to be created to adjust for inflation moving forward. Please show our schools and our students and our taxpayers that we support them with these actions. It would be a huge relief for many. I don't feel that doing nothing here is an option. It's going to lead to more pain around our state. Additionally, I just wanna make a shout out of opposition to cuts to family resource centers in Norwich. They're doing amazing work here. They accomplished so much with so little and they do so much good for the community to serve. The cuts to that program would be penny wise and pound foolish. I really again appreciate the the time. Thank you to the members of the appropriation committee for allowing me the opportunity to share these important needs. Have a good night.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Joseph Rayola is next. I don't see them on mine. Jill Kress, Adrianna Melendez, Jamila Prince Stewart. I see Jamila.

[Jamila Prince-Stewart (CEO, FaithActs for Education)]: Good evening, senator Austin, representative Khan, members of the Appropriations Committee, and happy and blessed birthday, representative Walker. My name is Jamila Prince Stewart. I'm a resident of New Haven. My most important job right now is I'm a mom of two young children that I'm gonna put in the bath as soon as we're done, and I'm the chief executive officer at Faith Acts for Education. We are people of faith building power to get our children the education that they deserve. And yesterday, we celebrated our eleventh anniversary. Over the past decade, we have been warriors for children and have grown to represent 100 congregations, 500 members, and 8,000 committed voters in the greater Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven areas. Our board of directors includes the honorable Tony Harp, Former New Haven City, mayor and state senator and past chair of this committee, more than 40 leaders have graduated from our organizing institute. Faith Acts for Education strongly opposes governor Lamont's proposed flat funding of k to 12 education. We applaud the governor for establishing a blue ribbon commission, but a ribbon without action is just another knot in generations of twists and tangles that trap our children in a failing system. The ECS formula is a promise this state made to our most vulnerable children. For generations, that promise has not been kept. While we've made significant improvements, our work is far from done. I know this committee is used to looking at numbers and figures, so let's make it plain in terms of lives. The kindergarteners who started school when Governor Lamont first took office are now in the eighth grade. If they live in Bridgeport, Hartford, or New Haven, the budget still tells them that they are worth less than their suburban peers. If they live in Danbury or Middletown, the budget still tells them they don't deserve the school promised to them eight years ago. All of these students simply cannot afford to wait any longer because at this pace, we will miss an entire generation. It is unfortunate and, frankly, unacceptable that during Black History Month, the governor's budget fails to address the most that what most black and brown students desperately need. Not another hollow holiday greeting, but meaningful gestures of equitable investment. Because I can't think of a better way to celebrate black people than fully funding our schools. Our state and local officials are leading the charge. They're finding ways across chambers and party lines to recommend common sense solutions to education funding, including inflation adjustments to the ECS Foundation amount and multiyear phase ins that reduce the immediate burden and ensure equity over time. With a track record of recommended decreases or flat funding, the governor continues to squander the opportunity to set a bold vision for education at the start of session, using our children's futures as bargaining chips in future negotiations. As we mourn the passing and celebrate the life of Reverend Jesse Jackson today, let us remember his words. No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to fly high. No government, no legislature has the right to limit your dreams. We urge the governor and this committee to protect our children's dreams by fulfilling the promise of ECS and parental choice in dollars and cents, not words and soundbites. We look forward to working with you to find a solution we can all be proud of. Thank you, and God bless.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: you. Next, I think it's Laurel Almeda Da Silva. I don't see them. Bates Sweeney.

[Committee Staff (Zoom tech/host)]: I'm here.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Yes. Hello. Good evening.

[Speaker 77]: Hi. Good evening. Distinguished

[Speaker 106]: oh, sorry.

[Speaker 77]: Good evening. Distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Faith Sweeney, and I'm a Bridgeport resident and Westport educator. I am asking you to fund public education honestly, responsibly, and equitably. First, the education cost sharing formula must be updated. The base rate has been frozen for thirteen years even as the state built record surpluses. During this time, costs have risen 41%. Just to keep pace with inflation, the base should be closer to 16,500. When ECS does not reflect real costs, districts increase class sizes, cut staff, and reduce student supports. Fiscal discipline cannot come at the expense of fully funding our schools. Second, we must pay our student teachers. We cannot address a teacher shortage while requiring future educators to work full time for free. Paid student teaching is a direct investment in recruitment and retention. Third, scale and priority matter. Charter schools serve 2% of Connecticut's public school students. District public schools serve about 98%. Nearly every child depends on traditional public systems. So I have a simple question. Why are we investing in expanding anything else before we fix what is what has been failing the 98%. The issue is not whether the 2% deserve support. Of course, they do. The issue is whether we are investing adequately in a system that serves 98 while it remains structurally underfunded. If we want to correct inequity, we must first stabilize the system that serves almost every child. And on another note, we must confront the root cause. Racially restrictive covenants were declared unenforceable in 1948. Redlining was made illegal under the Fair Housing Act in 1968. Those policies shaped where families could live and build wealth in Connecticut. Today, we fund schools largely through local property taxes. When property wealth was shaped by discrimination, a funding system built on that wealth cannot be neutral. Redlining ended in law 58 ago, but its economic footprint still shapes opportunity in Connecticut. If we are serious about providing every child access to high quality public education, fund ECS honestly, pay student teachers responsibly, and strengthen public schools equitably for the 98% of children who depend on them. Thank you for your time and your service.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Next, we'll go to Hannah Whitley.

[Hannah Whitley (Deputy Grants Director, Bridgeport Public Schools)]: Good evening, members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in support of increasing the education cost sharing formula to ensure equitable, adequate, and predictable funding for Connecticut school district. As the deputy grants director for Bridgeport Public Schools, I work daily at the intersection of policy, funding, and program implementation. And my role requires a clear understanding of how funding allocations translate into actual real world capacity. So, thinking about staffing, student supports, long term planning, and compliance with state and federal mandates funded and unfunded. And from this vantage point, I can state unequivocally that the current ECS formula does not meet the needs of the students that we serve. Bridgeport is Connecticut's largest school district, and it serves the state's highest concentrations of students who live in poverty, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. These are precisely the student populations that the ECS formula was designed to support. And the current formula out accounts for student need and local funding capacity. However, when that foundation amount itself is insufficient, even properly weighted adjustments cannot deliver equity. And for more than a decade, Connecticut has seen the consequences of this imbalance play out in Bridgeport. While ECS funding has remained largely stagnant, federal funding levels have fluctuated dramatically based on national appropriations and temporary relief measures like we saw with COVID and ARPESR funding. This structural mismatch with a stagnant core state funding paired with unstable federal revenue disrupts long term planning, it weakens the continuity of services, and it creates uncertainty for students and educators. A stronger ECS foundation is necessary to provide the stability that districts need to deliver consistent, high quality educational programming regardless of federal funding shifts. The state of Connecticut has set clear priorities for its schools. We're striving to strengthen literacy and mathematics outcomes, decrease chronic absenteeism, expand career pathways, enhance special education services. And these are ambitious and worthy goals, but goals alone do not produce results. And if Connecticut expects meaningful turnaround and accelerated student growth in its highest need districts like Bridgeport, it must fund them at levels that make that progress attainable. As we see, sustained improvement requires sustained investment. And if we continue to do business as usual, we should not expect different results. In this moment, adequacy is not optional. It is the prerequisite for progress. And this being said, I respectfully urge the committee to support an increase in ECS formula to ensure that every Connecticut student, regardless of zip code, has access to high quality, adequately funded public education. Thank you all for your consideration, for your continued commitment to Connecticut students. I wish you all an excellent evening.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Thank you, Hannah. Next, we'll hear from Tara Smiley. They're on. Maria Reyes, Reyes, Leslie Blato. Yes. Leslie's on.

[Leslie Blatteau (President, NHFT; teacher; parent)]: Good evening. Good evening, members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Leslie Blato. I'm a resident of New Haven and a parent of a fifth grader in New Haven Public Schools. I'm a high school social studies teacher and president of New Haven Federation of Teachers, as well as pre k divisional VP for AFT Connecticut and the steering committee chair for the Connecticut for All Coalition. First, I wanna recognize the efforts of this legislature for continuing to push for improvements to school funding, to address the decades long impact of underfunded public schools and district districts like mine. The reality is that we live in a state where some students who live in towns with robust property tax bases, they attend fully and fairly funded schools. While other students who live in places like New Haven, where more than half of our property is not taxable, we continue they continue to attend understaffed, under maintained and under resourced schools. And we know this reality of two Connecticut breaks down on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines, disproportionately impacting black and brown students, English language learners, special education students, and working class and low income students. We can no longer accept this injustice when it comes to our students and the hardworking educators who serve them. When it comes to the Governor's proposed budget, we can applaud the decision to implement Universal Free School Breakfast. But we must state decisively, we need more than a blue ribbon commission to address the pernicious reality of the two Connecticut's. We need action now. The good news is it's possible. Without delay, we need to fix the formula, and we can do this by increasing the Foundation Aid amount. The Foundation Aid amount hasn't changed since 2013. Fixing this formula will help districts keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living and other significant expenses. Indexing the formula to account for inflation will help address this problem on a more systemic level. The affordability crisis is hitting more and more of Connecticut's residents and we urge you to consider support for school funding as a real solution. In a state as wealthy as Connecticut, we should be able to fully and fairly fund our schools while also bringing about much needed property tax relief for working families in our state. Without an updated and necessary intervention, the path to fully and fairly funded schools will fall on property taxpayers in cities and towns. We can't keep up and we cannot wait. Connecticut has the resources to support our most important residents, our young people. Fiscal year twenty four-twenty five, we ended with a $300,000,000 surplus in our general fund and a $4,100,000,000 in our budget reserve fund. We have the money to prioritize our students. This is about our children's fundamental and constitutional right to a free and fair public education. I'll be honest, while teachers are wired to be optimistic, it is hard to maintain optimism when year after year we're here working to ensure that all children can access fully and fairly funded schools. But we're amidst headlines of unprecedented surpluses, of surprise revenue at the end of a session. Why can't we fix the formula and implement changes immediately so that current students can benefit from these improvements rather than having to wait for commission decisions and slow phase ins? The time for discussing and phasing in is over. We need change now. The optimism and hope that Connecticut's educators, students, and families bring to schools every day must be met by real action from our elected officials. We cannot keep up, and we cannot wait. We are urging you to fix the formula now. With respect and gratitude for your work, I sign off. Thank you.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Next, we will hear from John Catalan. Nope. Okay. Fonda Green. Yep. Yes.

[Speaker 13]: Good evening. Can you hear me?

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Yes. Good evening.

[Speaker 13]: Good evening, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. As a retired Connecticut educator, I speak on behalf of thousands of others like me who have selected the traditional Medicare system with a supplement for our health care needs. I request that you make further adjustments to h b five zero three two to restore the one third state subsidy of our premium as we received prior to 2018. During this hearing, you will hear testimony from many retirees about the unethical practices of advantage plans. Common sense tells you that the only way an advantage plan can be a sustainable business plan with its attractive lower premiums is by significantly reducing access to medical care. This is accomplished through required prior authorizations, delays, denials, and unethical upcoding. This is not what we anticipated when we were young working teachers. Our retirement plans were predicated on certain expectations and promises regarding our health insurance upon retirement. When I retired in 2012, the state contributed one third of our health care premiums with active and retired teachers also contributing one third each. In 2018, the TRB offered a choice of two plans, traditional Medicare with a supplement or a much cheaper advantage plan. The state agreed to pay all retirees only one third of the cheaper plan, costing those who retain traditional Medicare thousands in unexpected additional premiums. Advantage plans may save the state money, but actually cost much more in federal dollars while providing less coverage. Other testimonials will inform you of the perils of advantage plans. I will not reiterate them here. Now that retired Connecticut educators are on a fixed income with increasing medical needs as we age, we are either forced to forego needed care or pay almost triple the premium. The state has reneged on its commitment to us since 2018. I implore you to restore the full one third state subsidy of the cost of each TRB health plan. Thank you so much for your support of the retired teachers of Connecticut and for affording us this opportunity to speak to you. Restoration of the full one third subsidy is a small cost to the state, but it represents a significant and urgently needed measure of fairness for the educators who devoted their careers to the children of Connecticut. Thank you, and good evening.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. Next. We will hear from Georgia Goldberg Goldberg.

[Georgia Goldberg (Director, Hope for New Haven; Cofounder, Circle)]: Good afternoon distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. One second. I apologize. My name is Georgia Goldberg, and I'm the director of Hope for New Haven and cofounder of Circle. I'm here today to discuss why Connecticut's early childhood investments must include a restorative justice framework to ensure our appropriations produce an equitable system. This committee is stewarding historic public investment through the Early Childhood Endowment Funds. The question before us is not whether we are invested, but whether those dollars will transform the system or continue to leak through structural inequities. For generation, Black women, especially family childcare providers, have sustained America's childcare system. Yet these same women were excluded from Social Security, denied mortgages, and small business loan through redlining, and expected to run small businesses without the capital credit or ownership tools available in nearly every other sector. They have been regulated in ways that never built wealth, stability, or ownership for them. Today, as Connecticut launches the early childhood endowment in the backdrop of the care for kids enrollment management system, we are already seeing disparities emerge. Black and brown economically unstable families are experiencing enrollment disruptions. Providing providers serving them are experiencing revenue volatility driven by eligibility churn and administrative delays. When revenue destabilizes, wages stall. When wages stall, programs close. When programs close, family lose trusted care. Investment alone does not produce equity. Systems move towards neutrality, not repair. If we are serious about building an equitable system, we must embed restorative justice directly into policy design. Restorative justice therefore means that appropriation must be accompanied by an equity lens. The question for us is simple. Will we continue to rely on black and brown women's labor while excluding them from ownership, or will we finally invest in policies that allow them and their successors to own the future they have built? Connecticut, with targeted and intentional investment in black and brown providers, can lead the nation in a restorative justice approach to early childhood, one that invests not only in expansion, but also in repair and honors the past by transforming the future. Restorative justice must not be symbolic. It should be a clear path forward. This committee has the power to ensure that historic investments builds generational stability instead of repeating generational harm. Choose to fund repair, ownership, and continuity so that the women who built the system are finally positioned to own its future. Thank you for your time and leadership. And thank you for the historic investments that were made last year, to the early care system. Thank you so very much.

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you. I think I'm gonna hand, this over now to representative Candelaria. Thank you.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Up next, we

[Speaker 143]: are

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: in Lucas Krasier.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: No Lucas nor do we have one sixty.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Emily Jackson.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I don't see Emily.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: No? Move on to the next. Alini I don't know if it's Muniz or Manish.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I don't see them in here either.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Laura Cunningham?

[Speaker 144]: Hi, everyone.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Hello.

[Speaker 144]: So my name is Laura Cunningham. I'm a resident of Hamden, and I work as a special education teacher at the Engineering and Science University Magnet School in New Haven Public Schools. I'm also a member of the New Haven Federation Of Teachers. I'm testifying on the governor's proposed adjusted budget for fiscal year twenty twenty seven to increase the base ECS foundation amount that hasn't been changed since 2013 to keep up with cost of living adjustments and then modify the ECS formula to annually adjust the base of the formula to account for inflationary increase. This would be a step towards equitable funding for all students, especially those who live in underserved communities. In New Haven Public Schools, we have crumbling buildings, low salaries for teachers and staff resulting in major retention issues, and a paucity of resources needed to meet the needs of all students, especially students who require special education, our MLLs, low income, and or have socio emotional and behavioral needs. Despite having highly qualified and caring teachers who support them on a daily basis, our students can't help but internalize the consequences of inadequate and inequitable funding. New Haven Federation of Teachers recently concluded bargaining for a new contract this past winter. We looked at data and heard testimony from dozens of teachers, students, and parents, all of who highlighted a lack of financial resources rampant in New Haven public schools. Teachers advocated for hazard pay because they're being asked to do their jobs in dangerous conditions. Crumbling ceilings and moldy walls among flooding issues in the schools, a result of failing HVAC units, Special education teachers like myself discussed student caseloads that are impossible to meaningfully service. The result of not only being significant teacher burnout, but our children are making less academic progress than they are capable of achieving. Our teachers also struggle to make ends meet, and we end up leaving to go to other districts with significantly better pay and or benefits. All of these things compound causing a retention crisis in our schools. Only five percent of New Haven public school teachers have been with the district for twenty five or more years. No student should have to learn in a hazardous classroom, and no teacher should be put in a position where they are risking their physical health on top of a job that is mentally and emotionally strenuous simply because our district cannot afford to keep up with overhead and building maintenance costs. Special education teachers should not have to have their professional capabilities and passion for the job undermined by inadequate state funding. And it is a moral crisis that many students are denied their full academic potential due to the circumstance of being born into a poor school district in an extremely wealthy state. When teachers cannot support themselves and their families and are forced to leave the schools they love for districts offering more competitive salaries. Students lose access to trusted adults, and as a result, they lose trust in the system. For all of these reasons, our students and teachers desperately need our district and others like it to secure increased funding. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I would be happy to answer any questions.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have Charles Demace.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I don't see him in there.

[Thomas Reyes (Newtown/Sandy Hook resident)]: No?

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Charles. We have Evelyn Naif, if I pronounce that correctly.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I don't see Evelyn either.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: No? Marybeth Wang.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: She's there, Marybeth.

[Mary Beth Lang (CEA Retired President; TRB member)]: Good evening. My name is Mary Beth Lang. I'm a retired teacher. I taught elementary students in Bridgeport Public Schools for forty one years. I now serve as the Connecticut Education Association retired president representing over 5,200 retired teachers. In addition, I serve on the Connecticut Teachers Retirement Board. As always, the first priority for retired teachers is fully funding our pension and health insurance accounts. These are funds that we contributed over a lifetime of teaching. We never missed a payment. Please make sure that the state of Connecticut upholds its full obligations, especially after short changing the health insurance fund last year. Secondly, with the election of teachers retirement board members next year, it is vital to restore full voting rights to active teachers. The creation of two new TRB retired teacher seats in 2023 broke from the long standing practice by excluding active teachers from voting and allowing only retiree retirees to vote, creating an unequal system and shutting active teachers out of choosing trustees who help shape their future pension. Anyone contributing to the TRB should have full voting rights to all the representatives on the board. The board members are charged with overseeing the funds and operations of TRB. The active teachers contribute 1.25% of their salaries to the health insurance account in addition to their pension contributions. Each TRB member has a duty to represent both active and retired interests. Therefore, both active and retired teachers need to be able to vote for every open seat on the TRB, Allowing both active and retired teachers to vote on all TRB elections protects dramatic rights and ensures everyone is represented in decisions that affect their retirement security. So why am I talking about voting rights with the Appropriations Committee? Because it's always about money. Even though I no longer have a child in the public schools, I still get to vote for board of ed members. Boards impact taxes, mill rates, and property values. If my money supports boards of ed, I get to vote. Everyone deserves fairness and representation as trustees and active contributors to the retirement system. Active teachers have a right to choose who will be representing their interests on matters related to the pension. Thank you for your time and for your attention to these matters.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for staying up with us. Next up, we have Alicia Strong.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: No. I don't see

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Jenna Bracey?

[Mikaela (Michaela) Mallon Bernstein (St. Joseph’s Parenting Center)]: Yes. Good evening.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: Good evening.

[Kathleen Sadolino (Creative Interventions/Birth to Three parent & staff)]: To the members of the Appropriations Committee, my name is doctor Gina Bracey, and I'm the associate vice president of school and community initiatives at the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, known as EHDI. I am here in strong support of Connecticut's school based diversion initiative or SBDI and to request restoration of full funding for this essential initiative. I have four points to support this request. First, the SBDI model was developed to address exclusionary discipline in Connecticut and it has delivered. SBDI is a unique pre arrest school based diversion model to build schools capacity to address student needs and and was among the first of its kind nationally since being developed here in Connecticut nearly twenty years ago. We have achieved outcomes such as a 25 average decrease in court referrals from school based arrests, a 24% average increase in students who are successfully connected to mobile crisis and other behavioral health supports. We are keeping kids in classrooms and improving staff's capacity to support student well-being by improving policy and practice. Number two, SBI is cost effective. So SBI addresses the high cost of arrest and juvenile justice system involvement and is delivering a strong return on investment for Connecticut taxpayers and students at no cost to participating districts with no budget increases since being funded by the state. And number three, SBDI has consistently demonstrated effective outcomes and high quality implementation. So CHDI co developed the model and has served as the statewide coordinating center. I personally worked on or directed SBDI for the last fifteen years. And in that time, we have expanded across high need and alliance districts in Connecticut, reaching 82 schools in 29 districts, affecting over 91,000 students. We've trained over 5,500 Connecticut teachers, over a 150 school resource officers in trauma informed classroom behavior management skills, to recognize behavioral health needs, to use data informed quality improvement, and to fully implement restorative practices. And we support teachers and frontline staff. Approximately 25% of our annual budget goes directly to schools to support them as co implementers of the model and also for performance based incentives, for implementation quality and achieving benchmarks. So finally, number four, it's imperative that the full funding is restored. We need SVDI to continue for the well-being of our students, but don't just take my word for it. We have you've received 15 additional testimony written testimony letters of support from eight from leaders at eight SBDI districts detailing the profound impact of how SBDI is supporting teachers, how it's helping improve student outcomes, contributing to positive school climate, and strengthening community connections. So collectively, with our district partners across the state, we are asking that the Appropriations Committee recognize the significance and importance of SBDI to those schools and to those who have not yet participated, but would greatly benefit by restoring its full funding. The 20% cut to the program and the proposed governor's budget will dramatically limit the program's reach and effectiveness, disrupt services currently in place, and will ultimately be harmful to students, schools, and communities. I thank you so much for your time and consideration.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have, I Barbara Comstock King.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yes. I'm here. Here I

[Barbara Comstock King (Teacher; parent of ACT student)]: am. Hello, chair, and all the honorable members of the Appropriations Committee. Good evening, and happy birthday if she's still here.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Mhmm.

[Barbara Comstock King (Teacher; parent of ACT student)]: My name is Barbara Comstock King. I live in Lebanon, Connecticut, and I am a teacher and a member of our my union pay into the TRB, all of which have been spoken about tonight and are very important. But to tonight, I'm here as a parent. My child is in twelfth grade at the arts arts at Capitol Theater in Willimantic, Connecticut known as ACT, which is an Eastcon magnet school. I'm asking for your support in preserving the $12,000,000 in RESC magnet grant for fiscal year twenty seven and creating a long term equitable funding plan for schools across Connecticut. When our child was in middle school, we knew that we needed an alternative for them. They didn't fit in. They were suffering academically and socially. We saw ACT as a place where they could learn in a different way, and that project based approach has served them well. Since being at ACT, they participated in writing and art contests, become adept at sewing, taken a class at Eastern Connecticut University, and found their community. Their grades have drastically improved. The small class sizes and invested faculty are a huge part of that growth. While some of these options do exist at the local high school, for a person who feels shunted aside, opportunities do not seem possible. This school has helped them become a strong and confident person who knows himself and has choices after high school. Our family doesn't wanna think what would have happened if had we not found ACT. Without this funding, a sustainable and a sustainable funding plan, magnet schools like ours will have fewer resources, fewer programs, and fewer opportunities for children like mine to succeed. A long term funding plan is essential to ensure that all the students in Connecticut, regardless of where they live, have access to high quality education. I urge you to continue working towards a sustainable and equitable funding plan, that supports RescMagnet schools and all the public schools in Connecticut. Investing in our education today means a stronger future for all of us. Thanks so much for your time and support.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have Irene Rodriguez.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Irene.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: No. Hugh Murphy?

[Hugh Murphy (Former Exec. Dir. of Finance, Stamford Public Schools; Adjunct at UConn)]: Good evening. My name is Hugh Murphy. I have lived in the state of Connecticut for over fifty three years, and I have worked as a school business official in the state for thirty one years. My last seventeen as executive director of finance for Stanford Public Schools. So I have some knowledge of the students in the district. I currently live on Long Island, but work as an adjunct professor for UConn and Stanford and online, and I'm serving on Olam's founding board. I would like to add my support to the proposed Olam Public Charter School funding. The city of Stanford is a unique location in the state and truly a melting pot of resident and immigrant families and their students, the district is becoming more and more of an education center. The public school district has many mandates around special education services and bilingual English language learner services requiring much of their budget resource and not permitting the system to offer additional world language services at the elementary school level. I see Olam as a perfect fit given the needs and the demographics in the area. After watching the startup of the charter school for excellence and the growing enrollment numbers, I do not believe this will harm the public school district in any way and will help the students in the district. From my research, Bridgeport and New Haven currently have six charter schools compared to one in Stanford and receiving around 10 times the amount of ECS funding. I'm not speaking to object to this, but trying to point out that Stanford could also use help of another charter school. The new school would potentially save Stanford taxpayers money, provide enhanced world language curriculum and offer swing space if needed so the public schools could work on building remediation issues. I look forward to this opportunity and encourage the state to move forward with the funding for this. I see this as a potential win win for the state of Connecticut education. Thank you very much for your time.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Up next, we have, Julia Miller.

[Jenny Graves (Preschool Special Ed teacher; NHFT VP)]: Yes. Good evening.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Good evening.

[Jenny Graves (Preschool Special Ed teacher; NHFT VP)]: Thank you. Members of the appropriation committee. My name my name is Julia Miller. I'm a resident of New Haven and a New Haven public schools teacher and parent. I'm a member of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, local nine three three. We belong to Connecticut for All, a statewide coalition fighting for a better future for everyone in Connecticut. Lastly, I am the 2025 Connecticut teacher of the year. While it is no longer my year of service, I will never stop advocating for our public schools and for what our students deserve. And so I am testifying today on the governor's proposed adjusted budget for fiscal year twenty twenty seven to increase the base ECS foundation amount, which has not changed since 02/2013 to keep up with cost of living adjustments. We additionally need to modify the ECS formula to annually adjust the base of the formula to account for inflationary increase. Modifying the foundation for inflation would result in the state tripping more every year to support all students across the state. Having fully funded the ECS formula is indeed something that should be celebrated, but it is not enough if we cannot make these common sense adjustments. In the meantime, it is our historically underfunded urban districts that suffer. Our largest cities disproportionately serve our students with the highest needs. Our teachers so often have to do more with less. In New Haven, nearly a quarter of our students are multilingual learners, while three quarters are eligible for free or reduced lunch. And yet we don't have the needed funds to meet all of our students' unique needs. The general assembly has an opportunity to change this by increasing the ECS foundation amount. I currently teach a concurrently enrolled education course as part of our education and leadership pathway. We are trying to inspire and prepare the next generation of New Haven and Connecticut educators. I have to tell you though, it is a challenge to recruit students to the pathway district wide. Students see the lack of resources in their schools, know their teachers supplement supplies with their own money. They see deteriorating buildings and the unmet needs of their needs of their peers and question whether it's worth it. Our students need more mental health supports and wraparound services. Our special education teachers need manageable caseloads to best serve our students with IEPs. Our schools need full time librarians in every school and budgets to provide students with the books they deserve, amongst so many other essential resources and services. Additionally, as the new internship and workforce development adviser for our district, I see firsthand the importance of hands on learning experiences. I want to be able to provide all of our students in all of our schools the exposure and resources they need to pursue careers of interest, which in turn will support our state. As a long time civics teacher, I always taught my students the about the importance of advocacy. Last year, I testified around this very same issue. Last year, our coalition, including many of our New Haven youth came to the capital to urge you and the governor to fairly fund our schools. And here we are again. You have the opportunity to send our young people a message, a message that they matter. Why should a student in New Haven receive $6,000 less in per people funding than a student in Greenwich? Those students are of course deserving and so are ours. Let's raise the ECS Foundation to support all Connecticut children.

[Stella Mayer (AAE student, CREC)]: Thank you.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have Theresa Alexandru.

[Teresa Alexander (Vice President, Regional Partnerships & Programs, TEACH)]: Thank you, representative Candelaria. Good evening, distinguished members of the appropriation committee. My name is Teresa Alexander. I live in Clinton, Connecticut. I'm the vice president of regional partnerships and programs for TEACH. TEACH was established by the US Department of Education as an independent nonprofit organization in 2015. Our mission is to help talented people from all backgrounds explore and enter the teaching profession. Since 2018 I have worked closely with the Connecticut State Department of Education's talent office on an initiative called Teach Connecticut which is a critical component of our state's teacher recruitment efforts. I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the governor's fiscal year twenty seven budget adjustments. I respectfully ask the committee to establish a dedicated line item for Teach Connecticut within the CSDE budget under the talent office purview in the amount of $1,000,000. Through close partnership with the talent office, as well as educator preparation programs, school districts, and community partners across the state, Teach Connecticut has become an integral component of our state's teacher recruitment work in four ways. One, increasing awareness of teaching as a viable and meaningful career pathway through marketing, advertising, and multimedia content. Two, expanding recruitment into the state's existing educator preparation pathways and programs through strategic community outreach and ongoing engagement opportunities. Three, by improving candidate persistence from initial interest to preparation program application and enrollment through personalized guidance and practical support services at no cost. And four, strength strengthening the teachers, the state's teacher workforce where it's needed most by recruiting and supporting prospective candidates in underrepresented communities and subject areas. Since 2018, we have successfully and consistently recruited thousands of future teachers in a cost effective manner. I've submitted further information regarding the initiative's impact and the state's return on its investment along with my test written testimony for your consideration. Teach Connecticut's outcomes reflect both the demand for guidance among aspiring educators in our state and the benefits of having a statewide mechanism for teacher recruitment. As a former teacher myself, I personally know how challenging it can be to enter the profession without a single source of truth guiding you along the way. And now as a nonprofit leader, I've seen how a state's sustained investments in a cohesive teacher recruitment ecosystem leads to stronger outcomes for all. Most importantly, for our students. As you consider the fiscal year twenty seven education budget, I respectfully urge you to codify funding for Teach Connecticut to ensure the sustainability and continued growth of this critical statewide initiative and our teacher workforce. Thank you for the opportunity to share my perspective, for your continued investment to strengthening Connecticut's education system, and for your time this evening. I would be happy to answer any questions, and happy birthday, representative Walker.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have Adam Ochman.

[Adam Ochman (Hebron Board of Finance member)]: Hello. Good evening, senators and representatives of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Adam Ochman. I'm a member of the Hebron Board of Finance, but these opinions are my own. Not those of my board. I am here to testify to support three items, Fully funding the excess cost grant for special education. Increasing the educational shot cost sharing grant, ECS, and indexing it to inflation. And third, restoring the $12,000,000 support related to magnet schools. Now, I've submitted written testimony and many speakers have already covered these requests. So I am just going to amplify a few points that I haven't heard nearly as much about. In Hebron and around in the town surrounding Hebron, many education budgets are under pressure based on the budget proposals that I've seen so far. 5% increases and more appear to be the norm in parts due to typically a 10 to 15% increase in medical costs. And that's before the ECS offset. The fact that ECS is not indexed to inflation amplifies the impact to taxpayers. So a 5% budget increase could end up being a six, seven, or 8% impact to taxpayers net of ECS. I'm happy to walk you through the math on that. But bottom line is it's no wonder that education budgets in communities are getting pressure from taxpayers. Secondly, as you've heard from Doctor. Barrett, Hebron has additional pressures in our special education budget. Town special ed budgets are very volatile. In small towns, they can be largely affected by just a few students with special needs that emerge or that move into town. And it's not right that a regular education budget or budget in general is squeezed because of this level of volatility. The state is in a much better position to regulate that volatility. It's the law of large numbers. My final point is that the state method of raising money for education is just better than the methods available to towns. Towns generally must raise revenue according to the value of real estate and vehicles. That puts real pressures on, on anyone who needs a needs a home, whether that's an apartment where they get charged to their rent or directly through the house. There is no way to account for individual affordability. So again, it's no wonder that budgets under are under pressure at referendum. So if the if the, revenues must be made, it's up to you to determine how they're allocated. Thank you very much. I'm happy to answer questions.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have, Merrill Gay.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: Good evening,

[Merrill Gay (Executive Director, CT Early Childhood Alliance)]: Representative Candelaria.

[Dr. William Rice (Assistant Executive Director, ACES)]: Good evening.

[Merrill Gay (Executive Director, CT Early Childhood Alliance)]: Senator Austin, Representative Walker, and members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Merrill Gay. I'm the Executive Director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance. The alliance brings together over 80 organizations dedicated to improving outcomes for young children through policy change. I'd like to begin by pointing out that according to the Center for Early Learning Funding Equity, for every dollar we spend on K-twelve education, Connecticut spends 15¢ on pre k and only 9¢ on children under age three. This disparity does not reflect the current understanding of brain development or family's economic reality. The early years represent the most rapid period of brain development, laying the foundation for all future learning. Investments during this period yield the highest returns, not just in educational outcomes, but in parent parental workforce participation, reduced social services costs, and stronger communities. I submitted written testimony, so I wanna summarize, three critical points. The first is that we need additional funding for the birth to three program. That birth to three serves those children, with developmental delays during that critical time of most rapid brain development. The governor's proposal does propose some modest increases, but they're not sufficient. You've heard tonight from many birth to three providers, they need some more money. The next thing is the Care for Kids waiting list. For us, the most glaring omission in this proposed budget is the lack of any additional funding for Care for Kids, Connecticut's primary childcare subsidy program. As of last week, there were 2,909 pre qualified families or approximately 3,750 children on the wait list. Families typically wait eight months for an invitation off the wait list and then another one to two months for processing the application. For a mother trying to return to work so she can pay rent, buy diapers, put food on the table, that delay feels like a lifetime. And I would urge you to ask in the work group, what's the percentage of people getting a certificate after they get called off the wait list? That delay really upsets things. It it creates a cascade of folks not being able to take the job they had offered to them because they don't have child care. And then finally, I'd like to close by saying that last year, you did something really big. You created the early childhood endowment. You made the initial down payment with a $300,000,000 deposit from the, surplus. This year, you're facing big challenges with the loss of SNAP revenue and, Medicaid funding. So you've got, we acknowledge, big challenges. But how you address those and the impact that has on the surplus that can get deposited into the endowment is really important. The endowment needs another $300,000,000 deposit so that we have enough money come 07/01/2027 to do all of the things that we said we were gonna do. The first and most expensive of those things is to make the early care the early start programs free for families under $100,000 If we don't have enough money from the endowment to do that, we risk putting those early start programs out of business because we won't replace the parent fee income that they currently get. The next thing we need to do is to raise wages for those early educators who are in the bottom 3% of, bottom third percentile of earnings of, in the workforce. They are some of the lowest paid workers in the whole economy, and we need to recognize the critically important work they're doing with young children and bring them up to parity with their public school counterparts, who are teaching just like they are. Those are some big things. I wanna thank you for your time. This has been a long night, and you have lots more people to hear from. And so I won't I won't ask you if you have any questions because I know you don't wanna ask. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to working with you as we develop the budget.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you, Merrill. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, the mayor from the great city of New Haven, Justin Ellerker. Mayor Ellerker.

[Mayor Justin Elicker (City of New Haven)]: Good to see you, representative Condellur, and thanks to the Appropriations Committee. I also have a

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: And who do

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: we have?

[Mayor Justin Elicker (City of New Haven)]: Public school student with me, and it's way past her bedtime. My name is Justin Elliker. I'm the mayor of the Safe New Haven. I'm here to testify on the governor's proposed adjustments to the biannual budget for the fiscal year 2026 and 2027 and to urge you to allocate additional funding to increase the per student foundation amount to the state's educational cost sharing formula, ECS. Index it for inflation moving forward and help close the gap between our actual student needs and the current funding levels. As you've all been hearing and I've been listening for quite some time tonight, from many different individuals, districts, municipalities and constituency groups, the per student foundation amount hasn't increased since 2013. And while we've appreciated the legislature and the governor's continued work to accelerate the phase of the current ECS formula, we need a new formula, one in which the base foundation amount is not $11,525 when that $115,525 dollars would be $15,580 in twenty twenty four real dollars adjusted for inflation, which would be a 35% increase over the current funding levels. We need to increase the foundation amount. Not increasing the foundation amount means that our schools will have to continue to do more with less. With extreme federal uncertainty, the statewide housing crisis, continued impacts from the pandemic on our young people, and federal chaos around immigration enforcement, our schools represent a beacon, an essential resource for students and families in New Haven. But with staffing gaps and ratios of 27 school psychologists across our 39 schools serving almost 18,000 students, that's a ratio of six sixty one students per psychologist. 52 social workers, that's a ratio of three forty three students per social worker. Only 23 librarians in our 39 schools. We owe our students and families more, especially with high needs population of 85.54% in New Haven and 600 and 678 students experiencing homelessness or housing instability last school year. Our multilingual learners, students with disabilities, free and reduced price lunch students need more support, not less, and support that accounts for inflation. At the local level, we've done what we can to increase our funding for our schools. The city's contribution to our district's budget has gone up $30,000,000 a 66% increase in the past six years. And unfortunately, since we haven't seen a similar increase in state funding, that cost shifts to our local taxpayers and residents. Our tax bills in New Haven are increasing almost 20% over the same time period and burdening already vulnerable individuals and families with 50% of New Haven residents cost burdened and 60% falling below the ALICE threshold. Connecticut ranks forty fifth when it comes to the state's share of education funding and second when it comes to local share, which means that inequities based on ZIP Codes are exacerbated. Education is one of the most important building blocks of opportunity for all our young people and one of the most important levers to affect their lives and the future of our communities, our municipalities, and our state. Now it's time to invest in them and in us. So please increase the ECS formula and tie it to inflation. Thanks so much for your time and appreciate everyone working these long hours.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you, mayor. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have Rian Dreincik.

[Speaker 56]: Good evening, members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Ryan Dreincik, and I'm the executive director of St. Joseph's Parenting Center, a community based nonprofit serving parents and caregivers across Fairfield County with locations in Stamford, Danbury, and Bridgeport. Our mission is to support children by strengthening the homes that they grow up in. We do this through parenting education and family support that equips parents with practical skills to create stable, nurturing environments where children can learn, regulate, and succeed. When parents are supported, children do better in school. Families in our programs report improved routines, reduced stress in the home, stronger parent child relationships, and better communication with the schools. These are not clinical services. They are skill building supports that address the everyday challenges that directly impact children's behavior, attendance and readiness to learn. Over the past year, St. Joseph's Parenting Center lost nearly $700,000 in federal funding, which required difficult staffing reductions across the organization. Despite this, we maintained our level of service in both our Stanford and Bridgeport locations so families did not lose access to support. At the same time, we're actively rebuilding our Danbury Center to ensure that children's and families in that community have access to prevention focused services. This experience reinforce how essential community based nonprofits are to family stability. Nonprofits like Saint Joseph's Parenting Center are a critical extension of the state's investment in education. Many of the families we serve are working, raising children, and under significant stress, but do not qualify for formal services. Without early accessible support, these pressures show up in the classroom then can escalate quickly. From a fiscal standpoint, this work is both effective and responsible. Our parenting education and family support programs are approximately 15 times more cost effective than child welfare interventions. By strengthening families early, we help prevent far more expensive responses later and support children in their primary learning environment, the home. Schools cannot do this work alone. When families are supported outside the classroom, teachers are able to teach, classrooms are more stable and children are better positioned to succeed. A state investment in parenting education and family support is an investment in better school outcomes, stronger families, and long term fiscal responsibility. I respectfully urge the committee to continue supporting community based nonprofits that help children thrive by strengthening their homes. Thank you for this opportunity to testify and bring your continued commitment to Connecticut's children and families.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have, Jimena Bravo.

[Ernest Newton (President Pro Tem, Bridgeport City Council; former legislator)]: No.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Amy Brozowski.

[Amy Brozowski (Meriden resident; New Haven English teacher, NHFT)]: Hello. Good evening, members of the appropriation committee. My name is Amy Brozowski. I'm a resident of Meriden, Connecticut. I am a proud, to be here today as a child of a lifelong CT educator, a graduate of Meriden public schools, and currently a high school English teacher in New Haven with New Haven Federation of Teachers. I'm speaking to urge the committee to update the ECS formula and fully and fairly fund our schools. A little bit about myself, growing up, my mom as a primary earner in our household was able to ride a secure upbringing for my four brothers and sisters on me on a teaching salary. While I attend did a title one school district and did not receive the same funding as surrounding districts, the additional state and federal funding provided me with access to college classes and learning opportunities that allowed me to enter college as a sophomore and complete my master's of teaching degree within four years. In my adult life, I still feel the financial benefits of having achieved this early success that Meriden schools helped me accelerate. Now a little over a decade later, and coincidentally, twelve years since changes to the ECS, I currently struggle to make ends meet for myself alone on my teacher salary. As a CT resident, I've seen the cost of living skyrocket. And as a teacher, I've seen the education gap in our state widen. Furthermore, we have all seen the burden that our young adult unemployment and undereducated have placed on our state's economy. It's impossible to avoid the fact that this crisis crisis is one that begins in underfunded schools. As I reflect on the changes in the state's reluctance to respond to student and public servant needs, I wonder who is our state for? What are the benefits of remaining in the teaching profession if I am unable to provide a standard of living for myself in the state? What kind of impact can I make in my classroom if my students are not provided with the funding and resources necessary to succeed in pursuit of a better education? I know many other educators, students, family, and community members share these questions. Our state is in crisis, and yet we have the solution within our legislators' hands. We know our state ended the fiscal year twenty twenty four, twenty five with a 300,000,000 surplus in its general funds and 4,100,000,000.0 in budget reserve fund. And we know Connecticut can afford a change to ECS. I urge this community to ask itself, is this state for the luckily privileged few, or does it truly stand for an equitable future for all of us? Thank you. Have a good night.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Up next, we have Bobby Brown.

[Bobbi Brown (President, Greater Bridgeport NAACP)]: Good evening, team members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Bobbi Brown. I'm the president of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, and I also serve as the CEO of one of the largest youth organizations in the city of Bridgeport. I stand before you this evening in strong opposition to a budget that continues to underfund education while expecting districts to stretch beyond what is sustainable. We are barely into the new year and already districts across Connecticut are preparing for cuts, but we must be honest about something. When education funding falls short, it does not fall short equitably. When education cost sharing foundation remains frozen at $11,525 a number that has not that has not been meaningfully have updated since 2013. The consequences landed hard on Black and Brown students and on our communities that we serve. Over the past decade, transportation costs have increased, health insurance has increased, utilities, staffing, technology demands, and special education expenses have all increased. Yet the foundation amount, which the state says of cost sharing for to educate a child has remained the same. If it had kept pace with inflation alone, we will be closer to 16,000 per student today. So we so when we freeze the foundation, we freeze opportunity. And in the districts like Bridgeport, where majority of our students are students of color, that freeze sends a clear and troubling signal. It widens the achievement gaps. It widens access gaps, and it reinforces our idea that the ZIP codes where our students come from truly shape their destiny. This is not a simple budget issue. It is a racial equity issue. As someone who works directly with young people every single day, I see the impact beyond the spreadsheets. Community organizations like mine have become true partners to our school districts. We walk alongside educators, support leadership development, and create spaces for enrichment and mentorship. But when school day ends and after school program begins, we still see the needs. We hear the academic frustrations. We see the emotional strain. We feel the weight of our children that they carry. This does not stop at 3PM. They follow our students into after school programs, into community spaces, and into their homes. And that's when we realize that reality is telling us a different story. Reverend Jesse Jackson reminds us that education is a civil rights issue of our time. He understood that equity access to quality education is the gateway to economic mobility, political participation, and generational stability. When we allow underfunding to persist in districts serving primarily students of color, we are not just making a fiscal decision, we're making a moral one. The foundation has been frozen for over a decade. Transportation has been frozen. Special education has been frozen. Operational costs has been frozen. Only the state's investment can truly make a difference in this. It is long past time for modernization of the ECS formulas to reflect the true cost of educating a child in 2026, Not symbolically, not incrementally, but meaningfully in sustainability. Equity does not live in rhetoric while inequity lives in the formula. The decisions you make towards this budget will narrow racial disparities or deepen them. They will either strengthen districts serving our students of color or continue to strain them. Our children are not line items. They are future doctors, future educators, future lawyers, future leaders in our state. If you truly believe in equity and in the and the budget, you will understand the value of what we're saying this evening. I urge this committee to raise the ECS formula, foundation formula protects essential services and invests in our youth With an urgency, courage, and moral clarity, for this moment, we demand this now. Thank you. Have a good evening.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you, and good evening to you. Up next, we have, and I apologize if I mispronounced your name, is Mangaga Mambambali. No? Okay. Carly Rocha Rios.

[Speaker 49]: Yes. Thank you. Good evening, members of the committee. My name is Carly Rocha Reyes, and I am a director with Bridgeport Public Schools. I also speak today as someone who has spent nineteen years in service to this community as a teacher, school counselor, and advocate who has walked alongside our students and families through challenges most communities never have to face. My testimony is rooted in lived experience. I want to take you on a brief walk with me. A walk that separates perception from reality. Because the decisions made here directly affect the 19,000 students we serve. For far too long, the perception of Bridgeport Public Schools has been shaped by misinformation and outdated narratives. Stories of chaos, deficits, and crisis. And with those perceptions comes an unspoken assumption that our students and staff are somehow less capable or less deserving. The perception is not only inaccurate, it can be harmful. Let me show you our reality. Look to the left. Look at that student in the third row, diligently taking notes. Perception might label her as low performing. In reality, she is one of the 31% of our students receiving multilingual learner support. She is processing her teacher's instruction, translating it, connecting it to prior knowledge, and writing her response, all while navigating a language she is still mastering. Our students aren't failing. They are multilingual, multicultural, and resilient. Now look to the right. The student in the front row is among the 20% of students receiving special education services. When you combine him with our multilingual classmate, you see the truth. More than half of our students require high level, high cost service every single day. These students are not struggling. They are overcoming. And look at the teacher in that row in that room. Perception might say we cannot recruit or retain staff. The reality? Every educator in Bridgeport is here by choice, grounded in mission, driven by purpose, and unwavering in commitment. But here's the challenge we face. Commitment cannot fund mandated services. Passion cannot pay for specialized instruction. Dedication cannot close the gaps created by underfunding. And resourcefulness is not a funding model. Only equitable investment will allow us to meet the needs of our students with fidelity and fairness. And this is where perception meets policy. The ECS Foundation hasn't been updated in more than thirteen years, and it no longer matches the real cost of educating students today, from inflation to growing academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. When the foundation is outdated, the formula can't work the way it's supposed to. And districts like ours are left making very difficult choices that directly affect the students. We're asking you to update the ECS Foundation to reflect today's realities. Ensure it keeps pace with changing costs over time. Thank you for walking through the reality of Bridgeport Public Schools. You have seen a community defined not by perception, but by purpose, capability, and connection. Please hold on to that truth as we look to the future together. When the foundation is strong, our students will rise. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have David Correto. I see you on the line, David.

[Speaker 2]: He has been declining our panelist invitations.

[Jose Crespo (New Haven advocate; Charter school supporter)]: Okay.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Alright. Then we'll move to the purse next person is Gail Nolan.

[Representative Corpus (Appropriations Committee member)]: Hi. Good evening. My

[Gail Nolan (President, CT Family Resource Center Alliance)]: name is Gail Nolan. I am the current president of the Connecticut Family Resource Center Alliance. I'm also the director of Laurel Family Resource Center in Bloomfield and am a program liaison for the Alliance for Bloomfield's Children, which is part of Early Start. Thank you for the taking the time to listen to all our Family Resource Center stories. I know many people have submitted written testimony and come to show support for the FRCs in Connecticut as we're facing a proposed 18% cut this year instead of an increase which the legislator spotted for last year in this biennium budget. We've realized that there's not a clear picture of a true understanding of what we do, and that's why we're sending messages and asking all our patrons or friends of the family to let it be known that what we do for the many families in Connecticut. Connecticut FRCs began in 1988 to prevent an array of childhood and family problems and to foster optimal development and education of children from birth. They're based on the school of the twenty first century, a concept that was developed in Connecticut by doctor Ed Zigler, and the policy fellows at Yale. We were part of, a national movement to promote the importance of early childhood and its link to school achievement. We're actually now part of the National Family Support Network, where there is one member per state that runs an FRC network, and an FRC coalition who got just last year, a federal definition of family resource centers. And with the leadership of our own Rosa DeLora, support, and dedication in championing family resource centers within the f f y twenty six, report. Her leadership was critical in securing, some favorable legislation in the SSBG, work. So we are getting known over the country and just wanna make sure that we stay relevant in Connecticut as this happens. Following the FRC model, we are able to reach children that would not normally be reached until they start school. So we have the playgroups and, many other activities in 57 sites in 40 school districts in Connecticut, cut a little bit from when we were up to 74 sites, but we are still going strong in a lot of communities and do a lot of things for the school systems and the districts. We're an educational initiative and provide the comprehensive integrated educational and community based systems, for over thirty seven years. So we think that some of these things are strength as we are able to, model each of our FRCs independently with our community, but that's a weakness because our data doesn't show that statewide. So we are able to do some things in some communities and some things in others, but that's both, like I said, both a strength and a weakness. We have seven components in legislation, early care and education. We run preschools. We, network with preschools. We monitor community preschools. We work with school age childcare. We do before and after care in some districts. We use families in training, do ages and stages screenings, help refer and families to other community workers. I run a diaper bank, a clothing closet. We use positive use development before and after school programs, support family childcare providers, do help with transition to kindergarten. We help with adult education and family literacy in a lot of communities and many other resource and referral items. So I just would like to, show our thanks and, for listening to us and, for working with us to, reinstall our appropriation that was supposed to be for this year. Thank you.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you again for your testimony. Up next, we have Mary Kay Rendock.

[Mary Kay Rendock (CEA Retired; 2006 CT Teacher of the Year)]: Thank you, representative Candelaria. Good evening distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight regarding the twenty twenty seven teacher retirement board elections. My name is Mary Kay Rendock. I am the membership chairperson for CEA retired, a thirty seven year veteran of Bloomfield public schools, and the 2006 Connecticut teacher of the year. I am testifying today regarding teacher retirement board elections, specifically the rights of active and retired teachers to vote for all eight teacher positions on the Teachers Retirement Board. Retired teachers and active teachers all have a vested interest in who represents them on the TRB. They all deserve the right to vote for those who will safeguard and protect their pension and insurance interests. Active teachers all pay into the teacher's retirement system and taking away their ability to vote for two of the eight members seems disingenuous to the democratic process. Before the expansion of the TRB with two additional retired members in 2023, all teachers were able to vote for their six representatives. Now, with this change, retired teachers can vote for all eight members of the TRB, but active members can only vote for six of these members? The change to this language will require will require two elections to be held. One for teachers, retired and active, to vote for six of these positions and then a separate election for retired teachers only to select two more retired teachers, the cost of which TRB incurs. Can you see how arduous this could be? Aligning the elections of the eight members of the TRB so that all teachers, both retired and active, can cast a vote every four years has been the practice up until now just makes sense. It would eliminate the need to spend extra funds on unnecessary elections. It would streamline the process and avoid confusion and it would keep with the democratic notion that all voices have an equal opportunity to vote for those who represent them. As I said, it just makes sense. Thank you for your time and consideration. Have a good evening.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have Chris Parkin.

[Speaker 143]: Good evening, representative Candelaria, members of the committee who are lurking on Zoom, and the hardworking staff at the LOB keeping this marathon on the rails tonight. I want to start by saying that I agree with the many speakers today who have stated or implied that our entire system of education funding in this state is broken. Our state has become wedded to the idea of small local school districts, but it bristles with the idea that this has costs associated with it. The state's underfunding of education and over reliance on property taxes carries forward the immoral legacy of segregation and redlining and serves to perpetuate a system of haves and have nots. I sit here this evening with a somewhat unique point of view on this duality. I live in Redding, where I am the chair of the Region nine Board of Education. We receive vanishingly little education funding from the state. Together with Easton, our two towns receive about $500,000 in ECS funding and have a school's budget of about $75,000,000. Our local property taxpayers bear substantially all the costs associated with public education and would certainly be grateful for increased state funding. But I'm not here to complain about the lack of state funding for my Derg a district tonight. We are the halves in the state of Connecticut. I'm here because I see firsthand the differences in Connecticut schools daily as a parent of a student at Fairchild Wheeler in Bridgeport. I'm here to advocate for appropriate funding for our city schools. Things that are taken for granted in my hometown are pure fantasy in Bridgeport. My board is currently reviewing a budget request that calls for an increase of about 3%, which would bring our net current expenditure per pupil to around $33,000 Bridgeport is seeking a 36% increase to get their per pupil expense just to $20,000 By way of a simple example of the disparity, the Region nine board would fund a student to high school counselor ratio of 130 to one. The most recent cuts in Bridgeport have left my daughter's school with a single counselor for 400 students. We have growing MLL populations in Easton and Reading and a special ed ID rate on par with the state average in the mid to high teens. In Bridgeport, half of the 20,000 students are non native English speakers or have special needs. They are asked to provide all the same services to their students at just $18,000 per pupil. Take out $120,000,000 spent on special ed alone and the per pupil expense drops to about $10,000 It's not a sustainable number. It is embarrassing that our state budget making process routinely includes families and students from Alliance Districts prostrating themselves in front of legislators begging for enough funding to just get by because there is insufficient political will to address the effects of overreliance on local property taxes and outdated formulas for funding. The governor is proposing spending 25,000,000 additional dollars, more than originally approved, to pay down debt while simultaneously cutting magnet funding by $12,000,000 in holding ECS level. This all while the state sits on an extremely healthy rainy day fund. The people in Bridgeport know that it has been raining in their schools for a generation. Let's make this the last year they need to send skids up on buses to Hartford to testify about that fact. Thank you.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Up next, we have, Jane Wilson.

[Senator Gary Winfield]: Jane?

[Speaker 29]: Good evening, representative Candelaria. Good evening. And members of the Appropriations Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify as number 200 before you this evening. My name is Jane Wilson and I'm a retired teacher and I serve as the insurance co chair for the Association of Retired Teachers of Connecticut. For eight years, I have been asking for a simple act of fairness. The restoration of the full subsidy for retired teachers enrolled in the TRB original Medicare supplement plan. A subsidy we once had and was taken away from us in 2018. Since then, those retired teachers who have remained on the original Medicare supplement plan have been penalized by a policy that forces them to pay more than their statutory one third share of their health insurance premium. That is not what they were promised, and it is not what the law intended. Because of this under subsidization, retired teachers, many of whom are living on fixed incomes, have paid to date a penalty of more than $10,000 out of pocket over these eight years. These are educators who have devoted their career lives to our children and our communities. They upheld their commitment to the state. They plan their retirement based on the benefits they earned. Retired teachers are not asking for something new. We are asking you to make right what has been wrong since 2018. Please restore the full one third state subsidy to the TRB Medicare supplement plan to its correct statutory premium equivalent. I'm again asking this year respectfully that the appropriations committee make this adjustment in the governor's budget h b fifty thirty two to honor this long standing commitment to Connecticut teachers. Additionally, it is important to recognize that as a result of public act twenty three sixty three, there are now equal numbers of active and retired teachers serving on the teacher's retirement board. True fairness and balanced representation requires that active educators nominate and elect their active representatives while retired educators nominate and elect their retired representatives. Actives for actives and retired for retired. This structure represents the distinct interests of each group and ensures that every voice is chosen by and accountable to the constituency it represents. Thank you so much for, staying up with us and hearing us this evening. And if representative Walker is still up, happy birthday. Thank you.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. My time is up. Now we have senator McCrory who'll be taking

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: over. Thank you, representative. Thank you for your hard diligent work in this late hour. Okay. We have next up Matthew Banas from the Meredith Federation of Teachers. Matthew. Good evening, senator.

[Matt Banas (Meriden teacher; MFT President)]: Good evening, esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Matt Banas. I'm a social studies teacher at Malone High School in Meriden. I'm a parent of two Middletown public school students and the president of the Meriden Federation of Teachers. In each of these roles, I've seen the detrimental effects the underfunding of our public schools has had in both Meriden and Middletown. With the education cost sharing formula remaining unchanged for over ten years, we have continually asked schools to do more with less. Meriden is annually the lowest funded district in the state. And while the cost share has not increased, the needs of the students in my classroom have. I teach far more special education students and ESOL students than I did ten years ago, but the amount of money afforded to the district has remained virtually the same. Our class sizes have increased while the number of support personnel has diminished. Specialists like social workers, speech pathologists, and school psychologists are in short supply, and Meriden cannot compete with wealthier districts to attract the people to provide the support my students so desperately need. Our classified staff is also struggling. We don't have nearly enough bilingual tutors, and some of the most important personnel we have, our paraprofessionals, often have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Without their support, our schools could not function, yet they can't negotiate a living wage. Meriden is currently currently facing a $6,000,000 deficit in next year's budget. The board is already committed to cutting 19 positions across the district, leaving us $4,000,000 short. Without a significant increase in ECS Foundation Grant, more cuts will have to be made. That is the case where we'll see class sizes and sped caseloads balloon. While Meriden teachers have become experts at doing more with less, at this point, we are already stretched too thin. Further cuts cannot help but have a detrimental effect on the education of Meriden students. I'm here to ask you to reconsider the education cost sharing formula, continue to flat fund education goes beyond negligence. It is our responsibility, both legally and ethically, to provide a free and equal education to all of Connecticut's students, and the current state of the ECS Foundation grant fails to do so. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, Matthew, and thank you for your advocacy. Next up, we have Colin. Colin from the West Haven Library.

[James Angelopoulos (Former educator; Door Dasher)]: Good evening, members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Colleen Bailey, and I'm the executive director for the West Haven Library and a Milford resident. I'm here today in opposition to the cut to the borrow it, formerly Connecticut card program for Connecticut libraries. While a $140,000 out of a state budget does not seem like much, every Connecticut library depends on this program for reimbursements for loaning our items throughout the state. Connecticut residents being able to use their hometown library cards in other cities and towns is arguably one of the most popular features of our Connecticut libraries right behind the delivery service that properly returns those items. In West Haven alone, nearly 10% of materials are loaned to residents from other towns. Thousands of items from our library were loaned to other libraries for the for their patrons' access. Cutting this program is cutting the equitable access to materials to residents and is a disservice to the library community. As a distressed municipality in Alliance District, our library budget is such that we cannot purchase as much material as we would like. By taking part in a system such as borrow it, our library patrons have full access to the materials provided at libraries statewide. Especially for our patrons without transportation, this is an invaluable program. Connecticut has one of the highest wealth disparities in the country, and cutting a program to libraries that assist with creating equitable access for all our residents is not the answer. Listening tonight to all the important discussion on education funding, I would also remind all that libraries serve as education centers for people from childhood through adulthood. Libraries are the people's universities and hubs for learning for everyone. And while I'm pleased to hear that no cuts were being made to deliver it this year, the state system that moves library materials throughout the state, the state is assisted with this program with consortia doing supplemental deliveries. My library's consortia pays for much of our own deliveries between the 30 libraries in the system, relying on the state deliveries for libraries outside of our consortia. Please reconsider this funding cut to the borrow program and restore the funding that Connecticut libraries rely on. Thank you, and happy birthday to representative Walker.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, colleague, and thank you for your testimony. Next up, we have Jocelyn Delancey from CEA.

[Jocelyn DeLancey (Vice President, CEA)]: Good evening, senator. Happy birthday, rep Walker. I don't wanna forget before the end of my testimony. So I'm Jocelyn Delancey. I am the vice president of the Connecticut Education Association representing over 40,000 active aspiring and retired educators across the state. I've heard a lot of testimony tonight on some of the issues that I was speaking to, so I wanna make sure I just hit hit on these issues since it's late. And I know that there are a lot of people after me. So first and foremost, we strongly oppose the governor's, proposed removal of the $12,000,000 to our arrest magnets. These magnet schools service over thousands of students across the state and ensure that they get, creative programming, special, educations, services, and a number of different quality programs. And when we take money away from those programs, we're also taking money away from our districts who then have to put those costs back into the magnets. We need our magnets to be invested in and supported, and so we strongly urge, that $12,000,000 be restored. Speaking of funding and restoring things, we really encourage and we've heard great testimony tonight about bringing our ECS formula up to inflation. This is a necessary element. We've heard from numerous towns and stakeholders speaking to the fact that we need to properly invest in our education system. And that is something that we are excited to see that there's a lot of support and we'll encourage, the most forward in a positive way. Lastly, I would like to speak to the, funding of our apprenticeship programs. There is money there. We're proud to see that that's existing, but it does not nearly reach the number of, educators who are hoping to enter our profession. We've seen incentive programs just spoken about today for our police and firefighters to, pay for their schooling and ensure that they can have some reasons to stay in the profession or enter the profession, and we would really like to see the same done, at the same level for our educators. We have a lot of aspiring educators, some who've spoken today who are in need of support and paying for their student teaching, and we would really like to ensure access for all of those things. And since I have a little bit of time left as an active member of the teachers retirement board, I would agree that all our members should be able to vote for all of our elected leaders. The decisions that we make impact everybody, and, what happens should be at the discretion of all voters. Thank you.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, and thank you for your testimony. Up next, we have, I believe, is Leaky Mercedes from the champions for excellent schools. Leaky? Leaky going once? Leaky going twice? Leaky, you're gone. Sue Nash from Killian League Public Schools. Sue? Sue, did you leave us? Sue one more time? Superintendent Sue? I guess she's preparing for tomorrow. Shanna McDermott from the Family Resource Center.

[Shana McDermott (Parent; Economist; RD8 Family Resource Center user)]: Hello, senator McCrory. Good evening, everyone, and members of the Appropriations Committee, and everyone who's still with us tonight. My name is Shana McDermott. I'm a PhD economist and a mom to a beautiful and smart and funny little five year old lady. And my family has interacted extensively with the regional district eight family resource center in Hebron, Connecticut. And while I love our specific family resource center, I'm here to express my support for all of Connecticut's 57 family resource centers and to urge you to reject the proposed $1,270,000 cut, and instead not just preserve the funding for the family resource centers, but possibly increase the funding to $10,000,000 A few years ago, my family and I made the decision to move back to Connecticut after being away for more than close to two decades. We came back because we wanted to be closer to family, but also because of the sense of community that we felt here. Family resource centers are a big part of what makes family or what makes that sense of community real. They are places where families connect to services, but more importantly to each other. Family resource centers help create the kind of environment that makes people wanna stay, to invest in our state, and to raise children here. For my family, those connections have been meaningful, and they're a big part of the reason that we moved back to Connecticut. Yes. What I'm saying is that the support we we received through our FRCs over the summers that we spent here, specifically in Hebron, was one of the factors in our decision to move back to Connecticut. From an economic standpoint, early childhood and family supports are some of the smartest investments states can make. Decades of research show that these investments pay off through higher earnings, lower public costs, and stronger local economies. Studies estimate that for every dollar invested in early childhood programs like family resource centers, they receive returns of about 4 to $7 in long run benefits. That means that these programs more than pay for themselves, and they are fiscally responsible decisions. The current proposed 18% cut would bring funding below pre pandemic levels at a time when demand and operating costs have both risen. This cut would result in fewer programs, missed opportunities, and less support for families who rely on these centers. I respectfully ask the committee to reject the proposed cuts and instead not only fully fund the FRCs, but to increase funding to $10,000,000 so these centers can continue supporting the families who rely on them every day. This way, we can help keep Connecticut a place where people choose to build their lives. Thank you for your time and your commitment to Connecticut children and families. Thank you.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, and thank you for your testimony. Next up, we have Orlando Strong from Orlando Strong. Orlando. Orlando going once. Orlando going twice. Okay. We have Rob Rob Traber from the Bridgeport Board of Education.

[Speaker 17]: You have Kim you have Kim McLaughlin. Because Rob Traber took my number at number seven, and I took his at 02:08. And it was worked out with Taylor.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: You have the floor to speak.

[Speaker 17]: Alright. Thank you so much. I am good evening, senator McCrory and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Kim McLaughlin. I'm a resident of Bridgeport, and I am the parent of a child, now an adult, who attended Bridgeport Bridgeport Public Schools from kindergarten through graduating from high school. And now I'm the grandparent of two little girls who are, making their way at the beginning, but will be making their way through the Bridgeport Public School system also. So I'm very invested in that. And I am here today to testify in strong opposition to the plan by in gov in governor Lamont's proposed fiscal year 2027, house bill five zero three two, his his education cost sharing suggestions that it be flat funded and that he would suggest that he put together a blue ribbon commission to study the problem. And I just wanna say, forgive my impatience and the impatience of many of us in Bridgeport and other communities that have ECS funds, we're incredibly impatient. Thirteen years since 2013. For thirteen years, which, by the way, is an entire generation's years from kindergarten through graduating from high school, the ECS, as you know, a lot of a lot of testifying today is stuck at $11,525 and had been flat funded at that, amount for the last thirteen years. We believe that that amount should be increased, obviously, and should have been increased over the last thirteen years. If it had been increased at the rate of inflation, we'd be looking at, amount of money that's about over more more than 16,000 per student per year. So we would like to see that amount be increased this year to over 16,000 per student per year in ECS communities. That's really my that's really what I have to say. I know it's nothing it's nothing new. A lot of people have been saying that today. But I just wanna also tell you that having been an active parent when my child was in the school system and now being an active grandparent while my my granddaughter's in the school system, it is you just can't miss the difference. I mean, we we've never been a a a rich school system, but you can't miss it. I mean, the things that were there fifteen years ago, they're things like librarians, like bands in in high school, like guidance counselors. You know, we we never had we had a guidance counselor for every 300 some students. Now we don't even have guidance counselors. So it's just incredible the amount of things that have been taken away. Assistant principals, gone. And and there's really not much left to cut. So, you know, the the the time that ECS needs to be increased is now. It can't be put off for another year. There's just nothing left to cut. So that's really my plea is to urge the legislate legislators to urge you and your, co legislators to increase that ECS funding and to do it to a significant amount. A thousand dollars per student is not gonna do it for us. It's a it's a matter of equity for brown and black and for students and disabled students and special education students and the teachers that teach them and the parents that care about them. So thank you very much. Appreciate your time. Appreciate you listening to me at this late late hour of the night. Thank you so much.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you for your advocacy, Kim, and thank you for your testimony. Next up, Ashley Colon. Ashley Colon. Ashley. No Ashley? Okay. We'll go to is Jolie De Jesus? Jolie De Jesus?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: No. She went earlier in a panel.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Okay. Clara Rodriguez.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: As did Clara.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: As did Clara. Patricia.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: She spoke earlier as well.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Patricia. Okay. I'm gonna butcher this name. It's Emily. Emily. No Emily?

[Stella Mayer (AAE student, CREC)]: Let's go

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: with two thirteen, but I don't think they're here.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: I'm losing all my friends. Maria Matos? Alright. Maria's here.

[Maria Matos (Chief Advocacy Officer, Alliance for CT Charter Schools)]: That'll be me. Good evening. Thank you so much for staying this late, like everybody says. So I'm just gonna go with my testimony. I'm gonna read it. Good evening, distinguished members of the appropriation committee.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank you

[Maria Matos (Chief Advocacy Officer, Alliance for CT Charter Schools)]: for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Maria Matos, and I serve as the chief advocacy officer for the Alliance for Connetic Charter Schools. I'm here representing thousands of families whose children attend public charter schools across our state, and the many more who remain on waiting lists seeking access. Let me begin by acknowledging that we share the same goal, advancing equity in education. We might have different perspectives on investing on investment strategies, but we are united in our responsibility to ensure that Connecticut students have access to high quality opportunities. Like students across our state, charter school students reflect the vibrancy and resilience of the communities we all serve. The majority come from low income households. A significant percentage are classified as high needs. Many are multilingual learners. Many identify as black or Hispanic or Latino. This number matter because they reflect the responsibility we carry as policy makers and educators. Charter schools operate within the public education system, and they are held accountable to performance and financial standards established by the state. Many implement extend the learning time, structure academic support, consistent progress monitoring, and strong family partnerships. Families are responding to these models. More than 5,000 students remain on charter school waiting lists statewide, reflecting continued demand for diverse public school options. Charter schools are funded at the state foundation of 11,525 per student. That amount has no capase with inflation or the current cost of education of a child. As this committee considers educational investment, I respectfully ask the funding decisions to reflect the student needs and educational reality for all public school students, including those attending charter schools. In addition, five schools were approved by the State Board of Education after rigorous review process, and they remained unfunded. These communities organized, applied, and were approved in good faith. Providing funding will honor that approval and offer clarity and stability to families who are waiting. I'm not here to compare sectors of public education. I'm here because I believe that when we expand high quality public school options, we expand opportunity for students and strengthen Connecticut's overall education landscape. This conversation ultimately is about consistency and follow through. When the schools are approved through a rigorous state process, funding to reflect that commitment. When families demonstrate sustained demand, our policies to respond. I respect for your urge this committee to support funding decisions that reflects equity, consistency, and commitment to students whose families have just chosen public charter schools. Equity means ensuring that public funding aligns with the students' need and with the promises we make to communities. Thank you for your time and your thoughtful consideration. I'm open to any questions.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you for your testimony, Maria, and thanks for staying with us this late at night.

[Maria Matos (Chief Advocacy Officer, Alliance for CT Charter Schools)]: Of course. Thank you. Have a good evening.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Next up, we have it's Blanca Estella Camacho from Elevate Charter School.

[Speaker 106]: Thank you, and good evening, representative Candelaria and senator McCrory and esteemed members of the Connecticut Appropriations Committee. I'm Blanca Stella Camacho, and, yes, I work for Elevate Charter Schools as a community engagement manager. Again, thank you for your time. I'm one of many individuals coming before you to give testimonial in regards to the Denver Charter School and their missing funding. I'm I am one out of a 105 just for today, and those were just 105 that signed up to give testimonial, not necessarily the ones that also showed up to show their support. That number is a fraction of all the parents is a fraction of all the parents and supporters that have come to you year after year. That number is not reflective of the busloads of individuals that have come to the capital showing their support to the Danbury Charter School. I believe one year, it was 300 plus. That number does not include the amount of parents that attend rallies, informational sessions, and other forms of advocacy. The continued interest and support has not ceased in Danbury. As a matter of fact, interest has increased. Parents can't comprehend why the Connecticut State of, Department of Education would approve the Danbury Charter School in 2018, and yet to this day, they remain unfunded. Year after year, we continue to ask for help from local officials, state representatives, Connecticut State Board of Ed, governor Lamont, and the Appropriations Committee. The decision to keep Denbury Charter School without state funding is not because of lack of community interest or because there is no need for another school choice. The Denbury Charter School would be managed by Elevate Charter Schools. It would bring a lot of hope to our parents' success success to the students and resources to the community. I urge you to consider the plight of these parents and students and to finally provide the funding that the Danbury Charter School needs to open its doors. At this moment, there are numerous students lost in their academic journey. Right at this moment, there are frustrated parents longing for a glimpse of hope. Please do fund the Danbury Charter School, and please do not cut the funding to the family resource centers. As former FRC director, I know that they provide a lot of necessary and quality services, especially the one here in Danbury. I appreciate your time. Thank you for your time and consideration. Welcome. Tonight.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you for your testimony and your advocacy, and thanks for staying up this late. Next up, we have Amanda Crocker from Champions for Excellent Charter School Movement.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: They went earlier in a panel as well.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: I couldn't hear you.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: They were at a panel earlier as well.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Okay. Francesca Francesca from champions, she was on that panel also?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: She should be the spokesperson for another panel.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Okay. So I'm a get you on

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: with us right now.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: I'm a butcher this next name, 218. Oh, wait a minute. It's one second. Next up is Rohini

[Dr. Rohini Saxena (Board Member, Proud Academy)]: Rohini Saxena.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Yes. You're up, Rohini.

[Dr. Rohini Saxena (Board Member, Proud Academy)]: Hi. Thanks for staying so late. Good evening. I'm doctor Rogini Saxena, a cognitive neuroscientist, a professor of practice in the population and health and leadership department at the University of New Haven, a Derby resident, and finally, I'm a board member at the Prague Academy. I moved here to Connecticut from New York City to start my family. I chose the Naugatuck Valley specifically for its community and pace of life, but I quickly discovered that families who want rigorous, inclusive public education don't have it here. Proud Academy would change that. My cognitive re neuroscience research examines how environments shape learning. Defiance is really clear. When students spend cognitive energy on self protection, that is navigating hostility, invisibility, or environments that are not built for them, working memory narrows, executive function suffers, and overall academic performance declines. Not because the students lack ability, because their brains are preoccupied elsewhere. Restoring safety, dignity, and belonging allows those cognitive functioning systems to come back online. That is not ideology. It is just neuroscience. The proud academy is built around this insight. It will be the first fully inclusive identity affirming public charter school in the Naugatuck Valley and among the first in New England. The demand for this kind of program is real. The model is evidence based. And most critically, the school has already cleared Connecticut's rigorous state approval process. Our governance is in place. The academic framework is complete. The Valley Proud Center, our affiliated community center, is already producing measurable outcomes in this community. This committee is being asked for state appropriations to unlock federal funding for a school Connecticut has already approved. Declining to fund it sends a message that clearing the state's own bar is not enough, and that should concern anyone who believes in the integrity of that process. Every family in the Naugatuck Valley deserves a public option that is both rigorous and a true academic sanctuary for their child. That option is ready with the proud academy. I am asking you to fund it. Thank you.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, and thank you for your testimony, and thank you for staying up this late with us. Next up, we have doctor Thomas. Doctor Thomas something last night. Dent Dentley? The Handy? Doctor Thomas from ACES? No? How about Anna Hall from the Connecticut Charter School Association? Anna.

[Representative Corpus (Appropriations Committee member)]: Good evening.

[Anna Hall (Connecticut Charter Schools Association)]: I'll give you an easy name for the lady.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Oh, thank you. Oh, I needed that when I butchered the last five in a row.

[Anna Hall (Connecticut Charter Schools Association)]: Well, good evening, and thank you so much to the committee. And in particular, also to the hardworking staff who has made this process seamless through what I know has been a lot of change change ups in the lineup, so to speak. My name is Anna Hall, and as senator McCrory said, I'm with the Connecticut Charter Schools Association. I really wanna underscore again my thanks to the committee. And in particular, the thing that I have observed the most over these past many hours is the impact and the power of what is truly democracy at work. The many, many people who have been given the opportunity, gifted the opportunity to make their voices heard about the things that in many cases are the most important in many of our lives, namely what's available to our children. And in my personal experience, speaking completely, in a nonpartisan way is that that democracy, that opportunity has never been more important. And for people to feel like their voices are being heard now more than ever. However, I will say, I think another thing that is standing out to me in the charter context over the course of listening to the the many hours of testimony is that people's voices being heard also ultimately has to be matched by action. And that you've heard from many representatives of charter schools whose voices have been heard for many years, but that, that voice, those voices have not been matched by action. And so I would say from the charter school association perspective, we need a fundamental change to eliminate the barriers to new charters being opened in the state of Connecticut. So that the folks who are here year after year after year, don't lose faith in the very process that you all are investing so much time and energy in, in order to give them and their communities of voice. And again, the thing that is the most important of all, which is the opportunities available to their children. The other thing that it underscore is that the existing charter schools are being denied equitable funding and that they still don't have access to the full, weighted funding that public district schools have. And so any conversation and consideration of expanding the foundation funding first needs to accommodate charter schools for the weighted funding that they're entitled to and still not receiving. And then finally, I just say keeping it as my kids would say, a 100, at 10:30 at night. Any study is going to find that the ECS rate needs to go up, and so we can cut out the middle man friends and give an increase now.

[Cindy Jackson (Children’s Therapy Services/Birth to Three director)]: Thank you. Thank you.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, Anna, and thank you for keeping it 100. Alright. Steven Tracy. I think Steven already went. Right? Yeah. I think we have

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Steven already.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Rita Rita McDonald Campbell. That looks like Rita. She's like a retired teacher. Take you take you take yourself off mute and start talking to me about retired teachers.

[Jane Wilson (ARTC Insurance Co-Chair; Retired teacher)]: Senator McCrory, good evening. Good evening.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: My friend, Rita.

[Diane Wilcutts (Education Advocate)]: Yes. It is.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Hello. Good to see you.

[Jane Wilson (ARTC Insurance Co-Chair; Retired teacher)]: Good to see you. Good to be seen.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: Yes.

[Jane Wilson (ARTC Insurance Co-Chair; Retired teacher)]: Esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee, I'm Rita McDougall Campbell, a retired public school administrator and a resident of Trumbull. I'm here to request that HB fifty thirty two be amended to be more equitably assist retired educators who receive health insurance benefits through the Connecticut Teachers Retirement Board's traditional Medicare supplement plan option. For the record, I and other retirees have made this request in this forum each year since 2019. We are hopeful that 2026 will be the year that our perennial request is granted for fiscal year 2027 and beyond. Prior to 2018, TRB offered one health insurance option, the traditional Medicare with a supplement, and the state provided a subsidy that covered one third of the monthly premium cost of that plan. However, in 2018, TRB offered, in addition to the Medicare supplement, a privatized for profit advantage plan and began basing the state's monthly premium one third subsidy on that less expensive plan, leaving those of us enrolled in traditional Medicare at a distinct financial disadvantage. For the past eight years, retired educators have lobbied relentlessly to restore parity to the state's premium subsidy relief for the two health insurance plans so that retirees are offered realistic and affordable choices during the annual medical insurance open enrollment period. And during those eight years, retirees have been told repeatedly that the cost of restoring the one third premium subsidy for the Medicare supplement, which stressed the TRB health insurance account. However, in the current fiscal year's budget, approximately 12,000,000 that the state should have been required to contribute to the TRB health insurance account was withheld and diverted to other projects because the state's budget professionals determined that the health insurance account was so fiscally sound, it could easily withstand the funding loss. In fact, the original state request was for 25,000,000 over a two year period. Ironically, based on historical plan enrollment data, the 12,000,000 withheld this year is more than double the estimated cost of restoring the full one third Medicare supplement subsidy. As a retiree who's been adversely affected by the loss of the full Medicare supplement subsidy, I implore the Appropriations Committee to revisit the inequity and support an amendment to this bill that would fully restore the premium subsidy to cover the full one third monthly cost of the TRB traditional Medicare plan. Thank you for allowing me to share this testimony. Thank you for staying up so late to hear me give the testimony, and I hope you will fully support this request for fiscal year twenty twenty seven and beyond. And also I hope that you will continue to support PA 2363, which gave us the two additional reps for the TRB board. And don't take that away, please. Mhmm. Thank you very much, and have a good evening.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, Rita, for thank you for your testimony. We'll talk. Okay. Diane Wilkuts

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: for the Hi. Okay.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Go ahead, Diane. And after that Got it. Back to doctor Thomas. Doctor Thomas. Okay. Go go ahead, Diane. You're up first.

[Diane Wilcutts (duplicate entry—see Speaker 163)]: Okay. Thanks. I'm Diane Wilcutts, and I serve as an education advocate on behalf of students with disabilities, including many who have dyslexia. I have to respectfully oppose many parts actually of HB 5,032, But I'm speaking today primarily about my concerns with insufficient funding for the office of dyslexia and reading disabilities. Currently, this bill funds only salaries of ODRD staff and does not include funding for initiatives. So why does this matter? Earlier today, senator Austin asked why so many parents are reporting that it took years to have their children with dyslexia identified and even longer to receive appropriate reading instruction. I know exactly why. I've been doing this for twenty three years, and I've been in thousands of PPTs. Among other reasons, most districts do not currently have who have adequate training in identifying students with dyslexia and don't have staff who are qualified to provide structured literacy in a way that's consistent with reading science. So people are saying to me, how can this possibly be? These are teachers. Of course, they're qualified. Of course, they're experts. Unfortunately, our schools of education have not adequately prepared our teachers to teach reading to anybody, let alone a child with dyslexia. And so one of the initiatives that the ODRD is supposed to, take charge of is auditing the educator preparation programs and ensuring that they are providing our teachers with the training they need in structured literacy and super and and provide them with the supervised practicum. This is not what we can do in a one week training, which is what most of our teachers have. We need to do it. It typically takes a couple years to do. So it's gotta be happening in our colleges and universities. You know, we can wish that all our teachers are gonna get it, but we absolutely have to at least start by having our our educator preparation programs do this. There's already a law that requires special ed teachers and reading specialists to have completed a program study in supervised practicum and structured literacy. This has not been enforced. And as a result, I go to PPTs and say, we need someone who has had a program of study in supervised practical and structured literacy. And the school says, we don't have anyone like that in district, even though it's required as part of the teacher certification process. So at this point, we need to fund the office of dyslexia and reading disabilities to work on this. And if we get our special ed teachers and reading specialists on board, this is not just gonna help kids with dyslexia. This is going to help all our kids. Structured literacy works for everybody. And so I just you know, I'm really honored that you all are staying up, and I I hope you get to get in your journey soon, and I appreciate your time.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, and thank you for your advocacy and your information in regards dyslexia. Doctor Thomas? Dehayle? Doctor Thomas? Okay. And we'll move on.

[Tom Dennehy (Executive Director, ACES)]: Here we go. Thank you, senator. Honorable chairs, senator Cathy Austin and representative Tony Walker and senator McCrory, ranking members and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee, I'm Tom Dennehy, executive director of ACES, New Haven County's Regional Education Service Center. ACES operates three magnet schools in the New Haven region, Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School in Hamden, ACES at Chase in Waterbury, and educational center for the arts in New Haven. I testify you, before you in opposition of the governor's elimination of the $12,000,000 in funding designated for rest magnet schools. Ask students who attend magnet schools as well as their parents why they like school choice and they will give you as many reasons that you heard today. Whatever their reasons may be, both students and their parents wanna have a choice in choosing where to enroll in grades K to 12, yet the governor, SDE, and the state overlook this opportunity year in and year out. Instead, they neglect to fund magnet education and leave operators to their own devices shortfall. What's worse, they have been at this game for years and years. And most recently, they sprinkled a little salt in the wound by eliminating the capacity to raise tuition on the town side of the magnet tuition. Here's the math on magnet school funding per pupil. The average cost of a pupil for to educate a pupil in Connecticut statewide is $22,054 The rest operated magnet school funding from state and towns is $14,879 There's a shortage of $7,175 per pupil. Connecticut student funding formula is unfair, unjust, violates public policy and fails to implement the state's educational interests. The state needs to adequately fund its magnet schools. The governing state needs to restore the 12,000,000 in funding to the rest magnet schools now. I also oppose Senate Bill one thirty eight regarding the $5.00 4 costs that the bill would require magnet schools to fund. In the future, I suspect that there will be no reprieve for magnet operators until the state adjusts the student funding formula. I hope they agree to do so without cause for a new statewide CHEP suit or a 10 for B complaint or closures of magnet schools. And one more thing, I ask that the legislature fund the teacher in residence program at 1 and a half million dollars for rest, which manages the highly successful program and adding certified teachers of color to our classrooms. Thank you, and have a great evening.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, Thomas. Appreciate you. Next up, we have Omar. Omar Reiske. Omar? No Omar. How about Tracy Tracy Madden Hennessy from the YWCA.

[Tracy Madden Hennessy (CEO, YWCA New Britain)]: Oh, good good evening, senator McCrory.

[Speaker 122]: Good evening, Tracy.

[Tracy Madden Hennessy (CEO, YWCA New Britain)]: Esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Tracy Madden Hennessy. I'm CEO for the YWCA in New Britain, and we are an early start child care program in our community serving more than 200 children. We're also the operator and developer for the state's fully first fully operational child care business incubator. Thank you for your attention over the last year and the funding that supported an early childhood endowment. I'm testifying, however, because the work is not done. A problem still remains with the care for kids parents subsidy program, which has a seven to eight month managed wait list before families can get on it. As you know, the state grants were never created to cover the full cost of child care. These sources there were three sources that would cover, and these sources included the grant, a parent fee, and the care for kids subsidy. In my program, more than 90% of our parents are eligible for care for kids. On average, our parent fee is approximately $36 per week per child. Between our grant and the parent fee annually collected is far below the estimated cost of quality and also below the cost of sustainability. The YWCA's practice is to assist every parent with Care for Kids application at the time of enrollment if they're not already on the program. Currently, only thirty nine percent of our families are enrolled in Care for Kids despite the likelihood of their eligibility. This means that the YWCA is subsidizing the cost of child care for sixty percent of our enrollees for seven months while parents wait until they're invited off the wait list. The loss for providing care for this group was more than $222,000 last year. In addition, I wanted to talk a little bit about our incubator whose operators celebrated their first anniversary in business. The model provides full service supports to family child care providers and gives them a boost to developing a sustainable business. This is critical given the shortage of infant toddler care in our community. In addition, the YWCA finds itself providing supports to multiple family child care providers in our community. And currently, 90% of our funding comes from private sources. I really believe to be a viable and replicable model across other communities, it must be state supported. We've received many calls toward many groups through our facility, all from individuals and groups interested in bringing an incubator to their community. And without dedicated state assistance, many may find start up for such a project difficult. Thanks for listening tonight and being up late with me.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, Tracy. Thank you for your testimony and your advocacy.

[Tracy Madden Hennessy (CEO, YWCA New Britain)]: Thank you.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Next up, we have you're Shonda. You're shot. That's you. That's you, miss Harris. Good to see you.

[Jennifer Perez (Chair, Bridgeport BOE)]: Good to see you as well. Alright.

[Yashanda Harris (Managing Director, CT Teacher Residency Program)]: Dear honorable members of the Appropriations Committee, my name is Yashanda Harris, and I'm the managing director of residency and financial management for the Connecticut future residency program. I am joining the RESC Alliance and requesting that the state department of ed budget include a new line item designating a minimum of 1,500,000.0 specifically for the Connecticut teacher residency program to support district partnerships. I am asking for your support in addressing addressing both the statewide teacher shortage and the need to diversify the teaching profession for all districts while supporting workforce development. Connecticut TRP's vision is to prepare quality teacher candidates to create opportunities for all children and transform schools to be diverse and inclusive environments. Research highlights that teacher residency models are an innovative solution for recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality teachers. This is what Connecticut TRPs mission and vision is focused on while also addressing the barriers that residents face and traditional certification programs. This alternative route offers residents a salary and benefits as they take courses, what work while working alongside a mentor teacher throughout the school year. And they're eligible for a full time teaching position once they have completed all program requirements. We are currently recruiting our eighth cohort with over 177 teachers serving as teachers of record across Connecticut, over 90% of whom are people of color. My request is that we ensure equitable and sufficient funding for this residency model to further increase the number of teachers of color in Connecticut. By establishing a new budget line item of 1,500,000.0, we can support districts partnering with the Connecticut teacher residency program and continue to work together to diversify Connecticut's classroom. Thank you for your time and your consideration.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you for your testimony. Next up, we have Landra Lopez. Landra? I see no Landra. How about who's this? From Bridgeport Public School. Hermino?

[Speaker 122]: Hermino Hermino Planas. Good evening, senator Macquarie.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Gotcha.

[Speaker 122]: Good evening, NS team members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Hermino Planas, and I'm a proud graduate of the Bridgeport Public Schools, a parent of public school graduates from Bridgeport and Stratford, district administrator, and an executive board member of the Bridgeport Council of Administrators and Supervisors. I I have served in Connecticut as a teacher and administrator for more than thirty years. I'm here tonight, like many others who spoke before me, to oppose the adjusted governor's proposed budget because it delays the funding our students urgently need right now. A blue ribbon panel might help guide long term reform, but our districts cannot wait months or years for solutions when the needs before us are immediate. For more than a decade, Bridgeport ECS allocation has remained unchanged at $11,525 per student, a figure that has not moved since 2013. Had the formula simply kept pace with inflation, it would be approximately $16,000 per students today. Under the current proposal, more than a 150 municipalities will not would receive no ECS increase next year, with only 16 seeing small formula driven adjustments. That forces districts to either raise local taxes or cut essential staff and programs. Bridgeport has already been forced to make these cuts. Since 2013, we have eliminated a significant number of positions. And in just the last two years, we have cut dozens more. These cuts have included teachers, librarians, assistant principals, and central office roles. Positions removed not for convenience, but to close unavoidable shortfalls. These cuts are not abstract. They remove direct services and trusted adults our students depend on every day. The impact on our on my own department, mathematics, has been especially severe. We have many early career teachers, yet we no longer have math coaches. We know that coaching strengthens practice and improve student outcomes. Without those coaches, new educators lose the guided modeling and feedback that help them grow and help students learn more effectively. Across the district, the stain the strain is unmistakable. Counselor caseloads continue to rise, leaving less time for prevention, intervention, and crisis support. Growing class sizes reduce opportunities for individualized attention and increase teacher workloads. The loss of librarians means students have fewer opportunities to develop literacy, research skills, and academic confidence. These strains are only the tip of the iceberg. You know, not only in Bridgeport, but in districts across Connecticut. Our administrators, teachers, and staff care deeply about our students and work tirelessly to fill these gaps whenever they can. But there are limits

[Senator Gary Winfield]: to how

[Speaker 122]: far dedication can stretch. Student needs continue to rise at the very same time the state has the resources to help. Connecticut can act. As of 01/05/2026, the state controller projects on a 136,300,000.0 general fund surplus.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: It

[Speaker 122]: reports that the state remains in one of its strongest fiscal positions in decades. The rainy fund stands at roughly 4,000,000,000. And since 2017, Connecticut has paid down nearly 10,000,000 in pension debt, freeing long term budget capacity. So I urge you today to take action on both fronts, providing media funding now while continuing long term reforms, adjusting the easiest formula for inflation so that districts like Bridgeport can stabilize staffing, teachers, math and literacy coaches, counselors, interventionists, librarians, maintain manageable class sizes, sustain attendance gains, and ensure that every child in every zip code has access to the opportunities and services they deserve. After thirty one years in Bridgeport schools, I can't say with certainty. When we invest in our students, they rise. And when our students rise, our community our communities rise with them. I wanna thank you for the opportunity to testify and for your commitment to Connecticut children.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, and thank you for your testimony. And thank you for your service for thirty one years in Bridgeport. Next up, Lon Seaman.

[Speaker 110]: Good evening, senator. And and it's, it's getting late,

[David Weinreb (NHFT E-Board; New Haven DTC; parent)]: and I got a nine

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: year old getting a little late, little late, little late. I got a nine year

[Speaker 110]: old that hasn't gone to sleep upstairs. I gotta go take care of her in a minute, but I'll keep my remarks brief here. So my name is Lon Seidman. I am, the chairman of the Essex Board of Education, a member of the Region four Board of Education, and also the first vice president of CABE. And we've submitted written testimony, so, I'll refer all of you to that. Two items I just wanted to bring some focus to is one is the $12,000,000 for the rest magnet school funding, along with the elimination of the 58% tuition cap for sending districts. We're concerned about that for obvious reasons because that puts a greater burden, on the sending districts, and we're certainly trying to, prevent, property tax increases. And along those lines, the ECS funding, I know we've heard a lot about that today, and I just wanted to add another voice to that. Moving the baseline and indexing it to inflation, I think, will do a lot to stabilize budgets, make things more predictable. And if you look at the rate of inflation since 2013 to now, it's about 40%. And to give you an example, one of the member towns in my regional school district, Deep River, has had pretty much flat ECS funding for the last thirteen years, but that money is worth $727,000 less today than it was in 2013. And that, of course, has been shifted to the local property taxpayers along with all the pressure from special education and other, expenses rising in the district. And they're doing everything right. They've got a regional school district here, and and they're still struggling to, to to make things work. So, those are the things we wanted to bring to your attention tonight on behalf of our 1,400 members, and I thank you all for your time.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you for your testimony and your advocacy and all the hard work you're doing. Next up, we have Lance Lance Booze from New Haven Public School.

[Lance (Teacher, New Haven Public Schools)]: Good morning, everybody, and thank you for your attention. Thank you to also many of my New Haven Public schools colleagues for testifying earlier, and thank you all for being here up so late on a school night. I joined the huge chorus of people in advocating for an increase to the education cost sharing formula. Many school districts desperately need it, especially New Haven. Before I go on to talk about how this affects our students personally, I wanna point out that New Haven absolutely cannot bear the burden of shifting that cost to the tax base because we we we have Yale, and they take so much of the taxable property off the tax rolls. And while they do make some voluntary contributions, it does not make up for what New Haven is losing from property tax revenue there. How this affects us in the classrooms, we are at capacity with many of our classes. We desperately need smaller class sizes. We have a teacher shortage that I don't think we can even afford to hire the more teachers even if we could find them. We need in the school more paraprofessionals. We would benefit a lot from more one to one and small group tutors. We desperately need more special ed teachers. We are also short staffed on librarians and guidance counselors. My school, currently shares both its librarian and guidance counselor with another school. We need more, general support for student mental health. My kids had three mental health crises in the last, month or so, and we need additional support for English language learners, to be pulled for small group instruction. I don't wanna take up too much of your time, but I appreciate your attention, and I appreciate the solidarity from teachers around Connecticut. Thank you so much.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, and thank you for your advocacy once again. I believe we have next up will be that's the Steve Hernandez. Is Steve here?

[Steven Hernandez (Executive Director, ConnCAN)]: Yes, sir.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Okay. Steve, you have the floor.

[Steven Hernandez (Executive Director, ConnCAN)]: Thank you, senator McCrory, co chairs, ranking, and other esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Steve Hernandez, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now. It's good to see you here tonight with us. KanKan and the families we represent, we're pleased to see the opening notes of what, with your care, could end up being a very exciting education budget. With investments in special education, high dosage tutoring, teacher apprenticeship, and evidence based reading and math practices, and a blue ribbon commission to look at how we fund and allocate resources for public education. These are sensible starts, and a strong education budget for the state has been a long time coming, but it's not here quite yet. Until we decouple access to quality educational opportunity from ZIP code, the ECS formula needs more than a tune up. It needs an infusion that lives up to our constitutional promise of a free public education. Right now, that cost is being shifted onto families and towns that simply cannot afford to patch together what their children need with what little they have. Unless we pay our dues, we are effectively asking our black and brown children and children living in poverty in the quiet corners of the state to fend for themselves. It's no wonder to anyone who has testified here today why we are disengaging our youth before they get a fair chance to connect to productive life. We say we can't afford to fund educational opportunities, but we know we can't afford not to. If we don't believe in them through how we fund, how can we ask them to then believe in us? I appreciate the role of smart, committed experts who will serve on a blue ribbon panel. Yes. They can help us innovate and improve, but it is unfair to ask them for advice when we already know what is broken. The real risk is that these experts will return with the same advice we have heard for years. When it comes to education, invest urgently, equitably, and deeply. Let's all be honest about where we stand. Across the Connecticut race and wealth gap, too many students still struggle in core subjects. In Hartford, only about 20% of students meet benchmarks for ELA, compared to roughly two thirds of students in neighboring West Hartford. In Pomfort, about 70% of students meet benchmarks in math, compared to 30% in Putnam. In places like Woodbridge and Westport, more than 80% of students meet expectations in both ELA and math, while peers in Hamden and Norwalk fall below 45%. These gaps fall hardest on students who have been under resourced under resourced for generations. Less than one third of black and Hispanic students meet these benchmarks statewide. That's not because they can't learn. It's because we haven't learned as a state that what you get is what you don't pay for. We owe it to both our students and to our state to do much better. This session, that means improving resource equity through education funding and fusion, teaching kids to read by third grade so that they can explore the why of reading, addressing math so that every kid counts and paths to college, career, and service become clearer, fixing the public charter school

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: approval process, and paying

[Steven Hernandez (Executive Director, ConnCAN)]: for the community sanctioned charters we've For details on For details on these policy confer concepts I refer you to my written testimony, KanKan urges this committee to build upon our governor's proposal and deliver an education budget that fully supports all of our learners and delivers our on our commitment so that every Connecticut kit counts, reads, and thrives. We are here to help in any way that we can with data driven advice, drafting, and moral support. Thank you for your time.

[Senator Douglas McCrory]: Thank you, Steve, for your testimony and your advocacy over the years. At this time, I'm going to retire, and I'm going to pass the responsibilities of the rest of this committee onto one of my colleagues. I think it's senator Julie Kushner.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you, senator McCrory. Next up, I think we have Shaina Taylor.

[Shana Taylor (Bridgeport educator and cheer coach)]: Good evening, chair presidents and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Shana Taylor and I'm a Bridgeport educator of twelve years and a cheerleading coach of over a decade. I'm here today, not just as a professional, but as someone who experiences the real human consequences of educational funding decisions every single day. As a coach every year begins with uncertainty, not about our athletes dedication, discipline or talent, but about whether our program will even exist. Last year, our cheer program was nearly cut. I sat in a board of education meeting prepared to testify, but I couldn't speak. I was in tears. Not because cheerleading is just a sport, but because for many of our students, it is stability, belonging, structure and safety. These programs are not extras. They are lifelines. And yet every year, we find ourselves scrambling for funding, relying on outside partnerships, grants, and temporary solutions just to survive. No program that serves children should have to live in survival mode. As an educator, I also see the strain inside our classrooms. I work closely with students who require specialized services, interventions, and support. I see firsthand how underfunding impacts staffing, resources, class sizes, and the ability to meet students' needs effectively. Our teachers are stretched. Our support staff are stretched. Our students are stretched. Meanwhile, the education cost sharing base rate has not been increased since 2013, But funding has remained largely the same. Flat funding is not neutral. Flat funding is a cut. When magnet funding is reduced, when excess cost funding fails to meet actual needs, when districts like Bridgeport are expected to do more with less year after year, the burden does not fell on systems. It falls on children. Bridgeport students deserve predictability. They deserve opportunity. They deserve programs that are secure and not constantly threatened. They deserve classrooms that are fully supported and they deserve a funding formula that reflects today's reality, not one frozen in time. This is not about politics. This is about fairness. This is about equity and this is about the future of our students and our city. Thank you very much.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you for your testimony. Next up, we have Cindy Beauregard.

[Cindy Beauregard (Norwich Public Schools; Family Resource Center)]: Good evening, senator. Good evening, senator McCoy and senator Kathy Austin and the Appropriations Committee. Thank you so much for all of you staying up so late to hear all our testimonies. I am Cindy Beargard. I'm from Norwich Public Schools. I'm the family resource coordinator for the, family resource center. I've been this is my fourteenth year. For more than thirty years, the family resource center has been a lifeline for families in Norwich. We are not just a program tucked inside a school building. We are the steady trusted presence for families turning into their most vulnerable moments. The proposed budget cut is not just a reduction in funding. It's a reduction in support for real families, real children, real crisis is happening every single day. What makes the family resource center so powerful and so effective is that we serve the entire family. We are in the schools. We see what families are facing in real time. When a child is struggling, we don't wait for the situation to spiral. When a parent feels overwhelmed, confused, or alone, we are there in real time. Because we're embedded in the schools, we can respond before small challenges become larger, more serious problems. We are the bridge. The family resource centers connect families to food, housing support, mental health services, academic guidance, and counsel countless other resources. We help parents navigate systems that can feel intimidating and overwhelming. We stand beside them. We advocate for them, and we walk with them. Families trust us because we are consistent. We have built relationships in this community for over three decades. We are not outsiders. We are part of Norwich. We are part of the schools. We're part of the community fabric just like the rest of our other 56 family resource centers in Connecticut. When budget cuts are when budgets are cut, services shrink. When services shrink, families fall through the cracks. And when families fall through the cracks, children suffer. The cost of cutting prevention and support today will be far greater tomorrow for our schools, for our community, and for our children's future. The family resource centers is there when families need us most in moments of crisis, transition, and uncertainty. We are not there just inconvenience, but when it matters. A cut to an already limited budget threatens the stability of a program that has proven its value for over thirty years. Our families deserve better. Our children deserve better. I am so passionate about the family resource centers. I cannot tell you how thankful I am that we are able to continue. The cut will be very deep for our families and our children. And I really, really hope that we can keep our budget line as it was so we can continue to be there for our families and watch them grow and watch them feel proud of themselves and their children and walk into schools and be feel like family. Thank you so much, and thank you for staying awake and listening to all of us.

[Dr. Julie Luby (Superintendent, Winchester Public Schools)]: Thank

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: you. Thank you. I actually we have a family resource center in Danbury, and it's wonderful. So I I've had a lot of testifying.

[Cindy Beauregard (Norwich Public Schools; Family Resource Center)]: Thank you. And it is just such I wish I wish I could invite all of you to visit a family resource center and just see what it is because it's so unique and so powerful.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Alright. Now they're gonna Thank you. Give me a hard time if I let

[Speaker 30]: you talk. Thank you

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: so much.

[Representative Tammy Exum]: Thank

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: you. Next up, we have Paula Bacolini.

[Committee Staff (Zoom tech/host)]: Good evening, senator Kushner and the distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee, senator Austin and the co chairs, senator Austin and representative Walker. Happy birthday, representative Walker. And thank you all for staying up so late and giving me an opportunity to testify. My name is Paula Baccolini, and I'm a retired Connecticut educator and a member of the Association of Retired Teachers of Connecticut since 2013. I'm not a member of CEA, and I'm not a member of CEAR. While CEAR represents active teachers very well, CE I'm still waiting for CEAR to protect my needs as a retired teacher. I'm testifying to request that you please amend the governor's budget HB 5,032. I'm most concerned that the state of Connecticut has continued to reduce their promised one third subsidy for the teacher retirement board health insurance premiums for retired teachers. They did that last year, and they've done that again. They've done that since 2018. Each retired teacher who was enrolled in the TRB Medicare supplement plan has been penalized in the amount of $10,000 in additional premium costs since then. This has got nothing to do with the cost of health insurance premiums. It has everything to do with the unfair state subsidy reduction. Retired teachers, they pay over 80% of all health insurance premiums out of pocket. Personally, I have several health care needs requiring access to affordable TRB Medicare supplement plan. And I'm urging the appropriations committee to please make a modest budget adjustment to include the full restoration of the promised one third state subsidy for the actual premium cost of the TRB Medicare supplement plan. I also wanna take a moment to thank the co chairs and all the members of the Appropriations Committee for their unanimous votes a few years ago, which provided retired teachers with equal representation on the TRB. Active teachers vote for active teachers as a representative, and retired teachers vote for retired teacher representatives, which meets the needs of each group. There's only one organization that wants active teachers to vote for retired teacher representatives. This is not acceptable. And thank you for upholding retired teachers representation and for passing legislation for fairness in the TRB voting practices coming up this session. I hope you will pass that. Anyway, I do wanna say again, thank you for your time and please, please do everything that you can to adjust the governor's budget. And finally, after eight years of us asking, will you please restore the full promised one third subsidy to the teacher retirement board, Medicare supplement plan? Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you, Paula. Next up, we have, Maria Amado. Is Maria with us?

[Speaker 108]: I'm sorry. Maria Amado, is messaging me, and she is, on the Zoom call but has not received the call in this invite or if someone could send it again.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. So, Taylor, I don't know if you've heard that.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I heard that. She has declined it several times.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Could you I I am having trouble hearing you here. One.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: She has declined it several times. We just resent it.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay.

[Speaker 108]: Thank you very much.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: So if she she accepts it, then we'll put her back in the queue. But for now, I'm gonna move to Nicole Nailan.

[Dr. Emily Hoagland (Pediatrician) with Rosie and Andy]: Nicole. Good evening, senator Kushner. Hi, everybody, esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee and everyone else up this evening. My name is Nicole Nalin. I'm an early childhood special education teacher and an assistant director for one of the agencies that's contracted providing early intervention services for children in the Connecticut birth to three system. As you might be able to hear in my voice, I am here well past my bedtime tonight, as I'm sure many of you are because your youngest constituents and their families, they really need your attention now. The birth to three rates of reimbursement have not increased since 2017. And we know that data that was submitted from a rate study conducted is now three years old. And so, unfortunately, I find myself here with many of my colleagues asking for your help to support our system again this year. If you did not already know this, there is no wait list for birth to three services. So we are federally mandated to provide services and supports for these children and families, the services that they need if they are eligible. We can't be continued to sustain the really high quality services that we're providing right now with without a rate increase to the system. Honestly, I ask you to imagine what would you do if you hadn't received a raise in nine years. It's been really, really challenging. And so I'm here because we know that our birth to three services result in really wonderful outcomes for the families and for the children and their development. So many children that are enrolled in early intervention services actually don't end up needing to transition to preschool special education services. That results in fewer costs for the school districts. And so that's just a trickle down effect. Right? That's gonna support families across the state. So if you can revisit the budget that's allotted to the birth to three system and really give us the funding that we need to have this rate increase this upcoming fiscal year, then I know that you're going to ensure continued success for the infants, toddlers, and families all across Connecticut. They really need your attention now. And so I'm hoping that you're gonna hear my colleagues and my pleas to you all this year, and then you won't see us next year. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your attention to the babies all across the state in your districts, and I wish you a good night.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Thank you, Nicole. Next up, we have Jason Feeney. Is Jason here?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I'm not seeing him.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. We will go then to Mel Milly or Maylee? Aguirre. Aguirre? Maylee? I don't see her, Taylor. Do you know if she's there?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I have not heard from her, and you are right. I do not see her either.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. So we'll move on to Portia Scott Thiem. Portia is here. I see you. Go ahead, Portia.

[Speaker 93]: Good evening, members, esteemed members of the appropriation committee. And, again, thank you for allowing us to speak. My name is Portia Scott Chum, and I am a twenty eight year veteran in education, a district administrator, a parent, grandparent, and I'm here to speak on behalf of Bridgeport public schools and the students who urgently need your support. It's well known that the ECS foundation rate has remained unchanged since 2013, while the cost of living, the cost of operating schools, and the complexity of student needs have all increased. That frozen rate, however, has real consequences. Year after year, we've watched the erosion of our public education system, the loss of teachers, librarians, paraprofessionals, guidance counselors, social workers. And this year we lost 18 assistant principals with a district of a size of almost 20,000 students. So every loss removes another layer of support that our students depend on. We're now at a pivotal moment. We can still choose to level the playing field and prepare our young people to compete in a global economy, but only if we invest in them now. We know that when you invest in people, you never lose. Numbers matter, but numbers do not build the future. People do. And in this case, young people do. We often talk about saving for a rainy day, but it's not raining anymore. It's actually flooding. And then we if we do not invest in the very people who could design the systems and structures to stop the damage, there's a tsunami that is approaching. And this tsunami is economic, is technological, and it's workforce. AI will reshape our jobs, but it will not replace the need for human beings to keep our communities functioning. And if we don't prepare our students now, they'll be swallowed up by this wave instead of riding it. So our future engineers, our mechanics, our wastewater technicians, our fire inspectors, teachers, nurses, medical specialists, they're all sitting in our classrooms today. They cannot emerge without a strong public education system. We cannot expect tomorrow's workforce to exist if we underfund the system that creates it. Despite

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: all

[Speaker 93]: of these advances in technologies, there's certain truths that remain unchanged. When your parents age, it will be a person, not an algorithm, who's gonna care for them. When your child enters a classroom, they'll need a teacher, not a chat box. When you seek information, you go to the library to get to get information. When you go to the doctor, you get a trained human being that draws your blood, read your results, and explains what they mean. These careers are essential, but they do not appear out of thin air. They begin with equitable education. So I urge you in all sincerity to please increase the EC the ECS Foundation to reflect the true cost of living and learning today. Bridgeport children deserve what every child deserves, which is a fair chance, a strong education, and a future that's not determined by their ZIP code. Thank you for allowing me to speak.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you and have a good night. Next up, we have Mackenzie Hurtado.

[Mackenzie Hurtado (CTECS; State Vocational Federation of Teachers President)]: Good evening, senator. Thank you for having me here tonight. My name is Mackenzie Hurtado. I am a resident of West Hartford and the president of the State Vocational Federation of Teachers, AFT local 4,200 a, representing over 1,300 state employees. CTECS is truly special because it is the only trade system of its kind in the country. The educators that I represent work in this district because they believe in its mission and vision. Many of our members are alumni of this district. Our trade teachers all worked in industry and understand the need for a skilled workforce in Connecticut. Despite the growing challenges we face, we stay in the system because we believe in its future. Changes to CTECs over the last few years have affected both educators and students. While our budgets have been relatively stagnant, we have seen prices for materials triple or quadruple in price. To prepare our students for the current workforce, trade teachers need updated machines, software, and training regularly. Every year, each shop will work with all freshmen for three rounds of exploratory. In most of our schools, this means hundreds of students needing consumable materials for projects. Our trade teachers have not seen an increase in their exploratory budgets in years. Once students are placed, a trade teacher will have 36 students working six hours a day, one hundred and eighty two days a year. That's more than 39,000 instructional hours per shop annually. Students need enough materials to practice, make mistakes, and create products that are industry quality. It is imperative that our students have the appropriate materials, machines, and software to learn. Unlike other districts, CTECS does not receive funding based on its special education numbers. Our budget is set without knowing the needs of our incoming students. Since adopting a lottery system, we have seen the number of special education students rise and the needs of our students increase. Our students may need completely different services on the trade side versus the academic side of their schooling. We need the appropriate staffing and programming to ensure that we meet the needs of all of our students. We are encouraged to see the introduction of para educators to our district's budget. We support our district hiring and training our own para educators for our unique needs. I am, however, concerned that the 1,200,000.0 will not be enough to pay for wages, benefits, and address our growing staffing and programming needs for our special education students. We have suffered from mismanagement in the past that continues to affect our present. Over the past year, we have seen a steady, knowledgeable, and transparent leadership. Right now, they are working with a budget that cannot support the programming that is necessary, not only for our high needs students, but even our most basic instructional needs. Our leadership needs the tools and funds to help us reach our mission and vision. The educators in the system want to provide their students with the program and education they deserve to be the next skilled workforce of Connecticut. We hope that you will support us in this endeavor. And I know you're not taking questions, but anytime that you would like to talk about this, I'm happy to continue the conversation, and please read my written testimony. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you, Mackenzie. We appreciate all of you, by the way. I mean, if we start talking too long, we'll be here all night.

[Rita McDougall Campbell (Retired educator; ARTC)]: We understand. Thank you.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next, we have Dylan Singh. Is Dylan here? I don't see it. That person 5235

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: has joined us now.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I'm sorry, Taylor, but I really can't hear you. I know it's a problem of my computer and CTN.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: 235 has joined us. Maria.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Oh, Maria Maria Amado. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[Representative Toni Walker (House Chair, Appropriations Committee)]: Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

[Joanna Corbecki (Meriden resident)]: Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Hi. Hi

[Representative Khan (Appropriations Committee member)]: I I know. I know. I know.

[Cindy Jackson (Children’s Therapy Services/Birth to Three director)]: I know.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: I know. I know. Name. Name. Name.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Maybe your phone is also on. Did we lose her?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I think she has two devices. So I asked so I think the other one went away, and then I just asked the other one to unmute. If someone if the translator is still on, do you mind just

[Speaker 108]: I yes. I'm I'm here and I can read her testimony if she she's No.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: She's here now. I see her. Good evening,

[Cindy Jackson (Children’s Therapy Services/Birth to Three director)]: My name sorry.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: And I think the translator Adrian, now are you going to translate?

[Speaker 108]: Yes. My name is Maria Amado. I'm a licensed home family childcare educator in Hartford and the owner of Green World Family Child Care Home for more than ten years. I'm also a proud member of CSEA SCIU Local two thousand and one, notably the vice president of the childcare council. I have been accredited by the National Association of Family Child Care, NASFI, since 2019, and I currently serve as a state representative of Connecticut to this association. Maria Mado also sup supports and mentors other educators through the Connecticut, apprenticeship, program. I am here today to share how the care for kids wait list is affecting my small business and the families I serve. Because of the wait list, I had empty spaces that I cannot fill, and that means loss of income that I need in order to keep my program running. It's very painful to tell a family that I can't have a space for them simply because there are no funds available. I opened my program to support I opened my program to support working parents, especially low income families. And now the wait list forces me to serve fewer and fewer of the families who need it most. The loss of income makes it more difficult to pay basic expenses, such as the insurance, services, food, and materials, and this creates constant stress and uncertainty for suppliers like me. Family childcare providers make it possible for Connecticut's workforce to work, and I ask you that the to consider the families that are being impacted by this instability. I respectfully ask to for this committee to consider to fully fund care for kids and eliminate the wait list, to increase funding for the birth to three program, and to recognize the value of family child care providers and educators, that they contribute, into this industry. Investing in early childhood is not an expense. It is a prevention strategy and and an economy an economic growth strategy. I want to thank you for your time and your commitment, and have a good night.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Thank you, Maria and Adrian. And now do we have Dilan Singh, number 2 43? I don't see him

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: there. I don't believe so.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. And Eduardo Sparks, 245? I don't see him also. Denise Silverio? Nicole Robbins?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: She's here.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. Great. Nicole, can you see us here?

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I just And that's answer to a mute, and then I feel I think she just hopped off. So

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. Well, if she pops back on, we'll come back to her. For now, we'll go to Maria Naula. I don't see Maria either. Barbara Headley? I see Barbara is here. Go ahead, Barbara.

[Rev. Dr. Barbara Headley (Middletown; Capital Prep Middletown supporter)]: Thank you, senator Kushner. Good evening, members of the state appropriate committee. My My name is Reverend Doctor. Barbara Headley. I'm a citizen of Middletown for almost forty years. I've served at a as a former, seminary and university professor, former executive director of a citywide tutoring program for public elementary school students, and a former deputy chaplain for the Connecticut State Senate. Presently, I serve as a community engagement and scholar recruiter for Middletown Capital Prep Charter School. I appreciate the opportunity finally to testify today. I'm deeply concerned about our school system here in Middletown and especially what the state educational data statistics show about the lag in the educational progress of students in Middletown, especially the continuing poor and below level educational outcomes of students of color in Middletown. For years, I've listened to parents in my community who are worried about the poor educational student achievement levels and outcomes in our town. State educational data shows that the educational outcomes for students in Middletown are below state level, and the outcome for students of color are even lower, and they're being left behind. I have worked with other communities to help provide supportive educational opportunities for public school children, especially since COVID, where the projected educational gap is expected to cause generational educational deficiencies. Capital Prep schools are designed to help students who are struggling and are below state and national achievement scores, especially children of color who have been documented and shown to strive and thrive academically, socially, and emotionally in charter schools such as capital prep. The governor's proposed budget boosts charter school funding to reflect new schools and updated enrollment. The funding for the state charter schools in fiscal year twenty twenty seven would increase by $5,300,000 over current levels to reflect already approved funding for new schools in New Haven and Stanford. Middletown Capital Prep's charter school application was approved and ranked number one by the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2023. And yet, without adequate explanation, it remains unfunded for three years now. As I have heard in many testimonies are other charter schools that have been approved. We are repeatedly being told by public officials that funding Capital Prep Middletown would take funds away from the public school systems in Middletown. We know that this is untrue, and it distorts a clear understanding of school funding for charter schools in the state of Connecticut. The stellar reputation and success rate and high achievement statistics of capital prep schools is proven and well documented. They have over a 100% of their students get accepted to four year colleges. This is an issue of schools again public schools against charter. Please make every effort to fund our chapter our charter school. Thank you so much, and have a good night.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Have a good night. Next up, I believe we have I believe it's Bruney Edwards who I actually know. Good to see you, Bruney.

[Speaker 18]: Hello, senator Kushner. Good to see you. Good evening, senator Kushner and the distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to give testimonies to support the governor's budget. My name is Bruni Edwards. I'm the director of EdAdvance Birth to Three. EdAdvance is a RESC and one of the 17 agencies contracted to to deliver federally mandated early intervention services. We are proud to serve Connecticut's children and families. I believe you have heard, the the request from multiple people giving testimonial testimony earlier today. We have three asks. We need you to add funds to the birth to three and DSS budget lines to fully fund birth to three. We are asking that you add the million dollars back to the gap line and reinstate the statue that holds the gap payment at $200 per eligible child. And we ask that you do not tie the increased rate to tiers. We appreciate the increase in the governor's budget, but I wanna give some insight on how the reduction of gap and the proposed tiered system could impact programs. The OEC proposed tiered levels has an entry level professional rate of a $142 an hour, a middle tier of 152 an hour, and the highest level, level three, set at $167 an hour. I wanna stress that the 167 an hour recommended by the cost study team back in '20 in January 2024 when it was published was the true cost of service delivery. If the tiered system was implemented today, only two providers in the entire system of over 1,000 providers meets the expectation of the highest tier, a credential that was rolled out a year ago by OEC, but only two providers have been able to complete it. In our program, we don't have anyone that meets the requirement. We have about half of them that would meet the second tier requirement. If I look at what we did in services for the month of January and I apply the tiered system to, our services rendered with estimating that 50% of the services would be paid at level 150% would be paid at level two. We would gain $38,000 in services for the month of January, but we would lose 41,000 if the gap was if the gap was reduced back to the $100 per eligible child. This is an overall decrease of $3,000. Thank you. I urge you to support the increased funding for birth to three, and thank you for your time. And if representative Walker is still awake, happy birthday.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you, Bruney. I saw you two days in a row now. Thank you so much. Next step, I think next is Glenn Lugarina? Lugarini. Is Glenn here? I don't see him. Wanda Pastrana.

[Christopher Roach (Superintendent, Woodstock Public Schools)]: No.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Nazely Roman. Okay.

[Mikaela (Michaela) Mallon Bernstein (St. Joseph’s Parenting Center)]: Jill Johnson.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Willie Medina. Is Willie I see Willie is here. Go ahead, Willie. Willie, can you hear us? Because you're you're up now. You can testify. Okay. Oh, there I see you coming. You're up, Willie.

[Willie Medina (Bridgeport BOE member)]: Oh, thank you. I thought I had a few numbers. Well, god bless you all. Good evening, and thank you, senator and senators, representative, and especially the members of the approach appropriation committee for your dedication and your service throughout this process. My name is Willie Medina. I am a son raised in Bridgeport, a father who raised three wonderful daughters and soon to be a proud grandfather to a granddaughter. I stand before you as a member of the Bridgeport Board of Education speaking in opposition, once again, in opposition to the governor Ned Lamont's proposed 2027 budget. As one of our students recently said, the elephant in the room continues to be the education funding formula. The ECS formula is not doing what it was intended to do. For thirteen years, this formula has failed Bridgeport. Because of that failure, our district has lost critical positions, positions that are directly impact students' learning and support. A panel is not the answer. Action is needed now. We have list listened. We have testified. We have studied the data. This is not a local issue. This is the state responsibility. We need additional funds added to the foundation now. We are in need that the formula be modified to reflect inflation annually so our districts are not forced to fall further behind year after year. An increase in this funding would mean a certified teacher in every classroom, paraprofessionals to support student learning, coaches at each campus, librarians in our libraries, music teachers in our music rooms, nurses in every school to care for our children. There are not luxuries. These are essential positions that help our students succeed and stay safe. We cannot maximize results without adequate funding, inadequate staff. We are not asking for wants. We are asking for the resources necessary to meet the needs of our students. Bridgeport has exceptional students. We have dedicated staff. We have a community that is committed. All we are asking is for a fair opportunity, a fair formula to prove once again that our city is capable, what it's capable of, and when opportune when opportunity is supported and funded. Our children cannot be collateral damage because students, adults fail to act. Thank you, and God bless you.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: And next up, we have Taida Infassing. Is she here? I don't see Taida. Jose Pimentel.

[Jose Lucas Pimentel (CEO, Alliance for Connecticut Charter Schools)]: Good evening, senator Kushner, distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you, Kathy Austin, and happy birthday, Tony Walker. My name is Jose Lucas Pimentel. I'm the CEO of the Alliance for Connecticut Charter Schools. I urge all the members of this committee to confront a painful reality that there are two Connecticuts. There is a Connecticut that has abundance, in some districts over 46,000 per student, while other districts don't even have half of that. This disparity in funding is even worse for charter schools who have the foundation amount that has not changed since 2013. And this is something that affects all students. We do believe that every single child needs to have better investment. And I think we need to adjust the funding, that foundation formula to make sure that it is now current with the inflation and also the cost of living. I think it's unfair to have our poorest communities have to have that, that burden. The other one is the ECS weighted formula. This should be addressed, especially in charter schools that are receiving 56% of that weighted formula. And it's something again that puts a burden on families and communities that is unnecessary. I'm also calling for the funding of the unfunded schools. We still need to kind of address the fact that some schools are funded and they're not being funded across the state. And on top of that, we wanna make sure that we are here to work as a team, work together collaboratively to make sure that we bring more resources to communities. Thank you, Kushner, for all your fight, for working families across the state, and we hope that we can cooperate in the future for a more equitable and fair Connecticut. I do urge this committee to take some bold actions. We know we have a governor that that cares about, you know, fiscal responsibility and wants to make sure that we have guardrails. And we do appreciate the fact that we are paying on our debt, but we do need to have more investment in our education, in our children, in our families, in our communities. And that's something that I think we all agree that education is probably the single best way to raise families out of poverty. Thank you for all your work, for the willingness to, to, to have the conversations, the tough conversations, and to move forward. All children, are the best thing that we have and the best resource and the best treasure. And we're here to work together towards, having a more equitable and fair state. Thank you.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next, we have doctor William Rice.

[Dr. William Rice (Assistant Executive Director, ACES)]: Good evening, senator Kushner and distinguished members of the whole business committee. I get to say, good evening for about ten more minutes. Right? My name is, doctor William Rice, and I'm assistant executive director at ACES. And thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding, HB five zero three two. I like to frame my remarks in a simple, metaphor. It feels like the state of Connecticut and magnet schools have been a long term relationship. We've built something meaningful together. Magnet schools reflect Connecticut's commitment to education as a right and to provide families the opportunity to exercise this right through school choice. Over time, there has been many important gestures such as approvals for construction projects and form formula adjustments to recognize free and reduced lunch and multilingual learners in magnet schools. But long term relationships require more than gestures. They require commitment. Recently, the additional $12,000,000 in magnet funding felt like the next step, like an engagement, and provided stability in an already constrained funding environment. However, h b five zero three two removes that 12,000,000, from the magnet school line line item. So our first ask is straightforward. We need to urge you to maintain that $12,000,000 of magnet funding. For rest operated magnets, especially those outside of the Roushchef region, that funding represents stability, predictability, and fiscal responsibility. Without it, we are forced to observe absorb rising costs without structural support, which is not sustainable. Second, we respectfully ask, you to maintain that $1,500,000 line item for the TRP program, which strengthens the educated workforce diversity and reduces the long term recruitment cost for districts. It's a strategic investment with a measurable return. And third, we ask the state to work collaboratively with magnet school operators to build a long term sustainable funding structure. And keeping it if keeping the 12,000,000 represents an engagement, the development of a predictive predictable formula together represents the marriage. Marriage requires vows, commitments that are honored even during tight fiscal cycles. The issue for me is both personal and professional. All three of my daughters attended, Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School, and all were very well prepared for high school and college. Magna schools deliver results for families across the state. We are not asking for extravagance. We are asking for commitment. Maintain the 12,000,000 preserve TRP funding and work with us toward a stable, long term funding partnership. We are ready for the next step. Thank you for your

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: time. Thank you. And next up, we have Queen Freelove. Is Queen here? I don't see her. Erin Dumeyer.

[Speaker 19]: Thank you. Dear honorable members of the Appropriations Committee and everyone who's still awake, I am testifying today with concern regarding the governor's proposed cut of a $140,000 to Connecticut Library Services in his proposed budget. My name is Erin Duemeyer. I am the Connecticut Library Association president, which is a volunteer led professional organization of librarians, library staff, friends groups, and trustees who work together to improve library service to our state of Connecticut. Our members are deeply concerned about this cut to the Borrow It CT program, which was formerly known as Connecticard. This vital resource sharing initiative has long enabled Connecticut residents to access the collections of public libraries across our municipal boundaries. The program allows residents of any Connecticut town with a valid home library card to borrow materials from any of the 191 participating libraries across our state. Under this cooperative model, libraries are reimbursed by the Connecticut State Library for lending items to nonresidents, facilitating equitable access to books, media, and other resources regardless of a person's hometown. This program enables residents who can't easily make it to their home library because of its operating hours to use a library closer to their work instead. It allows children of divorced parents living in neighboring towns to borrow books from either parent's library. It It also allows a third grader, who is obsessed with reading the Magic Treehouse series in order, to travel to other nearby libraries to borrow and read every book in order. For more than fifty years, borrowIT CT or ConnectiCard has been a cornerstone of equal access for all of our Connecticut residents and a powerful cost sharing program that helps local municipalities stretch their budgets further. If its funding is reduced, the cost burden will switch to the towns to and they will be forced to make up this cost difference. Many can't afford it. Right now, this funding incentivizes libraries to share their collections with out of town residents, which helps even this playing field. The incentives are used to purchase books, furniture, or even partially fund staff positions. These all help stretch library budgets. Connecticut's Direct Aid to Public Libraries is already modest. We rank thirty second in the nation in Direct Aid given to public libraries, and after listening to so many people tonight mention libraries in their testimony, I know how valued we are by the people in this state. We respectfully urge you not to diminish our funding further. We're not requesting new funding, only the restoration of the existing budget line that sustains this vital decades old program. Thank you for your consideration and for your continued support of Connecticut's libraries and the communities they serve.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next, we have Kate Rivera.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Madam chair, if I may, just one point of housekeeping. We've been trying to promote several attendees to be panelists, and they have automatically been declining. And usually, what that means is that something is wrong with Zoom on their end. So they just need to log off out of Zoom completely and then log back in, and they should be able to then accept the panelist invitation.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. So I hope everyone could hear, our administrator, that if you have not been able to accept the promotion to be a panelist, then you need to log off of your computer, log back on, and try again. And then our administrator will make me aware of folks that have been successful. So, hopefully, some of you will still be able to do that. Next, I believe so we don't see Kate Rivera, Brandon Keola. Is Brandon there? I don't see him as well. After that, we have David Weinreb, who I do see. Thank you, David. Go ahead.

[David Weinreb (NHFT E-Board; New Haven DTC; parent)]: Thank you. My name is David Weinreb. I'm a proud executive board member of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, a public school parent, cochair for the Ward fourteen Democratic Town Committee, here representing the Connecticut All for Coalition. I'm here testifying, advocating for a historic and humane shift in the ECMS Formula Foundation.

[Speaker 37]: I've I've been working as

[David Weinreb (NHFT E-Board; New Haven DTC; parent)]: a public school educator since 2010, currently at a public charter school, previously taught at a neighborhood public school just five blocks from where I live now. All of our children need to have fully funded schools, and they need a legislature that would laugh the governor's maintenance of a formula, and throw out absurdist budgets that consistently underfund schools. Why would we ever underfund schools? Our students and their families have tremendous unmet needs neglected and exacerbated by an inability to access while paying jobs, adequate housing and overtime accumulated wealth. But why would we ever let anybody underfund schools? If we continue to offer empty pocket funding for schools, how do we expect them to survive, let alone to thrive? This is a moment when we need to gather the available resources necessary so So our most typically marginalized neighbors live in communities and attend schools that are flooded with resources, flush with social services and supports, brimming with opportunities. This legislature should be listening to the practical dreams of constituents, wondering how many mental health professionals we should be adding to schools, considering the magic of providing outstanding special education and multilingual programming to all schools, thinking about how we can provide free hot childcare for children ages zero to five instead of pondering the possibility of protecting our inadequate ECS. It's truly ridiculous. I'm a new dad. My daughter Dolly is four who attends my school, and my son, Jude, just turned one. And my understanding of what it is to be able to meet my child's needs, to provide for them, to protect for them, and to remind me of the deep desire that every family has to protect and provide for their children. As our governing body, I urge you to be the responsible parent and find the courage necessary to fully fund our schools this session. I thank you for the opportunity to testify and wish you all a great next day.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. We're we're one minute away from the next day. Thank you, David. I do not see so the next would be Evelyn Daniela Gasky Leon, and I don't see her here. Allison Foster, Brian Grindrod, Kimberly Bobbavin, Jonathan Costa. I know I did see somebody else here. I saw someone come in and then go out. Oh, okay. I think I see Kiara Parrot.

[Jocelyn DeLancey (Vice President, CEA)]: Hi there.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Kiara, are you here?

[Speaker 3]: Yes. Can you hear me?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yes. Now I can. Go right ahead.

[Speaker 3]: Hi, everyone. Good evening. Members of the appropriation committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Kira Parrott. I am a resident of Norwalk and the library director at the Darien Library. I'm here tonight to speak in opposition to the proposed cut in funding to the borrow it program, also known as Connecticard, which is a part of the state library's budget. As my colleague Erin said, shortly before, the borrow it program allows all Connecticut residents to use their hometown library card to check out books and other materials from any other public library participating in the state. Without Borrow It, each library's collection of resources would operate in a silo with only residents of each town allowed to borrow materials just from their own town library. Borrow It gives Connecticut residents access to a wide and diverse range of resources available to them regardless of which town they live in. Darien Library is the largest net lender in the state, meaning we lend more materials to nonresidents than any other public library. And we're a great example of how this program can work so well and benefit so many. Here in Darien, we're very privileged to have a wonderful, robust collection. We're also open late, making us very accessible for folks who work during the day and were conveniently located. Through the borrow it program, our neighbors from surrounding towns and cities can borrow books from our collection and enjoy the many other resources our library has to offer. If the borrow it program lost the proposed 20% of its funding and the annual incentive grants were therefore reduced, it would have an immediate negative impact. The borrow it grant we receive for participating in the program is used directly for the purchase of books and materials. Losing any of that funding would not only mean fewer books purchased and available to everyone, but it could seriously jeopardize our ability to continue participating in the program long term. The governor's budget proposes a $140,000 cut to the program. In the context of the state's overall budget, it's a relatively small amount, but the impact that that has on your constituents cannot be overstated. Last year, residents checked out over 2,500,000 items through this program, representing a value to taxpayers of over $38,000,000 There are very few public benefits that have a better return on investment than your public libraries. This is a critical program for making books and library resources equitable and accessible to everyone in our state. I urge you to please support your public libraries and fully restore the borrow it funding. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Thank

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: you. Next, I believe, the mayor of the city of West Haven, Dorinda Borer, was supposed to be here, but I really don't see her. Frank Santora. I don't see him either. Desi Nesmith, Luis Malave, Kayla Medina, Leslie Carabello.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Kayla also has not accepted our panelist invitation. If she could Kayla?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay. So, Kayla, if, you're listening somewhere else, you need to maybe log off and log back on and accept the promotion to panelist.

[Speaker 79]: We joining as a panelist right now.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: I see Kayla now. Yes. Kayla, can you hear us? Because you're you're up.

[Kayla Medina (Bridgeport City Councilwoman)]: Can you can you hear me?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Now we can. Go right ahead.

[Kayla Medina (Bridgeport City Councilwoman)]: So much. Thank you. Good evening distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Kayla Medina, and I'm a proud Bridgeport resident and a Bridgeport City Councilwoman representing the 138th District. My husband, our three daughters, and I are proud graduates of Bridgeport Public Schools. For years, I have advocated for our schools as a parent, as a tax payer, as a community organizer, and now as an elected official. My role has evolved, but my message has not. Our children deserve full and fair funding. My daughters have graduated still waiting for an ECS formula that is equitable and truly reflects the needs of districts like Bridgeport. Over the last decade, Bridgeport has cut more than 300 positions. That means fewer paraprofessionals in classrooms, fewer librarians, fewer assistant principals, providing support and stability. These are not extras. These are essential supports for students to face great challenges. The easiest formula has not been properly updated in years. Meanwhile, the cost of transportation, utilities, technology, staff salaries, health insurance, and special education continues to rise. When funding stays flat while costs increase our schools lose ground, Keeping funding flat year after year is not fiscal responsibility. It is structural under investment. I appreciate the proposal for a blue ribbon panel to study the ECS formula. However, I oppose another study and I oppose the governor's proposed budget as it relates to the ECS formula. We already understand the problem. The foundation amount does not reflect the real cost of educating a child today and high in these districts like Bridgeport continue to fall behind as expenses rise and funding remains flat. Our students cannot wait another wait for another report to confirm what has been clear for years. If this were a household, imagine your income staying the same for years while rent, groceries, gas, insurance, and your children's needs all increase. Eventually, you're not trimming the budget. You are deciding on what your family can live without. This is not stability. This is survival. At some point you are not tightening your belt. You are sacrificing what your children need just to stay afloat. This is what districts like Bridgeport have been forced to do. When the state underfunds education, the cost does not disappear. It shifts to local communities. Bridgeport already provides free meals to all of our students. All of our families already carry a heavy local tax burden. For years, we have said the same thing. We know the formula is outdated. We know the formula does not reflect true costs of education, a child and today's economy. And we know that year after year chronic under investment falls hardest on high need districts like Bridgeport. We have studied it. We have discussed it. We have repeated it. The question is no longer whether we understand the problem. The question is whether we have the courage to fix it. Bridgeport is Connecticut's largest city. Our children are resilient, but resilience should never be the requirement for receiving an adequate education. They deserve predictable, structural and equitable investment. As a graduate of the system, as a mother and as a soon to be grandmother, and as a proud Bridgeport resident and city councilwoman, I'm asking you to act with urgency and conviction. Our children cannot afford another year of delay, another year of quiet dismantling or another year of underfunding. It's time to move from conversation to action. It's time to invest in them fully, fairly and without hesitation. Thank you for staying up to listen.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. And I do see that Kate Rivera was able to log on. So, Kate, you're up.

[Rita McDougall Campbell (Retired educator; ARTC)]: The dean's bank, senator Julie. My name is Kate Rivera, and I'm a mom of four, a grandmother of one, and a former board of education member in Bridgeport. Over the last decade, I've testified tons of time. So I've I've probably spent forty hours just waiting to testify for my three minutes. And usually, I keep it cute. Okay? I'm angry. And I think that all of the people that have been testifying have been very professional, but I think we all need to understand that we're angry. We are watching firsthand the harm that is inflicted on our community when we're our budget is short. What are we doing? We live in Connecticut, one of the richest states in the richest countries in the world. Yet my country my my district is short over a $100,000,000. Failing to fully fund our schools is a choice. It's a racist and classist choice, but it's a choice. The current ECS formula is the epitome of institutional racism. I'm exhausted with this seemingly futile fight that is causing such harm in our scholars. Additionally, I've used birth to three services for my own children and for my grandson. It is a vital service, and we have to fully fund it. And when I was in grad school, I used Care for Kids. And if we want people to work to support the economy to assist people with child care, especially when we're not paying folks a living wage. In closing, tax the wealth of people in our state and equitably distribute that money so that everyone in our state has the chance to succeed and have an education. Thank you. Thank

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank thank you, Kate. Again, I'm gonna ask if Leslie Caraballo is the one

[Speaker 30]: Hey. Can you hear me?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Is that Leslie?

[Speaker 30]: Yes. It is. It's Leslie Carvallo. Are you

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: able to hear me? Hear you.

[Mikaela (Michaela) Mallon Bernstein (St. Joseph’s Parenting Center)]: I can hear you.

[Speaker 30]: I just wanna make sure because I had two devices going. That one was off.

[Rita McDougall Campbell (Retired educator; ARTC)]: Alright. I can see you.

[Speaker 30]: So good morning. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of the city of Bridgeport, but also as a sounding voice throughout the entire state of Connecticut. My name is Leslie Caravalho, the executive director of accomplishing real change and leader of Parents Matter. I want to open up with a bold statement made by Ned Lamont's quote, unquote mission leading into 2026. He stated that his core, mission within the administration is to prioritize education for students and teachers. Historically, in the worst way possible, he has made this vow and has not once delivered. I must emphasize as I have since day one, education is not is not a privilege. It is a right. Yet, it is treated as though it is something that must be earned and not given. The declaration of independence adopted on 07/04/1776 has a very powerful line that states, end quote, that whenever whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter alter or to abolish it and to institute new government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Ironically, continuing to underfund education does affect the student, parent, and teacher safety and happiness. The declaration of independence was written in cursive. However, critical programming and student services, as well as needs, continue to be cut, which are vital towards the success of their education. Yet and still, things such as cursive writing has been removed when that historic document was written in cursive. I propose that this committee gets together and organizes on its responsibilities rather than what benefits their status, pockets, and leans into abuse of power. It was proven in the beginning of this public hearing that math is your forte by stating we have over 300 speakers that have signed up. And with each having about three minutes, we would be here around three to 4AM. Thankfully, probably only 1AM. I would like to go home. Allow me to state that the state that statement alone proves money, power, but there's no respect. We as a community fight twenty four hours, seven days a week, and three hundred sixty five days a year, time after time. So as you guys are concerned about sleep, imagine us that loses it every night, including teachers, wondering how are the kids' mental health, safety, next meal coming from, and are they receiving the services outside of school hours because they no longer offer them in school. So when it comes to time limits, there are none, and none should be imposed when it comes to our children. With that being said, here's a budget line that costs nothing yet produces massive change instantly and helps realign equitable funding within our schools. Online item a, remove the powers to be that affects the people's safety and happiness, such as the governor Ned Lamont and those in the governing body committees effective immediately. How is that done, you may ask? That is done by the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government. Thank you for the time and also for staying up to listen, especially now that I've heard and I've been here since 3PM glued to this freaking computer. Bridgeport came out massively and showed out because all these testimonies, majority of it was Bridgeport. Thank you.

[Dr. Emily Hoagland (Pediatrician) with Rosie and Andy]: Thank you,

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Leslie. And, the next person on the list, I believe, is also from Bridgeport, Joseph Sokolovik.

[Speaker 32]: Sokolovik. Thank you, miss Sokolovik. And Sendler Kushner. Greetings, appropriations commissioner committee, Sendler Kushner. I can't say anything that hasn't been said before. My name is Joe Sokolovik. I'm vice chair of the board of education, but perhaps saying in a different way will make it land different. I formed my testimony in the form of a poem. Today was the hundredth day of school in Bridgeport. On the hundredth day of school, they shout. Paper crowns, joy spilling out. They count by tens. They trust the floor. They think the system was built

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: for

[Speaker 32]: more. They think the ground is solid, fair, the same wherever their teachers care. But ground was priced before they came, mapped with money, sealed with race. In districts where the numbers speak, black and brown kids carry the leak. Districts riff rich in grit and grit alone, while the funding base stays overthrown. We tied school work to property tax, to land, to wealth, to racial tracts. We call it local, call it a choice, then we mute equity's only voice. So when schools are black and brown or poor, the funding drops again once more, not by accident, not by chance, by rule, by design, by finance. Bigger classes, fewer hands, high schools with no marching bands. Teachers stretched past human scale, told love should cover what budgets fail. Now let's say a plane without delay, schools without librarians exist today. No media center, no guided choice, no keeper of knowledge, no literacy voice. Kids told research, handed a screen, no trained adult in between. No time to teach how truth is found, Just test prep, drills year after year, round after round. Children of color paid a price for a system created for whiteness, not an equal slice. They're told to wait, to be patient, to try, to be patient as their future success flies on by. Equity delayed is equity denied. Delay is harm and can be quantified. Delay is policy saying just wait, falling behind at the starting gate. If the base is weak, the structure lies. No reform survives a rigged design. No speech outruns the budget line that keeps injustice right on time. So don't say phased in. Don't say wait. Children grow while adults procrastinate. Fix the foundation, not with spin, not with false promises, paper thin. $17,000 per child. That is not extreme. That is not wild. It's the four way where librarians return, where help arise before kids burn, where race stops predicting who gets less, where equity moves from the word no to the word yes. So they are count children counted one hundred days with trust and grace. In the future, they realize the cost of this rigged place. They've done the math. Now it's your turn. Connecticut is waiting. Don't let it burn. Thank you, everybody, and you have a great night.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Well, thank you. I have to say that is the first time I've heard a poem, in the way of testimony. I hope you will submit that.

[Speaker 32]: Yes. And and it's transparency and education. It's a mix of Joseph Kolovic and AI.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Okay.

[Speaker 32]: Thank you, everybody. Have a great night.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next up, we have Julie Luby.

[Dr. Julie Luby (Superintendent, Winchester Public Schools)]: Good evening. Can you hear me okay?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yes. We can. Go right ahead. That's a tough act to follow. Yes.

[Dr. Julie Luby (Superintendent, Winchester Public Schools)]: Good evening, senator Kushner and distinguished members of the appropriation committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I am the proud superintendent of the Winchester Public Schools, and I'm here to share my significant concerns regarding the fiscal year twenty seven budget. Winchester is the fourth most distressed municipality in the state, and we are facing a fiscal crisis this year that will drastically change the way our schools operate. Over the last dozen years, inflation has risen 38%. My district's appropriated budget has increased only 20% and our ECS funding has not increased at all. To add insult to injury, our per pupil ECS funding works out to roughly only $8,000 per student, much less than the formula suggests because we are penalized for using an endowed academy for our high school, even though we are 100% fiscally responsible for all of the students' education. If the ECS funding had kept pace with inflation, we would be receiving approximately 3,000,000 more right now. This would truly do what the ECS funding is supposed to do, reduce our reliance on local property taxes and ensure consistent, equitable, and quality education, but it hasn't. As a result, over the last many years, our district has eliminated positions and programs to live within our community's ability to pay. We are now in the position of having not one thing left to give. Any further cuts will cut into the structural integrity of the school system. To simply maintain what we have, we are facing a 9% budget increase. That's a status quo budget. The town leaders have expressed their expectation that either we reduce the budget by $1,000,000 or by $2,500,000 depending on which board you're listening to. In either scenario, we literally won't be able to effectively educate our children. To reduce our budget by merely $1,000,000 which is the lowest demand floating around, we will have to eliminate special area classes entirely. No art, no music, no library, which would require us to shorten the school day, eliminate one of our two principals and have only one principal oversee both schools, eliminate classroom teachers and eliminate both school safety officers. In Winchester, we need the immediate relief of an increase in our ECS funding for fiscal year twenty seven. We can't wait for a blue ribbon commission in another year. In addition to fully funding ECS, fully funding the special special education excess cost grant is also necessary. After our partially funded excess cost reimbursement, 14% of my entire appropriated budget will be spent on 26 students in out of district placements. These costs have seen an almost 30% increase over just last year. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the appropriations committee to increase ECS funding immediately with a commitment to annual growth and fully fend fully fund the special education excess cost grant. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you, and thank you in advance for taking action now to prevent the failure of my school district in its ability to provide a free and appropriate education to the children of Winchester.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next up, I I'm gonna cross off Maria Amato because I think she was on here twice. We already heard from her. Next, we have Ellen Paul. Is Ellen here? I don't see Ellen. Cheyenne Beach. Don't see her. I think we might

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: have skipped two ninety, madam chair.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Oh, I did. You know what? And I know you too. I'm so sorry.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: You know? I I got

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: excited when I saw your name, and then I skipped you. I apologize. Mikayla Malin. You have to unmute. That's crazy that I skipped you. I apologize. No. That's okay. It's so nice to meet you face to face.

[Mikaela (Michaela) Mallon Bernstein (St. Joseph’s Parenting Center)]: I know that we've been changed emails.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: You have. Good morning. Wow.

[Mikaela (Michaela) Mallon Bernstein (St. Joseph’s Parenting Center)]: First of all, thank you for staying up well, staying up this early in the morning. Wow. I have been glued, and I've watched all the testimonies, and it's incredible. If I didn't appreciate the work you guys are doing at Capitol Hill, I appreciate you now. There's a lot of work to be done for our state. Okay, so good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Mikaela Mallon Bernstein, and I am the Director of Development at St. Joseph Parenting Center. I'm here today on behalf of the parents, the caregivers, and children we serve across Connecticut. St. Joseph Parenting Center works at the intersection of family stability and educational success. We partner with parents often during the most vulnerable moments of their lives to ensure children enter school safe, supported and ready to learn. Recently, SJPC experienced an abrupt and devastating loss of federal funding. Overnight, we lost 40% of our annual revenue, which equates to $700,000 annually. This loss was not due to performance, compliance, or outcomes. It was the result of federal level cuts that are now having immediate and serious consequences for community based organizations that support children long before they ever enter a classroom. The families we serve are raising young children during critical developmental years. Over 80% of the households we serve are Spanish speaking only and many parents come to us without access to early childhood education resources, parenting education or school based support systems. When parents lack support, children feel it in the classrooms through delayed readiness, behavioral challenges, chronic absenteeism, and increased need for intervention. Our programs exist to prevent those outcomes. At SJPC, we work with parents to build protective factors that directly impact a child's ability to succeed in school. Stable home environments, positive parenting child relationships, and confident caregivers who can advocate for the children's education. The cost of our work is modest approximately $3,000 per family. By comparison, the cost of later intervention when families reach crisis can exceed 45,000 per case. So essentially on an annual basis, that $700,000 annually that was cut by the federal government could cost the state $10,000,000 annually. Prevention is not only humane, it is fiscally responsible and educationally sound. Despite the funding instability we are facing, parents continue to show up. Just last week, families graduated from our Bridgeport Center, our first graduating cohort there. Many entered our program disconnected from their children and unsure of their role in their their child's education. I know I'm out of time, but what I I just wanna thank you for your time and your leadership and your commitment to Connecticut's children. And all we're asking for is a bridge to fund our programs for the rest of the year until we can continue to figure out how we can pivot from that loss. Thank you.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. And I I know you have communicated with me about the serious loss of federal funding, and you do have a center in Danbury, and I appreciate all that you've been doing in Danbury. It's a really tough situation to be in where we've had such huge cuts from the federal government. It's good for us to take note. That's a very special circumstance that you're in that not you know, we're talking about a lot of very important things Yes. Around ECS, but your circumstance is a little bit different. So I appreciate you being here tonight and staying on.

[Mikaela (Michaela) Mallon Bernstein (St. Joseph’s Parenting Center)]: Thank you. Thank you.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next, we have so I didn't see Ellen Paul or Cheyenne Beach. Stephanie Diesen is here.

[Diane Wilcutts (Education Advocate)]: Hello. I'm here.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Go ahead, Stephanie.

[Diane Wilcutts (Education Advocate)]: Hi. Good evening. Good morning, senator Kushner. Thank you so much to the esteemed general assembly members and the Appropriations Committee for being here tonight, this morning. Obviously, we all share a passion in what we do. Right? So we wouldn't be here at this hour if it wasn't for that passion. I'm the food service director in Sterlington, Connecticut. I serve currently as the '25, '26 president of the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, cafeteria workers, industry members, and all partners that have to do with school nutrition across the state. I reside in. We respectfully and appreciatively support the governor's proposal to fund breakfast for all students and the eliminate the cost of breakfast and lunch for students eligible for reduced costs. I'm gonna speak on three points directly as to why universal free breakfast funding is necessary. The first one is participation. When universal free school breakfast was removed from the budget at the end of the 2324 school year, there was a significant reduction in school breakfast participation in the subsequent school year. In my district alone, breakfast participation among elementary school students dropped 30 to 40%. 55 to 70% among middle school students and 40% among high school students. Studies have shown that equitable access access to school breakfast increases participation, which in turn supports the district's food services operations, increases attendance, and increase in students' focus and attentiveness in the classroom. The second point being that the federal income guidelines that dictate whether families qualify for reduced or free meals do not fit the needs of Connecticut families. As we all know, Connecticut is among the highest cost of living in the country. The income guidelines used to qualify families for benefits and school meals are based on the federal standard, which do not come close to closing the gap of feeding children in Connecticut households given our higher cost of living. Not only is free school breakfast for all students beneficial from an income based and stigma standpoint, but it also helps school food service operations to be able to attain the highest reimbursement rate for every breakfast meal sold. This is especially important when trying to offer higher quality, more nutritious breakfast options. From an operational standpoint, with gov the governor's proposal of universal free breakfast and his latest related press release, social media backlash criticized school breakfast as over processed, green, or highly dessert based and not wholesome. What is not understood is there a situational and logistical barriers that school foods as service operations face regarding school breakfast. In order to keep up with the educational demands of the school day schedule, breakfast times are made shorter, meals are largely grab and go, and the amount of time we have to serve students between bus and parent drop off and the classroom bill is limited. This significantly impacts what we serve and how we serve it. This lends to the prepackaged items that are largely scoot largely scrutinized in the media. What you may not know is there are federally mandated school lunch pricing tools, which directs districts to set school lunch prices at a level that protects federal funding for free and reduced price students. This tool does not access exist for breakfast pricing. And to wrap up, what we are reimbursed for breakfast is just not enough to meet the demands of the upcoming dietary guidelines for Americans asking for less ultra processed and more scratch made cooking. Universal free meals in Connecticut would be a great starting point, and we are very appreciative of the consideration of putting that into the budget. I thank you all for your support and for being up at this hour and for listening to it as well. It's been an very intriguing and informative afternoon. Have a good night.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Thank you, Con and, next up, we have Constance Vickers who another person I know, but I don't see her here. Okay. I am gonna move on to, Eric Carson, who I did see. Go ahead, Eric.

[Eric Carson (Special Education Teacher, ACES; AEA Membership Chair)]: Hi. Good evening, senator Kushner, senator Austin, representative Walker, senator Summers, representative Nuccio, representative Candelaria, and esteemed members of the Appropriations Committee. My name's Eric Carson. I've been a special education teacher with area Cooperative Educational Services for twenty four years. I currently serve as the membership chair for the Aces Education Association representing nearly 100 magnet school educators As a former magnet school teacher myself, I've witnessed firsthand the unique contributions that the magnet model affords our communities. We connect families from across the region with specialized programs that expand on traditional curricula with a focus on the arts and stem. Across Connecticut, Resc magnet school support integration, offer specialized programs, and serve thousands of students statewide. There is a desire for magnet schools in our state. Districts utilize aces to meet the needs of students. They cannot fully serve in district. Parents value the choice of enrolling their children in a program with one of our magnet themes cutting $12,000,000 in state funding would undermine these programs and shift costs back onto already strained local districts. Undoubtedly, you are aware that school districts are already under enormous pressure to balance quality educational services with responsible budgets. Magna schools are any you unique position to provide districts without the resources of aces to deliver high quality stem and arts programming to children of those districts. But he says another magnet schools will struggle to continue providing the service with a decrease to our funding. On the contrary, magnet schools will be able to provide districts with more services giving increased funding benefiting the sending school district, but more importantly, the students themselves. The children of Connecticut need more educational funding, not less cutting magnet school funding forces are destroying districts to pick up the bill. That means fewer supports for students, fewer educators in the classroom, greater inequity across communities. Fully funding magnet schools is a commitment to every child in Connecticut. I thank you very much and have a good morning.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you for your testimony. Next up, I see David Brown.

[David Brown (Founding Principal, Proud Academy)]: Good morning, especially to senator Kushner. Sorry I've not met you in person, but I'm looking forward to it. And the members of the appropriation committee. My name is David Brown. I'm the founding principal of Product Academy. For the last fifteen years, I've served Connecticut students as a teacher, instructional coach, and principal across traditional public magnet and charter schools. I'm also a father of three, born and raised in the state of Connecticut. Shout out to all Posey and Grayson and those is recorded and the thousands of students and families I've served over the years. I'm beyond grateful. Connecticut leads the nation in many educational outcomes. Yet we know we continue to hold some of the widest academic opportunity gaps in the country. Those gaps are not about student ability. They reflect on equal access to environments that combine rigorous academic stability and most importantly, belonging. In every school I've led, I've seen the same truth. Students rise when expectations are high and when they know they matter. When students feel marginalized or unseen, performance declines. When schools intentionally create structured, supportive environments, grounded in dignity and respect and achievement improves. Proud Academy is built to close that gap. Our model is designed to unlock student confidence and academic success. We are state approved public, middle school that, prepares students in grades six through eight, beginning with 50 students per grade and scaling responsibly. Our academic model is complete. Our governance board is in place. Our operational financial plans are finalized. We have students, ready to enroll. We have satisfied, the rigorous standards required by State Board of Education. We're not asking you to approve a concept. That board has already done it, and we have done it. We are asking for appropriations necessary to open. Our model not only integrates standards aligned literacy mathematics instruction and inclusive curriculum, that is social emotional development, but we promise real world leadership opportunities to our students. Students will engage in civic projects, community impact work, while being held to measurable academic benchmarks. We focus on proficiency, growth, attendance, and readiness for a college and beyond. We're building next generation of engaged, confident leaders for this state. Through the Valley Proud Center, we're already serving students for free in the Sonja and The Valley with free high impact tutoring and leadership programming. The foundation is set and it's in motion. This is a lean launch. We received no property tax revenue. Our year one budget prioritized direct student services to students. A modest state allocation unlocks federal charter school program funding and allows us to open with minimal fiscal impact across board. Families in Naugatuck Valley are asking for a rigorous public school where excellence and dignity coexist. No student should have to choose between academic rigor and being fully respected for who they are. The approval is secured. The infrastructure is ready. The families are waiting. We are ready to open. I respectfully urge you to allocate the funding necessary for Pratt Academy to begin closing, gaps within the Naugatuck Valley. Thank you, Senator Kushner and Katalaria for your time and everyone else on the call. So thank you, and good morning.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Good morning. Thank you. Next up, I think we have Eli Sabin, who is actually I see you here already. Go ahead, Eli.

[Eli Sabin (New Haven native; former Alder & Education Chair)]: Thank you so much, senator Kushner, chair Austin, chair Walker, and members of the appropriations committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify early this morning. My name is Eli Sabin. I grew up in New Haven and served on our board of alders for six years, including two years as education committee chair. Tonight, I'm here to testify in support of a desperately needed increase in state funding for our public schools. I also wanna talk about why I believe that the path to securing that critical funding should include working with our school districts on budget transparency. In New Haven, budget constraints are causing teacher and staff shortages and building and building maintenance issues. These challenges make it very clear how much we need additional state investment to ensure our students and teachers have the resources they need. Fully funding our schools is absolutely crucial for building a more fair and equal future where all our kids, no matter their ZIP code, can get an amazing public education. I also believe that we need to do more to build the local and statewide coalitions to secure more funding. To make that possible, the state and our school districts should collaborate to set high expectations around districts' financial transparency and long term planning. We need to invest much more in our schools while also improving public confidence. With that approach, we can fully fund education and ensure financial sustainability so our kids have access to world class schools. Before I say more, I wanna thank this committee, particularly chair Walker and our hometown delegation, including representative Candelaria, who I see on right now, for their work over many years fighting for additional funding for our schools. As an older and a lifelong city resident, I've seen up close the impact of the slow growth of state education funding. In New Haven, the district's lack of resources means that many of our schools are in disrepair in part because NHPS has only been able to spend a dollar 70 per square foot a year on maintenance when double that is recommended. We're far far short of needed librarians, social workers, and psychologists. In most recent negotiations, the city couldn't afford high quality health insurance for our teachers and we feel it in the cost of living because slow state education funding growth pushes up property taxes. To fully fund our schools, I respectfully ask that the state substantially increase the ECS foundation grant this year. I wanna thank senator Looney and senate Democrats for their ambitious proposal to raise the grant to $13,500, which may would make a huge impact. We should also tie ECS to inflation going forward to reflect the rising cost of education. I know that funding a major investment in ECS will not be easy, even with current surpluses, and especially if our state's wealthiest aren't asked to chip in more. From the many conversations I've had with teachers, parents, and students, I believe that part of the path to securing more funding should involve the state and school districts working together on budget transparency. Because when district budget lines like outplacement, special ed services, and transportation jump, and long term enrollment planning feels uncertain, people lose confidence in school budgeting. That's why along with increasing the ECS Foundation Grant, I hope the legislature will continue to work together with our school districts to increase faith and transparency around school district budgeting.

[Committee Staff (Zoom/Room Facilitator)]: Should mean

[Eli Sabin (New Haven native; former Alder & Education Chair)]: a focus on line item budgets and more long term planning around facilities maintenance, school enrollment, special ed, and transportation costs. I know many are working on this already, including in New Haven, which is critical. Overall, our schools need more state support. Education is the foundation of Connecticut's future, and our kids should get the best. I respectfully ask the legislature to significantly increase the ECS Foundation grant this year and tie it to inflation going forward. To make that possible, I believe the state and local districts should partner on budget improvements to ensure financial transparency and sustainability. With this approach, we can make sure all of our kids in every district in Connecticut get the amazing education they deserve. Thank you so much.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Sorry. I was still muted. I said thank you. And next up, we have Luis Yanes.

[Luis Yanes (Facilities Director, Elevate Charter Schools)]: Hey. Good morning. You there now?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yes. We can. Go ahead. Hi.

[Luis Yanes (Facilities Director, Elevate Charter Schools)]: Good morning. Once again, my name is Luis Yanes. I'm the facility director of Elevate Charter School. And I'm here to support the allocation of funds for our school, Denbury International Academy Charter School, which has already been approved since 2018 from the state. These funds are required to be to begin operation operate operations and provide service to our community. From my perspective as a facility director, I can say we have a we have create a safe environment and suitable space to meet the educations the educational needs for our community, and we are ready to provide the high standard education service that our student deserve. But from the perspective of a member, a fairly charged school team, I must say that that I am very proud of my coworkers. They strive everyday seeking options and knocking doors like this for secure the necessary funds. I have have witnessed every tier, every moment, every join. But above all, I have witnessed examples of stylist resilience and are shaping our goals, which is nothing less than providing our service with the tool for life, education. Our community have a beautiful building with new technology, full fully furnished, which meets the high safety standards. Just sitting there waiting for these funds being approved to starting contributing, helping our community, our families. A lot of people talking in this in all this meeting about how important is a for the community. I had to repeat the same. We are here for them. We are ready for Edebay Charter School, and then we're ready for the community. We just need the funds to start it. We are ready and ready to go. Thank you so much. Thank you, madam, for the for the all the support.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next up, we have Hamish MacPhail.

[Hamish MacPhail (Deputy Director, ConnCAN)]: Good morning, senator Kushner, representative Candelaria, and members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, this morning. My name is Hamish MacPhail, and I'm the deputy director for ConCam. My colleague Steven Hernandez spoke earlier on the totality of the proposed budget, so I'm gonna focus primarily on Connecticut's educator pipeline. Our belief is simple. Every child in Connecticut deserves a qualified educator in their classroom. Achieving that goal requires sustained investment across an entire educator pipeline from inspiration to preparation to certification to professional learning and to retention. The educator workforce is not produced in a single moment. It is intentionally built over time, and this is where the proposed budget misses the mark. First, inspiration. This is where someone first considers teaching as a viable and meaningful career, whether in high school, college, or later in their career. There are a few distinct, programs that are worthy of our investment. Teach Connecticut is central. It serves as a statewide recruitment engine that connects candidates to preparation programs, provides coaching and test prep, and intentionally reaches underrepresented communities in shortage areas. Connecticut led the nation in building the first state level partnership with teach. Fracturing this partnership now risks weakening recruitment at a time of ongoing shortages. This program should be fully funded. Educators Rising also plays a critical role in giving high school students structured coursework and early classroom experience aligned to preparation programs. If we're serious about long term workforce diversity and stability, we must start with our middle school and high schools connecting early passion to opportunity. Connecticut's high doses tutoring program currently funded at $5,000,000 for this next fiscal year is also serves as another on ramp. Tutors gain real instructional experience while strengthening student outcomes. Further investments here will build both academic recovery and future teacher pathways. Second is preparation. Preparation is one of the greatest barriers to entry especially because of the cost and inflexibility of the system. The Aspiring Educator Scholarship provides up to $10,000 annually and has been transformative for many candidates, particularly candidates of color, first generation college students and career changers. The proposed $2,000,000 reduction would signify instability at the very moment we need consistency. We urge you to maintain that line item at 6,000,000 and consider scaling for future years. We do strongly support the governor's proposed expansion of registered apprenticeships, but not at, not by shifting $2,000,000 from one line item to another. These programs should complement each other, not replace the aspiring educator scholarship. We also want to address, unpaid student teaching. We need to pay student teachers a living wage so that they are able to make ends meet so that when they're ready to go to the classroom, they're they have a stable living situation that they can they can build from. Third is certification. We appreciate the recent commit recent commitment of eliminating educators' certification fees. This is practical and meaningful. And then finally, professional learning and retention. Our professional learning supports and structures often make all the difference. This budget invests $4,500,000 for literacy coaches throughout the state. This is a great way to deepen learning, expand practices across schools and districts, and improve intervention practices. Programs like Read Con and hopefully opportunity in the future for Math Con should strengthen instructional practices in affordable and replicable ways. In closing, if we want to sustainably reduce vacancies and increase the diversity of our educator workforce, we must invest consistently across the entire pipeline, not shift funds from one stage to cover another. Our children cannot wait. Every classroom deserves a qualified educator, and every stage of the pipeline deserves strategic and consistent investment. Thank you.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next up is Danilo Bella here. I don't see her. Margaret Ballantine, Emma Balter, Yomaira Santiago, Luz Ramirez, Mariela Batanowski.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: The only one I see up there is three twenty. Lillian Peron?

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Yeah. I just like to read them just in case I don't see them because sometimes they're hiding over there on the right of my screen. Maybe you can see them all.

[Representative Juan Candelaria]: Yeah.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Let's see. So it was Luz Ramirez, Mariela Botanowski, Maria Sanginis, Jennifer Gaines, Kate Diaz,

[Gail Nolan (President, CT Family Resource Center Alliance)]: Mark Durbic,

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Madeline Negron, and, yes, next would be Lillian Peron. Lillian, you're there. You can go ahead.

[Lillian Perrone (Retired teacher, Greenwich; CEA Retired Legislative Committee)]: Well, good morning, everyone. I'm up to 03:20. Excellent. Thank you, senator Kushner and representative, Candelaria. My name is Lillian Perrone and I'm a retired teacher with thirty six years in the Greenwich public school system. I served as president of the Greenwich Education Association and I'm recently retired as of 07/01/2025. That's why I'm still smiling right now. I'm a proud member of CEA retired where I serve on the legislative committee. I thank you for retaining your commitment to fully funding the teacher's pension fund and continually paying down the state unfunded liability. I am also testifying to ask you to allow active teachers the same voting rights as retired teachers in the election for any open seats on the teacher's retirement board. As a recently retired teacher, I cannot support the idea of withholding voting rights for active teachers for any reason. Active teachers contribute 7% of their salary every year to pension fund, depriving them of their voice and election of board members will vote on their behalf as undemocratic and ignores the important contributions they all make towards making sure the fund remains solid. Allowing all active and retired teachers to vote on TRB elections ensures that active teachers have a voice in decisions that will affect them upon retirement. Furthermore, active teachers are nearing retirement age, limiting these members ability to participate in fair elections denies the right to have a say in how their pension and other benefits will be managed in their near future. This is what I know. On 02/04/2026, governor Ned Lamont addressed the Connecticut General Assembly. This is one of his statements. I feel fortunate to be in Connecticut, and I hope that you do too. We were a birthplace of freedom, four signers of the declaration of independence pending the words that we live by. All men and women are created equal. These words should still be our North Star two fifty years later. Governor Lamont said he lives by these founding words when he thinks about our values and our budget. I am asking all of you to do the same. Please pass legislation. This was restoring teacher active teachers voting rights in TRB elections are active teachers do right by us. Teachers should stand up for each other regardless of whether they are active in the classroom or not. We must respect our teachers' voice and their rights to representation as do ours. I thank you for your time and your leadership and staying up so late. Thank you very much.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next up, Jeff Morrissey.

[Jeff Morrissey (President, Bridgeport Education Association)]: Hi. Thank you. Good morning, members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Jeff Morrissey, and I am the president of the Bridgeport Education Association. And prior to this, I've been teaching in Bridgeport since 1998. Before coming to work for Bridgeport Public Schools, I served in the US Peace Corps as a volunteer in the country of Ukraine from 1993 to 1996, and have also taught in Torreon, Mexico and Lahore, Pakistan. I'm here before you in a plea to modernize the ECS formula to promote equity across the state as it pertains to funding our schools. It is not a surprise to anyone that this formula has not been running parallel with the cost of educating the students of this great state. Simply put, this current formula must account for inflation as it has remained stagnant, stagnant rather, for too many years. Many of the basic services to successfully run a school district have increased significantly in price without the current ECS accounting for this surge. This puts districts in a monetary peril, especially Bridgeport, where the absence of funding has been catastrophic to our teachers and students. The Bridgeport School District functions on its teachers coming to work every day doing more with less. We have made cuts, shuttered programs and supplies, eliminated our librarians and some essential support staff, exhaustively attempted to balance a budget, and collaborated to secure additional funding, but we are still deep in the woods, and our future remains precarious. But still, we carry on on behalf of our kids because they deserve the best education allowed. Our teachers are heroes and are deeply committed to their work and to the children of the city of Bridgeport. All of our teachers, as I mentioned, are doing more with less. But why is this even necessary when we can find a solution for the betterment of our students? Bridgeport is the largest school district in the state, serving more than 19,700 students. Many of our students require special education and multilingual support, and enrollment in these areas have been increasing annually. We desperately need the staff to ensure their needs are met, and currently, that is simply not happening. All children deserve to have the same educational opportunities to be successful and need their schools to be funded so they have the best chance at success. I implore you to modernize ECS and establish an equitable school system public school system for all, and I thank you for this opportunity to testify.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you. Next up, I see Susan Flanagan, but I don't see Susan here. But I do see William Murray is here.

[Bill Murray (Past President, CEA Retired; former TRB member)]: Bill? Good morning. Is that

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: a Good morning. One of my constituents.

[Bill Murray (Past President, CEA Retired; former TRB member)]: I I I guess we both drew the the short straw.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Go right ahead, Bill.

[Speaker 29]: Sure. Go ahead, Bill.

[Bill Murray (Past President, CEA Retired; former TRB member)]: Thank you. Just good morning and to any members of the the Appropriations Committee. My name is Bill Murray. I'm a retired teacher from Danbury. I currently serve as the past president of CEA Retired, and I'm a former member and vice chair of the Teachers Retirement Board, having served terms as an active and as a retired teacher. I'm speaking today representing the over 40,000 active and retired members of CEA and CEA retired. I want to address the governor's bill fifty thirty two. Specifically issues related to the Teachers Retirement Board and its funding. Last year in the governor's budget, the state's contribution to the teachers' health care fund was reduced from one third the cost of the plan to 25%. Our health plan is a Medicare based plan. Every change in Medicare affects the cost and coverage of the plan. Demands on the health fund cost may vary from year to year. We need the state to be consistent in their funding. About ten years ago, this practice of underfunding by the state almost led to the bankruptcy of the health fund. It's necessary that the state upholds their contribution obligation so the plan will remain solvent now and in the future. Second issue, about three years ago, the state subsidy for retired teachers not who are not eligible for Medicare had their health care subsidy increased by the state, and we certainly appreciate that. Retirees not on the teacher's retirement board plan insurance were burdened with expensive health care and still are burdened with expensive health care premiums starting around $12,000 a year per person. For some reason, the small a small group are disabled retirees were omitted from the subsidy legislation. We need to have that corrected. It was an oversight not having the disabled included in that legislation. A third issue, in 2023, two retired seats were added to the TRB, which we appreciate. However, active teachers were not allowed to vote in that election. When I ran for the board as an active teacher twenty years ago, all teachers who were invested in the fund, whether they were active or retired, had the right to vote. When I ran as a retired teacher, again, all teachers who were invested in the fund had the right to vote. In the two new positions that were added, the state removed the right for active teachers to vote. The state negated the voting rights of over 40,000 tier b members. The tier b represents all teachers and therefore, all teachers should have the right to vote. Thank you.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Thank you, Bill. Good to see you.

[Luis Yanes (Facilities Director, Elevate Charter Schools)]: You too.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Alright. Next up, I believe, is John Fitzpatrick.

[David Brown (Founding Principal, Proud Academy)]: Hello there.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Hi, John. Go ahead.

[John Fitzpatrick (Bridgeport resident; musician; private music educator)]: Alright. Good morning, senator Kushner and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is John Fitzpatrick. I am a Bridgeport resident, musician, and private music educator. I'm speaking today to share my opposition to the governor's budget, most specifically with the governor's decision not to include funds for an updated ECS formula in his budget proposal. Fundamentally, the ECS formula is in place because of the Horton v Meskell court decision of 1977, which required our legislature to find equitable solutions to fulfill our children's right to an education as decreed in our state's constitution. Every budget must represent a reasonable effort toward equitable education. When simply accounting for general inflation alone, the funding of our educational system has substantially declined. The school and state finance project and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities have both released estimates that point to hundreds of millions of education dollars lost to inflation in the last few years alone. Current decisions on the budget in Connecticut are fundamentally tied to policies toward fiscal constraint in response to our state's pension debt. Most notable among those policies are the fiscal guardrails of 2017. The result, a stabilized fiscal picture, a maxed out rainy day fund, and improved credit ratings, the proverbial thumbs up from Wall Street. As our state makes budget decisions from this new fiscal position, we must ask what the purpose of the fiscal constraints were in the first place. Was it not to ultimately put ourselves in a position to more fully meet our residents' rights and needs? Debt reduction is not a moral good in itself. It is a strategic mechanism. And when a mechanism has, begins to crowd out our constitutional obligations, we must ask whether the mechanism has become the priority. A sign that it may have is when we fund our schools less adequately than we did during periods when our state had a more problematic fiscal outlook. Ultimately, the concern here goes beyond constitutional obligation. It fundamentally lives in our responsibility toward the stewardship of Connecticut's future. As a teacher, I understand that the example I set has an influence on a child beyond even my comprehension. My ability to offer a safe learning environment and to practice trust, empathy, and patience is the backbone of a learning process which helps children realize their unique gifts. The importance of such a process goes beyond teaching and learning. These are the lessons of human understanding and connection. Overcrowded classrooms, lack of materials, lack of staff, unacceptable learning conditions, lack of access to technology, the list goes on. Every single one of these items takes precious emotional bandwidth from teachers and staff. Our funding decisions create an environment where teachers are desperate for the essentials. When basic needs are not met, we block the deeper learning possibilities of human understanding and self realization for our students. Only when the essentials are provided for can there be the space to explore the very life lessons that mold our society. The right to an equitable education is written into our state constitution. The responsibility toward the stewardship of our state is decided by our commitment to our values. If this budget is not amended with a major update to the ECS formula, our future will be negatively affected in ways beyond even our comprehension. Thank you for your time, and thanks for staying up late.

[Ariana (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Well, thank you, John. And it is now 01:01, in the morning. And even though we only have one more person on, the list that is actually here, I would not deprive representative of the opportunity to chair this meeting, so this public hearing. So I am turning over my responsibilities, to rep Corpus, and I will stay here, though, till the end, which is only one more person as far as we know. So go ahead, representative.

[Representative Corpus (Appropriations Committee member)]: Thank you, senator Kushner. You did a great job for the last two hours. I think we have one more person to testify. Number three forty, Rita Skog. The floor is yours.

[Rita Scogg (Bridgeport resident; member of CONECT & Generation Now)]: Thank you. Good morning, Senator Kushner, representative Caldolor, and, representative, Corpus, and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Rita Scogg. I live in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a member of Connect, congregations organized for a new Connecticut, and Generations Now Bridgeport. I am not a educator, parent, or student, but I am a deeply concerned and troubled senior citizen. Today, we heard passionate and articulate testimony about the effect the underfunding of our public schools has had on our students. I really can't add, more to what has been said today. Still, I'm testifying on behalf of the students of Bridgeport and the other underfunded school systems within our state. The ESC base rate of $11,000.505 125 has not been raised since 2013. I am asking you to raise the base rate this year to at least $16,500 per student. This will reflect the cost of living adjustment of 41% that has not been recognized nor implemented over the past thirteen years. It will allow our system to provide the necessary services our students need to succeed. At a time when Connecticut has a multimillion billion dollar surplus and new tax proposals are being introduced to the legislature, which will generate billions more in new tax revenue, it is unconscionable that we continue to underfund the education of our most vulnerable young people. Bridgeport schools need a $100,000,000 more to find the services that provided in the 2024 and 02/20/2025 school year, have to keep the services we now have, and have to return libraries within each school, counselors, paraprofessionals, and other resources that were eliminated for this school year. I'm a proud product of the Bridgeport Public Schools and the state Connecticut State University System. I've been able to build a successful career in business on my public school education. And as a single mother of two sons, raise them in a home of their own. Students in Bridgeport today should have no less opportunities than I had seventy years ago. We as a society should be appalled at the measly resources we provide our children. Yes. Our children. All children are ours. All children are our future as a city, as a state, and as a country. Are you not ashamed of our lack of commitment to them? I am. We can't brag that Connecticut has one of the best education systems in the country with one of the highest student achievement scores with less than 40% of our inner city kids are performing at great, less than grade level. I asked you to increase the ECS base rate and help make Connecticut a more equitable place to live and work. Remember from the gospel of Matthew, we are reminded where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. As a society, where is our heart? Where is our conscience? Thank you. Good evening. Thank you for staying up. I do appreciate the opportunity to testify tonight. Thank

[Representative Corpus (Appropriations Committee member)]: you. Thank you very much for your testimony. Is there anyone who had signed up to testify that hasn't been able to speak yet? Okay. With that, thank you to our clerks, Ariana and Taylor, for all your good work today. Thank you to the other members of the committee. And with that, our meeting is adjourned, and good night to everyone.

[Taylor (Committee Clerk/Zoom Moderator)]: Good night, everybody. Thank you.