SB 949 Supports “Money Follows the Child”

Connecticut SB 949

CT’s school funding formula was designed to provide State education funding based on student need and to send per pupil funding directly to the school that each student attends.  But this system is broken: CT spends twice on 45,000 students.  Those 45,000 students represent just 8.5% of CT’s public school population, but they take 22% of the state’s Education budget.  The excess portion of this state aid adds up to almost $360 million.

CT pays double for 45,000 students enrolled in three types of parent choice schools: interdistrict magnets, agricultural science, and open-choice.  Funding for those students goes BOTH to (1) the towns where students live, who keep the funds and do not use them to benefit those students; and (2) to the actual schools that the students attend.

SB 949 would replace this current double funding with a universal, “Money Follows the Child” formula, where all parent choice students are funded once — fairly, based on need, and in a way that sends every dollar to the school that a child attends.  This plan eliminates $322 million in duplicative State funding while generating net savings to the state of AT LEAST $43 million.