Jan 13, 2025, Inside Investigator: Democrats highlight special ed, housing as priorities this session
At a news conference on Monday, Connecticut Democrat party leaders identified two top priorities for the upcoming session: special education and housing.
The two bills that Democrats are looking to push forward to address these issues are “An Act Concerning the Quality and Delivery of Special Education Services in Connecticut,”
(HB5001) and “An Act Concerning Housing and the Needs of Homeless Persons” (HB5002).
The former bill, if approved, will amend title 10 of the general statutes and “make revisions” to special education and related services in Connecticut. The latter would amend the general statutes to “lower housing costs, increase housing options and better support homeless persons.” . . .
“The biggest driver of municipal budgets is the Board of Ed budget, and the biggest driver of Board of Education budgets is special education,” Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) said at the conference. “We could do more for municipal budgets and property tax stability. Probably one thing we can do…is take a hard look at special education.”
In total, special education consumed about 30% of the budget in Hartford, Ritter said.
Across the state of Connecticut, a cumulative $2.8 million was spent on special education during the 2022-23 academic year, according to EdSight, which is run by the state. During that same year, the cost per pupil can ranged between $14,000 to $38,000, depending on the school district. Most of that money comes through state and local funds, and a small percentage comes via federal funds. . . .
The nine speakers at the press conference highlighted the connection between education policy and housing.
“There is a saying out there that education policy is housing policy and housing policy is education policy,” House Majority Leader Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford, Manchester) said. There were more Democratic legislatures who attended. . . .
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