Preliminary Analysis of Governor Malloys Biennial Budget Proposal

February 18, 2015

On February 18, 2015, Governor Malloy released his biennial budget proposal, including his proposed budget for education for fiscal year 2016 and 2017 (FY16 and FY17). The proposal
shows Governor Malloys continued commitment to improving education by providing additional funding to expand high-quality options and maintaining funding for other critical improvement
efforts. The governors proposed budget falls short, however, of the bold change needed to improve outcomes and opportunities for the 40,000 children who currently attend chronically lowperforming schools.1 It reduces funds to programs that serve our highest need schools and districts, such as the Commissioners Network; creates only limited new school options, and does
not address the larger problem of fixing our broken system of school finance. Key points from the Governors Proposed Education Budget include:
Flat Funding for the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Grant and Alliance District programs: The state is no longer following the ECS formula. In the Governors proposal, districts would
receive flat funding levels based on amounts that they have received previously via the ECS line item and Alliance District program for the 30 lowest-performing districts.
Increasing Access to High Quality Public School Options: Per-pupil funding for charter schools remains flat and lower than most traditional schools (at $11,000) because the budget does
not include a per-pupil funding increase for charter school students. FY16 funding for charter schools includes an additional $12 million for 1,250 new seats and $7.9 million in FY17 for an
additional 612 seats, according to the Governors introductory budget documents. The Department of Education Budget Summary also includes a $2 million increase to expand grades at state
charter schools. These increased funds cover approved growth at existing state charter schools. This analysis may change once the state releases more information because funding for state
charter schools and local charter school start-up is included in the Education Equalization Grants (ECS) line item (which is not broken down in the currently available documents).
Proposed FY16 funding for magnet schools increases significantly, with a 12% increase equaling nearly $36 million and a slight decrease for FY17. Conversely, FY16 funding for the Sheff
Settlement decreases significantly by approximately $9 million (or 43%), and increases only slightly from FY16 to FY17. Proposed FY16 funding for the Open Choice program increases by
$680,000 (nearly 2%) from FY15 to FY16, and further increases by an additional $5 million from FY16 to FY17.
Intervening in the Lowest Performing Schools and Districts: Funding for Commissioners Network schools in FY16 decreases by about 27%. The Governors proposal reduces
Commissioners Network funding from $17.5 million in FY15 to about $13 million for each year of the FY16-17 biennium. We await further detail on how this impacts the number of schools that
will participate in the program. Proposed funding must be accompanied by legislative changes to strengthen the Network.
Starting Early with High Quality Early Childhood Education: The Governor proposed a modest 6% decrease in early childhood program funding. Funding is decreased to $10.6 million
for each year of the biennium. Proposed funding for the K-3 Reading Assessment Pilot is reduced by about 14% to $2.6 million for each year of the biennium. However, School Readiness
funding increases by more than $3 million (or 4%) in FY16 and remains the same for FY17.
Supporting Great Teachers, Principals, and Leaders: The Governor proposed a slight increase of less than 1% (about $34,000) from FY15 to FY16 for Talent Development, to support
efforts to implement the states teacher and principal evaluation program. Similarly, the FY17 budget proposes only a slight increase from FY16 of about $7,500.
Raising Standards, Accountability, and Transparency: Proposed funding for Common Core implementation remains the same as FY15 at just under $6 million, with no dollar increase in
either FY16 or FY17.

1 ConnCAN. A Crisis We Can Solve: Connecticuts Failing Schools and Their Impact. Nov. 2014. http://www.conncan.org/media-room/2014-11-connecticut-education-in-crisis-40000-children-trapp

Preliminary Education Budget Summary for FY16 and FY17 - February 18, 2015
Notes:
1. Based on FY15 revised budget and latest
rescissions (See OFA Analysis of Rescissions,
Jan. 22, 2015).
2. As of FY13, the Charter Schools line item was
included within the Education Equalization Grants
(ECS) line. In this proposal, the line item includes
both state charter school funding and local
charter start-up funding. For this reason, the total
ECS grant amount does not match the total
amount proposed for the line item.
3. Includes School Readiness Quality
Enhancement and School Readiness.
4. Includes Head Start Services, Head Start
Enhancement, and Head Start - Early Childhood
Link. The only line item with proposed funding for
FY16 and FY17 is Head Start Services.
5. In prior years (FY14 and FY15), the New or
Replicated Schools line item was specified for
local charter school funding. The current proposal
does not specify as such.

Sources: Conn. Office of Fiscal Analysis. Conn. State Budget: FY15 Revisions. Oct. 15, 2014. http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa/Documents/year/BB/2015BB-2014101
5_FY%2015%20Connecticut%20Budget%20Revisions.pdf; Conn. Office of Fiscal Analysis. Analysis of January 22, 2015 Governor's FY15 Rescissions. Feb. 3, 2015.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa/Documents/year/BB/2015BB-20141015_FY%2015%20Connecticut%20Budget%20Revisions.pdf; Conn. Office of Policy and Management. Conn. FY16 - FY17 Biennium.
Governors Budget Summary. Feb. 18, 2015. http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?a=2958&Q=560960&PM=1