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Cross senior John Carlos Serana Musser in Hartford on Thursday: "Public schools will fail, if you fail to support them."
HARTFORD – New Haven’s superintendent and 40 city students traveled to the state Capitol to press the governor to boost education funding and help the school district avoid teacher layoffs.
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) community members issued that message at a Thursday morning press conference in Hartford, where they stood side by side with superintendents and students from seven of Connecticut’s largest school districts.
This latest New Haven-to-Hartford presser provided yet another opportunity for city public school members to urge Gov. Ned Lamont and state lawmakers to increase state funding sent to municipal public school districts.
It also took place against a backdrop of widespread public pushback to NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón’s announcement that 129 school employees — primarily teachers (including the arts), paraeducators, librarians, and math and reading coaches — could face layoffs next year in order to close an anticipated $23 million budget shortfall.
The 2025 state legislative session ends in less than a month.
The school districts that participated in Thursday’s press conference included New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, New London, Norwalk, Vernon, and Waterbury.
“We are in a crisis,” Negrón said about what New Haven and the other school districts are facing right now.
She pointed out that state lawmakers have worked to support school districts by proposing to increase Education Cost Sharing funds. However, she said, “the only person that stands in front of that being a possibility that would help us all across the state is Governor Lamont.”
In a email response to the Independent after Thursday’s press conference, Lamont spokesperson David Bednarz wrote, “Since taking office, Governor Lamont’s budgets have increased school funding by 22%, which has made our schools among the best in the country. As for funding in the next budget, the Governor continues to meet with legislative leaders and looks forward to signing a budget that continues to support our state’s outstanding schools.”
In April, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee proposed increasing funding for K‑12 public education through its proposed state budget for FY2026-2027, by fully funding the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant and providing an additional $124 million for the Excess Cost grant to support students with high special-education needs.
A press release sent out by the municipal school districts, including New Haven’s, in advance of Thursday’s press conference reported that the state’s per-student foundation amount is currently $11,525 and has not increased since 2013 while the state has also seen an average inflation rate of 2.7 percent.
The districts gathered Thursday to argue that state funding hasn’t kept up with the increase in the number of students with special needs, low-income students, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners.
After Thursday’s press conference, students delivered a letter to Lamont and met with state legislators, urging them to adopt the 119K Commission’s Young People First report’s recommendations and loosen the state’s fiscal roadblocks.
Hillhouse junior Johanelyz Arroyo spoke up during Thursday’s press conference and demanded that the governor and state lawmakers see the real consequences of underfunding from real children and dedicated teachers.
She described teachers as lifelines for students, mentors, and the fabric of the community. “Firing them isn’t just a budget cut. It’s a cut to our hearts.”
She continued that at Hillhouse, New Haven’s second largest high school, students miss classes due to the lack of access to basic feminine hygiene products. She described this as causing “indignity, shame, and distraction” to student learning. She also spoke about her teachers having to pay for basic classroom supplies, like an art teacher at Hillhouse who had to pay for paper and staples due to a lack of supplies.
The current state of public education funding has failed to meet students’ and staff’s fundamental needs, she concluded.
“Every day we delay, more students fall behind, more teachers lose their jobs, and more potential is squandered,” Arroyo said.
NHPS Board of Education student representative and Wilbur Cross senior John Carlos Serana Musser’s message to Lamont Thursday was “Public schools will fail if you fail to support them.”
Serana Musser reported that NHPS plans to lay off 129 educators, including all school librarians and a quarter of arts educators, and cut all middle school sports, among other cuts, if the district can’t close this budget deficit.
He concluded, “There is no single reason my fellow students and I cannot receive a quality education, a holistic one complemented by the arts. There’s not one reason why my fellow students and I cannot receive an education where our research and love of reading is fostered by the warm smile and guiding hand of a librarian. There’s not one reason for this to be happening in a state that sits on a $4.6 billion surplus in the richest country in the world.”
Metropolitan Business Academy sophomore Brandon Daley speaks with Reps. Toni Walker and Alphonse Paolillo, Jr.