$chools Protest At Capitol Ends With Arrests

HARTFORD — Ten public education advocates, including five New Haven teachers and one student, were arrested at the state Capitol Wednesday afternoon during a sit-in outside Gov. Ned Lamont’s office.

The arrests capped off a spirited protest at the center of state government, where over 200 teachers and students gathered to demand more state funding for Connecticut’s public schools.

Chief among their demands: raising the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) foundation amount and adopting a higher weight in the ECS formula for students with special needs.

The demonstration — organized by the New Haven Federation of Teachers, AFT Connecticut, and Connecticut For All — took place as New Haven Public Schools Supt. Madeline Negrón considers laying off 129 employees, including 56 teachers and all 25 librarians, to close an anticipated budget shortfall of $16.5 million for the 2025 – 2026 school year.

With the June 4 deadline for the state’s biennial budget approaching, education and labor advocates across Connecticut have ramped up their calls for more school funding.

Wednesday’s outing marked just the latest trip to Hartford by New Haveners who have visited the Capitol time and again this legislative session to press state government to come through with more funding for public education.

Included among those arrested as part of Wednesday’s act of civil disobedience were New Haven teachers union President Leslie Blatteau and Wilbur Cross student John Carlos Serana Musser, a student representative on New Haven’s Board of Education.

On Wednesday at 3 p.m. sharp, 30 New Haven Federation of Teachers members rode a yellow school bus from the teachers union headquarters on Chapel Street to Hartford. Clad in bright blue t‑shirts, they passed around Goldfish, gummies, and protest signs made by their students.

Garrett Frye-Mason and Dave Weinreb, teachers at Elm City Montessori, said that in addition to specific changes in the ECS formula, they want the process of funding schools to be more democratic. ​“Teachers, districts, and local communities should have more control over the purse strings,” Frye-Mason said.

On a seat across the aisle, Hillhouse High School teacher John Saksa scrolled through photos on his phone showing ceiling tiles mottled with mold and classroom floors filled with holes. He said he had learned that two English teachers at his school would be laid off if Negrón’s plan is implemented, which might lead to class sizes of 30 or more students, even though the NHFT’s contract states that class sizes can’t exceed 27.

After deboarding the bus, High School in the Community teacher Ben Scudder launched the protest’s opening chant: ​“When public education is under attack, what do we do?” In unison, the growing crowd responded, ​“Stand up! Fight back!”

Despite the chilly drizzle, public school teachers and students stood outside the Capitol to speak about their experiences with Connecticut schools. ​“We’re fighting for something that I don’t think we should have to fight for,” said Metropolitan Business Academy civics teacher Julia Miller, who last year was named Connecticut Teacher of the Year. She noted that while boards of education need to be responsible stewards of educational funds, districts across the state face vastly different circumstances. ​“Let’s be real,” she said. ​“In our tale of two Connecticuts, there are districts that have never faced this choice.”

Around 4:30 p.m., 25 demonstrators entered a closed-door meeting with Gov. Lamont. According to Metropolitan Business Academy teacher Izzi Geller, the governor took careful notes and asked questions, including about ​“how students are doing after the pandemic.” But when pushed to amend the ECS formula, he explained that the budget could not accommodate both a significant increase in school funding and full support for teacher pensions. He also emphasized that Connecticut’s public schools are among the best in the country.

Twenty minutes later, NHFT President Leslie Blatteau emerged to announce that ten demonstrators — five New Haven teachers and one student, one New Britain teacher, and three Connecticut for All members — would continue sitting outside of the governor’s office in protest. Within minutes, they were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.

As an officer zip-tied one woman’s hands, the arrestee told bystanders, ​“Today is my son’s 21st birthday, but I am choosing to be here because this is more important.”

The protest followed a formal letter from AFT Connecticut to Gov. Lamont, calling for an increase in the ECS foundation amount from $11,525 to $12,488 — a recommendation made in the 119K Commission’s Young People First report — and the adoption of a 50 percent weight for students with disabilities.

“Now is the time for us to commit to the promise of public education for our current and future students,” that letter reads in part. ​“In one of the richest states in the richest country in the history of the world, we must deliver the education our students deserve.”

In a statement responding to the letter, Lamont’s press secretary David Bednarz said, ​“Connecticut has the best schools in the country because we have the best teachers in the country. That’s why [the governor] has made historic investments and increases in education funding. During the final weeks of session, he plans to work with the legislature to continue that progress.”

Lamont reiterated those points during the in-person meeting — a response that some protesters described as out of touch. ​“There are two Connecticuts,” Blatteau said.

“Governor Lamont does not see the reality of working-class, low-income, Black, and brown families in Connecticut.” Geller echoed her sentiment, noting that students in cities like New Haven, Hartford, and New Britain have been shortchanged compared to those in wealthier districts.

Though the governor did not accede to their demands, the demonstrators were glad to have spoken up about their concerns with political leaders across the state. As they left, boarding the bus back for New Haven at around 6 p.m., they chanted, ​“We’ll be back.”