Hartford mayor allocates additional $3 million for city schools. District started $30 million short to maintain status quo.

Yahoo

20-05-2025

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said Tuesday that Hartford Public Schools would receive an additional $3 million to help mitigate a $6.7 million shortfall in the Board of Education's budget, which will preserve several crucial programs for students.
But education advocates and some city council members say that the funding does not go far enough to restore teacher cuts and that there needs to be more investments in education.
Carol Gale, president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, said while she welcomed the funding, she is disappointed.
'While it is something to help the Board of Education, it does not close the budget nor does it restore a single teacher cut or laid off,' she said, adding that while 194 teacher positions were cut, an additional 100 teachers were displaced.
The mayor said he is hopeful the remainder of the shortfall at $3.7 million will be funded from the state.
But Councilman Josh Michtom of the Working Families Party, said the city could find an additional $8 million to fund education from the fund for health care expenses for city employees.
Since 2022, Michtom said the city's health care claims budget has been over budget by over $20 million a year.
'If we invested less than half of that we could protect educator jobs and sustainably provide our students with programs to give them the support they need,' he said. 'Hartford parents are no fools. They know that when a city cares about funding a department, they prioritize it. We stand with them in their calls for prioritizing the children of Hartford.'
Michtom continued: 'We should have a serious conversation whether we want to make a modest reduction in the police budget so we can do better public safety, which is frankly education and youth programs.'
Mayor's allocation
The $3 million in funding, which includes $1.5 million from city funds and $1.5 million from corporate and foundation funding guarantees, would safeguard the district's dental clinic, programs supported by Catholic Charities, the Opportunity Academy and ReadyCT career pipeline programs, which the Board of Education identified to cut.
The $3 million is in addition to another $3 million the city contributed to Hartford public schools this past March.
Arulampalam said those programs are critical, citing the Opportunity Academy as the last chance for students to get a high school diploma and the career pathways program ensuring students seek careers after high school.
The mayor said that he will continue to advocate for funding for schools.
'This is not the final word for us,' the mayor said Tuesday at Hartford City Hall. 'We want to ensure every school building has the resources they need and support staff they need. Our goal is not to fill one budget gap. It is to create centers of excellence for all of our kids. We can't reach our great challenges if we are not willing to work together.'
House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said in an email Tuesday that he expects school funding will increase this year.
'The Hartford Legislative Delegation is always focused on securing funding for our schools,' he said. 'Last year we were able to increase school funding by $5 million in state ECS grants. We fully expect to increase funding this year as well, in both our priority bill on special education and through other legislation.'
Board of Education Chair Jen Hockenhull said in a statement the funding was crucial.
'Not only does this ensure our students receive a quality education, but also have access to the resources they need to thrive,' she said.
Hartford School Board member Tyrone Walker told the Courant that the mayor identified crucial programs that should be saved, also citing the Opportunity Youth Academy, as an opportunity to get students back on track.
But one program still on the chopping block that has not been funded yet is the Hope Academy, Walker added, stating that program is also crucial as another one that helps students recover.
Calling for more funding
Gale said one of the ways that the Board of Education has lost funding is because some students opted to go to magnet schools in other districts and open choice districts.
'We need to attract them back and the only way to attract them back is investing in our schools,' she said. 'Opening back up our libraries and getting our drama programs and things that other districts have that excite kids.'
And she called for more collaboration.
Gale said that members of the Board of Education and City Council were present at the press conference, she noted the absence of the union and parents, many of whom have been calling for increased funding at recent budget meetings.
She called for increased funding from the city, stating that the Hartford Federation of Teachers asked for $10 million.
'That would have balanced the superintendent budget and restored a little bit more,' she said. 'Quite frankly the state wants to see the city doing its part.'
In response, Arulampalam told the Courant that he would love to have $10 million to put into the schools.
'Teachers and advocates have been convinced by some city council members that there is $10 million in the city budget,' he said. 'What the council members have not told them is that the plan to find that is to fire 120 police officers and slash health benefits to city employees, including teachers, firefighters and police officers. We are not going to do that. It is irresponsible and wrong.'
Michtom argued that the city could stand to cut back on police a little bit, adding that the Board of Education has never gotten an increase in its budget over the past decade. By comparison, the police department's budget has gone up by $17 million, he said.
Flat-funded budget
Gale told the Courant that the city has flat funded the Board of Education budget for the last 10 to 12 years.
'We have received the same base amount from the city,' she said. 'There has been no cost of living increase. No adjustment for inflation over all of that time.'
Gale said the overlay that adds to the complexity of the flat funding is the creation of magnet and charter schools, which has drawn students away from Hartford, affecting enrollment, which determines state grant funding.
'Arts and music has been a source of an opportunity gap between Hartford and our magnet counterparts,' she said.
She added that the district has reduced the number of libraries from eight to three.
'We have lost our instrumental music program,' she said. 'We have lost many of our dance teachers. 'Five thousand Hartford students do not get art and music in their elementary years.'
Equitable funding
Hartford has faced increasing funding challenges over the years, receiving millions less from the state in funding than outlined under the Education Cost Sharing formula.
The Board of Education's $6.7 million budget deficit in its $250 million budget has resulted in cuts to teaching positions and also impacted classroom resources and student programs.
'Until we deal with structural issues leading to budget deficit growth we are going to continue to be in this cycle of survival,' the mayor said. 'It is not a sustainable cycle. We are committed to advocating for more funding.'
Since the start of the ECS formula in FY 2019 to 2024, Hartford has received $126 million less than what full funding called for, according to the School + State Finance Project.
The School + State Finance Project states that 'large, urban districts tend to educate the greatest number of students with higher learning needs, and have student populations composed of the largest percentages of economically disadvantaged students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. These districts also tend to have larger percentages of BIPOCB students. Despite serving students with overall greater learning needs, these districts often do not receive funding that reflects the needs of their student populations.'