The Cost of Learning
Property Tax and Inequities in Our Schools
Each year, Connecticut spends around $12 billion on K-12 public education, which amounts to $21,346 per student. This makes Connecticut the third highest state in the US for education spending ( U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics [2022]: per Pupil + Total (educationdata.org) )
Even so, there are thousands of students that attend schools with no money to maintain their buildings while others are able to provide individual computers and up-to-date teaching technology. Why?
How Does CT Fund Its Schools?
From the federal to local government, all contribute to funding our schools.
The graph above details the total source of public funding towards CT schools in the 2019-2020 school year.
For local governments, the majority of this funding comes from local property taxes, meaning that a disproportionate amount of school funding comes from the communities they support. But, why is this a problem?
Property Taxes Across the State
The value of taxable property across the state varies from region to region. As a result, it makes it easier for wealthier, property rich communities to raise money from property taxes to fund their local schools than it is for economically disadvantaged communities.
Amount of Taxable Property
To determine a town's ability to raise local revenue, it is based off of two measures, Equalized Net Grand List Per Capita (ENGLPC) and Mill Rate.
ENGLPC measures a town’s taxable property per town resident. For instance, in Fairfield, the ENGLPC is over $265,00 while Bridgeport's ENGLPC is roughly $69,000. This makes it easier for towns with higher ENGLPCs, such as Fairfield, to raise local property tax revenue.
Mill Rate is to how many dollars are taxed for every $1,000 of a property's value. Wealthier, property rich communities have lower mill rates because the high property values makes it easier for towns to raise money for local schools. For poorer, higher-need communities, the lower value of their taxable property makes towns charge higher mill rates to fund schools, increasing the tax burden on the residents.
What Does This Mean For Schools?
Because of the varying budgets, different towns can allocate different amounts to their students.
This is measured in per pupil spending or how much a school district spends on each student.
What Does This Mean For Students?
For schools that have limited access to funding, students are unable to get the resources they need in order to support their education.
Comparing Per Pupil Funding (Left) to School Performance (Through Smarter Balanced Assessments (Right))
For schools that tended to have lower per pupil spending, the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) scores tended to be lower. This trends mirrors the trend for property taxes. For districts with lower amounts of taxable property, they are unable to get enough funding for their students, leading to lower academic performance.
Students in Smalley Academy, New Britain (One of the Most Under-Funded and Lowest-Achieving Schools in CT) (Left), Peeling Gymnasium in Bridgeport School
This disproportionatley effects students of color who make up a large part of the student population in areas such as New Britian and Bridgeport, which make up around 78% of some of the 10 most underfunded schools in CT ( Unequal Schools: Connecticut's Racial, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Disparities in Kindergarten Class Size and Teaching Experience - CT Voices ).
Advocating For Change
To respond to this disparity in funding, lawmakers have proposed a variety of changes to the funding system in order to provide more equitable support to students.
