HARTFORD – Today, State Senator Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox, Senate Chair of the Special Education Committee, slammed the Trump administration for withholding over $4 million from Bridgeport, Monroe and Trumbull schools.
Late last month, the Trump Administration froze $6.8 billion in federal K-12 education funding for the 2025-26 school year. Connecticut schools are set to lose $53.6 million, 10% of their total federal education funding for the school year. Local schools will see significant funding cuts:
Bridgeport: $3,808,657
Monroe: $67,873
Trumbull: $153,137
Total Funding Loss: $4,029,667
“We have a constitutional obligation to provide a proper education to every student in Connecticut, and the President has a legal obligation to allocate dollars approved by Congress,” said Sen. Gadkar-Wilcox. “As Senate Chair of the Special Education Committee, I traveled across the state this session to hear from students, parents, teachers, administrators and local officials on the educational obstacles they face. The one constant we heard over and over again was they needed more funding. Our education budgets, while essential to our communities, can be an extraordinary burden on local taxpayers and municipal budgets. These cuts are not only illegal and immoral, but they are a contradiction to this administration’s claims to fiscal conservatism. From slashing Medicaid and food assistance programs, to now taking dollars out of our local classrooms, this administration is simply shifting the tax burden to working families to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. The hits just keep coming and while we will do all we can, Connecticut cannot afford to completely insulate our residents from the actions of this administration.”
This legislative session, the state legislature passed a budget that prioritized municipal aid and local schools. The state budget delivered Bridgeport, Trumbull and Monroe $38.4 million more in municipal aid over the next two years, including $11 million in each year for Education Cost Sharing (ECS). Senator Gadkar-Wilcox also passed legislation increasing special education funding, including $120 million more in special education reimbursement costs, and $5.4 million for her district in Special Education and Expansion Development (SEED) grants over the next two years.
According to the Connecticut School and State Finance Project, the Trump administration froze several specific grants. The impounded funds largely support multi-language learners, before and after-school programs which serve as a lifeline for working families, academic enrichment, adult education and educator training:
