SEN. KUSHNER CONDEMNS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUTS OF $88,000 TO NEW FAIRFIELD AND RIDGEFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICTS

State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) today issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s weekend announcement of $14 million in federal cuts to education funding for Connecticut, including a $50,000 cut to the New Fairfield school system and a $38,107 cut to the Ridgefield school system.

The funds pay for academically focused initiatives such as high-dosage tutoring, scientifically based reading instruction, mathematics professional learning, digital curriculum and online courses, talent development initiatives including a Teacher-Leader-in-Residence to implement the Connecticut Troops to Teachers (CTTT) Program, student support initiatives including efforts to reduce the number of youth interacting with the juvenile justice system, no-cost access to vision care for students from low-income families, and school-based mentoring programs to reduce chronic absenteeism.

“Donald Trump and the Republican administration in Washington, D.C. have already caused untold economic damage to our state and our nation, and now they’re attacking schoolchildren who are still recovering from the educational fallout of the yearslong COVID pandemic. These are unnecessary cuts to valuable programs that are helping students succeed in New Fairfield and Ridgefield,” said Sen. Kushner.