HARTFORD—Local boards of education dealing with declining student enrollment should have greater flexibility to reduce their education budgets to ease growing pressures faced by property taxpayers, state Rep. Cecilia Buck-Taylor said today.
Buck-Taylor was among House legislators who last week unanimously approved legislation that would give towns more freedom from the state’s Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR) regulation, which prevents cities and towns from spending less on education than they did the year before.
State education data reports that many towns are spending more despite declining student populations.
“All over this state, education budgets are being passed that either don’t reflect what’s happening in the community or don’t reflect the effort and ingenuity of elected officials and administrators,” said Buck-Taylor, who kicked off the legislative session by proposing a concept similar to the bipartisan bill passed May 7. “Local taxpayers certainly appreciate when government can accomplish its core duties with financial efficiency, and this much-needed proposal is simply common sense.”
The bill (H.B. 7019) approved last week would increase the allowable spending reductions by board of education to 1.5 percent or 3 percent for declining enrollment, based on the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch. The legislation also allows districts with declining enrollment to apply to the state Department of Education for additional MBR relief.
The pending legislation does not allow the state’s lowest-performing districts to reduce their budgets, and it gives the greatest MBR flexibility to the top 10 percent of the highest-performing school districts.
The bill received strong backing from both Republican and Democrat leadership in the House, and it now awaits action in the state senate.
State Rep. Cecilia Buck-Taylor serves New Milford’s 67th House District.