Rep. Courtney Fends off GOP Budget Attacks on Education, Increases Aid for Local Public Schools
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Joe Courtney, a senior member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, voted to pass the final six Fiscal Year 2024 spending bills, including the education budget. The education funding bill is more than $40 billion above what was proposed by the Republican majority earlier this year, which included an 80 percent cut to all Title I schools.
In November, Rep. Courtney detailed how an 80 percent cut would impact each school district in eastern Connecticut.
“Today, I joined a coalition of Democrats and Republicans to pass a FY24 education budget that makes strong investments in education, childcare, and job training – a complete reversal from where we were four months ago. Back in November, the House GOP passed an education budget that was the exact opposite of what eastern Connecticut’s schools and families needed. They decimated funding for Title I schools by 80 percent, cut funding for programs that benefit schools in military communities like Groton and Ledyard, flat funded special education for the first in over a decade, and slashed Head Start funding,” said Rep. Courtney.“Despite this extremely difficult budget environment, House Democrats, led by Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee, fought off these cuts and worked with Republicans to at least maintain, if not boost funding where we could. This is no small feat in a closely divided Congress and will pay huge dividends for our educators, students, and parents in eastern Connecticut.”
Impact on Connecticut Schools & Families
- 95 percent of schools in CT-02 receive Title I grants. The final FY24 budget prevented 1,900 educators across Connecticut from losing their jobs.
- ED Impact Aid Grants provide 4.5% of Groton and Ledyard Public Schools’ annual budgets.
- The final FY24 budget saved more than 335 Head Start slots in Connecticut.
- The final FY24 budget saved 7,300 adult training slots in Connecticut through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
