Watch: A Decade Of Subtraction For City Schools – The Fight To Modernize Investment In Education

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, a lobbying voice for city and town members across the state, conducted a press conference about the state’s funding formula. CCM leader Joe DeLong kicks off the presentation about the state’s failure to adjust the Education Cost Sharing formula that helps fund local education and has not kept pace with inflation and the growing costs associated with operating public schools.

In a related commentary, see below, Board of Education member Joe Sokolovic who notes: “Not speaking as Vice Chair. Opinions are my own” weighs in.

 At last night’s meeting, the Board voted 6-2 with one abstention to request an additional $106,000,000 from the City. While this figure may seem startling at first glance, it is important to understand that it represents what our students truly need. The amount to be provided by the city is dependent upon the level of additional state funding increases, as state dollars flow through the city budget. However, I firmly believe that any request must reflect the full scope of resources required to restore much of what has been cut over the past decade and to ensure progress towards a just, equitable education for all Bridgeport students. For the last decade that has not been the case .

Since 2015, Bridgeport Public School children have endured a slow, devastating disinvestment in their future, not caused by declining need or shrinking student populations, but by a refusal mostly at the state level to fund our district with even basic inflationary adjustments. While state leaders brag about their investments in education, the reality on the ground here in Bridgeport, and many other districts, urban and rural alike, tells a very different story: our children have paid the price as the district has been forced to eliminate approximately 300 positions since 2015.

These cuts are not abstract numbers. They represent real people, paraprofessionals, teachers, guidance counselors, literacy coaches, home‑school coordinators, family resource workers, administrators—who once formed the backbone of student support in Connecticut’s largest, impoverished, majority- minority school district.

A Decade of Subtraction

Between 2016 and 2020 alone, the district slashed well over 240 positions. Every year brought another round of cuts: paraprofessionals, coordinators, coaches, officers, interns, support staff, and central office employees. These aren’t extras they are the very supports wealthy districts take for granted.

Temporary Relief, Then the Cuts Returned

It took a global pandemic to pause the cuts. But as soon as emergency aid expired, the reductions returned with a vengeance in 2024–2025 and 2025–2026. Looking ahead, the district faces a staggering $45 million need in 2026–2027, and that is just to keep the same level of inadequate services the district provides today. For every dollar below $45 million becomes another dollar cut from the children’s budget. The board may be the ones that have to vote to make these cuts, let’s be clear, the responsibility for these cuts fall squarely on the Governor, and other elected officials. These cuts will be on top of cuts already made in the last decade.

Human Cost of Underfunding

Approximately 300 positions eliminated since 2015. This reflects a pattern of systematic disinvestment driven by a funding formula, frozen since 2013, a formula that refuses to keep pace with inflation and perpetuates an inequitable resource gap.

Where Is the Accountability?

State officials often brag about their commitment to public education, but Bridgeport’s staffing logs and classroom realities tell another story, one of chronic neglect. The role of the press is to scrutinize, question, and hold power accountable, especially when multimillion‑dollar PR campaigns obscure the truth.

Our Children Deserve Better

Bridgeport’s students—predominantly Black, Brown, low‑income, multilingual, and special‑education learners—deserve the same investment as every child in Connecticut. Until the ECS formula is adjusted for past and future inflation and the city does their part, the cycle of cuts will continue—and the next job losses will be tragically predictable.

Let’s fight!

You can help! Watch for opportunities to advocate. Watch board meetings. Check the board website for tips on how to advocate for our children. Visit https://www.cga.ct.gov/ look up your state representative, call them, call the Governor’s office, learn how to testify on a bill (first opportunity will be on February 17, ensure you register by the deadline!) Tell the state that they must fix the formula and provide at least a $16,500 amount in order to make up for losses due to rising prices.
When we fight we win!
Joseph Sokolovic,
Not speaking as Vice Chair.
Opinions are my own.
The facts belong to everyone.