Resources

As part of the biennial state budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 (Conn. Acts 17-2 (June Special Session)), the Special Education Cost Model Task Force was established to conduct a feasibility study of a special education predictable cost cooperative (Co-op) as well as other alternative models for funding special education that are used in other states. The Co-op model was created by the Connecticut School Finance Project in partnership with the University of Connecticut's Goldenson Center for Actuarial Research. In July 2019, the task force submitted its final report, which detailed the task force's findings and included the feasibility study reports, commissioned by the task force, examining different Co-op models. While the task force did not make any recommendations to the General Assembly in its final report, the task force did highlight the benefits and potential challenges of each model it investigated.

Data from the Connecticut State Department of Education detailing the state's spending on special education. To be eligible for federal funding under IDEA, Connecticut is required to report this information and cannot provide less state financial support for special education than it did in the preceding fiscal year.

The Municipal Opportunities and Regional Efficiencies (MORE) Commission was created by House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey in 2010 to work on finding solutions to issues that face Connecticut’s municipalities. The Special Education Select Working Group was formed as a sub-committee of the MORE Commission in December 2013 with the mission of determining how to provide special education in a more effective manner.