Linehan: Malloy’s Proposed Education Cuts Are ‘Absolutely Unacceptable’

CHESHIRE, CT — State Rep. Liz Linehan (D-Cheshire/Southington/Wallingford) condemned Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s revised executive order which would drastically cut education cost sharing (ECS) funds to Cheshire, Southington, and Wallingford.

On Aug. 18, Governor Malloy announced revisions to the Executive Order Resource Allocation Plan along with the new municipal aid distributions associated with the plan.

“These cuts are absolutely unacceptable,” Linehan said in a press release. “I am extremely disappointed in the Governor’s revision as it does not provide fair funding to Cheshire, Southington, and Wallingford. We have an obligation to provide our students with the best education possible and the Governor’s proposal drastically undercuts our ability to do that. When I ran, I said I would stand up to Malloy whenever I needed to, and this is one of those moments. These cuts will permanently damage our school districts and our communities - our children will be the ones paying the price.”

Read more from the press release below:

Under the proposal, in Fiscal Year 2018 Cheshire loses approximately $8.5 million in aid, Wallingford loses $19.2 million, and Southington loses $20.3 million. That amounts to a 90 percent cut in aid to Cheshire and Wallingford and a complete elimination of aid to Southington. The revised plan would go into effect October 1 in the absence of a state budget.

“I will be taking the lead in aggressively fighting these cuts to preserve funding for the schoolchildren and taxpayers in our towns,” Linehan said. “These numbers do not have to become a reality if we come together now to pass a fair and balanced budget. I have met with leadership to voice my concerns and will continue to advocate for an agreement that preserves education funding and does not balance the budget on the backs of the middle class.”