Teachers, school support personnel and public education advocates should join us in urging Governor Ned Lamont to reject opting in to the federal school voucher scheme established under H.R. 1. This program uses a dollar-for-dollar tax credit mechanism that could cost American taxpayers up to $51 billion annually. By allowing billions in public revenue to be diverted directly to private and parochial school tuition, this open-ended policy severely siphons critical funding away from traditional public schools.

For Connecticut, participating in this program risks stalling momentum just as state lawmakers have begun making historic, hard-fought increases to local education aid to remedy over a decade of missed inflationary adjustments. By refusing to adopt this plan, the governor can shield our public school infrastructure, ensure tax dollars are managed transparently and protect the resources necessary to keep local neighborhood classrooms fully staffed and resourced