> > This week on the Wheelhouse summer break is over.

> > And > > For kids and Congress, what that means for Connecticut.

♪ > > working > > at a good public.

I'm Frankie Graziano.

This is the Wheelhouse.

So the next politics of the people, we got your weekly dose of politics in Connecticut and beyond right here.

And right here, summer break is ending for kids and for Congress as students return to classrooms, lawmakers head back to Washington with just weeks to finalize federal funding before the September 30th fiscal year deadline.

Without a deal.

Parts of the government could shut down.

This hour.

We explore how those high stakes budget decisions in the scramble to avoid a shutdown ripple into Connecticut schools.

> > We hear from educators and what they need and what they fear as the new school year begins.

And later.

Not all students in Connecticut are returning from summer break.

No, really.

We'll hear from one district experimenting with a year-round school schedule.

Joining me now, Kate Diaz.

Kate, is president of the Connecticut Education Association.

Kate, so good to see in person.

It's been a while.

Good to see it.

Thank you.

We're really happy to be here.

You know, back to school is always really fun for us as educators.

Little stressful.

Not gonna lie.

> > little stressful.

A lot of transitioning, but it's probably the most optimistic time of years where we walk in and, you know, everything is possible.

So it's a really powerful time for us to kind of reconnect with our students, our families, our colleagues, and and to settle into the really good work that goes on in our schools.

We love optimism.

Optimism is a good thing.

And for teachers, many of them have already been in school for quite sometime trying to prepare.

Also with us, Fran Rabinowitz executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents for and Welcome to the Wheelhouse.

Thank you for coming on today.

Thank you.

Coming in.

Thank you, Frankie.

I'm happy to be here.

And as Kate I do love this time of year.

We were just talking about the fact that we were seeing kids at bus stops and, you know, with their parents and all dressed stop and > > it's just it's a wonderful time of the year stressful.

I remember as superintendent, how stressful this time was.

You just want to make sure everything was perfect for the kids when they came back.

Are you stressed out?

Are you feeling less optimistic?

> > Are you feeling optimistic?

Give us a call.

8, 8, 8, 7, to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, Want to hear from all of you.

> > It ate 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, I don't know.

Maybe one of you want to share a back-to-school story.

Whatever you gotta do, give us call it a day 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, at the end of June.

Kate, the Trump administration announced it would withhold 6.5 billion dollars in federal K through 12 funding for the 2025.

26 school year.

That's about how Big Connecticut's budget is.

Obviously that's not the amount of money that we're losing, but that's that's pretty much ecs right there for Connecticut.

That's a loss of about 53.6 million dollars for public school districts and community programs.

What actions did school districts across the state take in response to hearing that initial news, we saw immediate contraction on things like before and after school programming, people started to automatically reduce staff.

I'm trying to figure out all right.

How do we how do we cut so that we don't start the school year in the hole.

Basically.

And so you started to see an immediate kind of contraction in those particular programs.

And then we also started to see sort of the okay, maybe we need to slow or hiring.

> > Wait a minute.

Where is the stability and instability occurring?

So, you know, we saw an immediate response in, I think those before and after school programs, truthfully, that was the first line that we impacted because also those are the people that were in work in the summer program.

So they were the first to kind of alert us.

We're hearing this.

We're seeing My colleague just got a notice that they were there.

Their job would not be around.

And so we started to see that first.

Fortunately, Connecticut stepped up.

You know, our attorney general filed suit immediately.

We got a quick reaction that this was really likely to not stick that we're going to start to see those funds released with some legal pressure, quite frankly, so I think there was hold back like there was concern.

But there was a cautious move forward.

So, you know, I think fortunately, we didn't see the negative impact that we're going to see in the in the future days.

I mean, we're talking about roughly 14% of Connecticut's education funding comes from the federal government.

When we start talking about impact, that's anywhere between 4 and 7% in any local district.

If we talk about just a 50% cut and that's what they're talking about is how do we impact?

And it's important for us.

Remember that literally 80% of those dollars go to students in really need base circumstances.

Things like special education is a little over 40% of those funds about 40% of those funds are directly impacting students who come to us with some sort of challenge rights like life challenge that is beyond their control.

So 80% of the funding we're talking about our need based issues based that are students come to us with circumstances that they don't have any impact over and that we need to help address and serve them well.

So we talk about impact.

We're really talking about the hardest hit.

Kids are the ones who need us the most.

And that's where I want to go.

Friend.

The hardest hit districts as well.

And I'm sure you're very familiar with one of them in particular.

> > I am burden and I I would say to you when this came out that 53.6 million a district like Bridgeport was hit with 3.8 million.

I think what is particularly egregious about it is we had already done our budget and we were dependent on that money.

Whether you were a tiny district or a big district Bridgeport would have lost teachers.

You know, several teachers covered under title 2 many para professionals under title 3.

I went to Washington in the beginning of July to meet with a delegation test to advocate and you know, it was it was impounded.

It was slow down.

We didn't get it eventually.

it really did curtail summer programs and and it caused undue stress, too many of our educators who were told I'm sure your job may not be there next and then the money came back and you know, it was okay, but I I foresee more of this going forward in in the next round of funding.

And I agree with Kate and I, DEA and title one, a district like Bridgeport receives 10 million, at least in title one funding that is staff members and so I I remain very concerned 10 and Kate's right.

It is the our most vulnerable students that will greatly had not just the students with disabilities.

Guess that's true.

But also those students in poverty.

And that's the thing.

I have a bias towards students with intellectual and does and.

> > And developmental disabilities as being the father of one of them.

So but this is where you we kind of talk about and break it down.

You're talking about losing paraprofessionals are losing funding for special education.

So it's not that just every student that is as having a disability, he's going to get out there and need need some help in in in one sense.

But what I'm trying to say is that if you are not able to meet these children where they are, they may end up if they don't have the right system around them.

They may end up not in the workforce or they may end up in jail or something like that.

So that's why it's very important to serve these children, especially a young age, an incredibly important.

I that you're talking about the pair professionals.

There is very yet a one to one care has been very important for my son is they're they're absolutely critical.

And for our, you know, multilingual students.

> > Losing those para professionals are their link to the language in many cases and for students with disabilities.

I absolutely worry about that.

I mean, we're going to try to do our very best.

But and you talked about poverty to.

I mean, you're talking about this was very important.

What you brought up earlier > > before and after school care.

And now you're talking to parents and you want them to up lift themselves out of poverty.

But when you say do whatever you can to work, I got to work second shift or something like that.

If I'm somebody that's working at 3, 4 o'clock to 12 o'clock at night.

I don't know if I get the coverage now for losing that before and after cat right?

Kate?

> > Absolutely.

And I think it's important for us to acknowledge that, you know, we're trying to build workforce here in Connecticut.

We've been talking for years about over 100,000 vacancies in across the state of Connecticut.

In our workforce.

We've been talking about the disconnected youth.

All of these things.

And and really there in care, intertwined with the public school system and so if we are not able to provide opportunities for our young people, they become disconnected.

They become people who are not active in the workforce.

We thank continue to have gaps in our workforce development.

We then suffer economically.

When we talk about not having before and after school programs, what we learned in the pandemic was how central in critical education is in for, though, the workforce to be functional.

That was one of the the key takeaways is that these things are all connected.

You cannot impact one without impacting the other and so it's not just that we want to serve children, which we do very definitely.

But we want to serve our communities and we can't do that without proper staffing.

It's unsafe.

It's unhealthy.

It doesn't allow us to really kind of build the environments that are critical to our students achievement and their ability to thrive.

And so we really kind of dig in to what is the impact of the loss of these kinds of funds.

It is broad.

I mean, the immediate yep, it's a closing of a program, but that also means that the person who is working second shift in a manufacturing company now can't make their shift.

Now that manufacture can't produce its product.

Then weeks start Talk about delays in production.

I mean, there is the long term impact that gets felt by everyone across all sectors.

You are talking about the we're talking about the money initially being withheld earlier and > > the federal government tried to say afterwards that it would released the money wasn't no harm, no foul.

At that point, it was a devastating impact.

> > They're I think green during impact using words.

Yeah.

And I think one of the the real clear impact points is creating that level of instability creates workforce instability, which our teachers thrive on stability.

They love.

You know, these are people who work on a bell schedule right?

Like so when you create?

Absolutely, yes, really.

And it just becomes a part of our culture.

And and personality in some ways.

And so when you create instability in the systems, you you'd have systems like Bridgeport and Waterbury, where people go.

I don't know if you have a job.

So I'm going to find when elsewhere in a district that isn't suffering from this instability.

So now you start to see the divide increase between the districts that are highly resourced and the ones that are struggling because if the resources are unstable, people will have to say, you know, to France point somebody is getting told, I don't know where the funding for your job is coming from that person then has to make a personal choice about their own work.

You know, life can I afford to wait and see if I have a job.

And the answer is no, we have families.

We have financial obligations with mortgages and car payments that need to be made as well.

And most teachers do not have a wage high enough where they can wait it out.

Most of our education system thrives in a workforce.

That's it.

That's working month-to-month and meeting their bills and their economic demands on a on a real basic level.

So we can't afford to hope we have a job.

We can't wait that out.

So if I'm being told maybe you have a job, I'm now looking for a job.

So we're creating high level of instability in places that can't afford that level of instability.

I would agree with you 100% and you know, when we talk about students with disabilities, I think about > > reading, I mean, it's a passion for having kids learn to read, I believe kids should be reading by the brand.

How many children in Connecticut can't really percentage?

Yes, a large percentage.

And when I was talking near 50 per yes, we're talking near 50% and at the end of grade 3 and when I saw some read by get great one, too, in my opinion, they should be ready by the end of great one and reading independently by the end of grade 3.

And, you know, you single digit percentages at proficiency in a place like Bridgeport.

If you cut cut back on all our resources, how do how do we teach those children to read?

How do we have them reading independently to me, that's the greatest strategy we have for our kids to move forward and the return on investment is huge.

So that those of the things that really worry me when you know, when you have 28 kids in the classroom in first grade and no aid because you have no resources are no reading teachers.

That's an issue.

I can't continue to harp on this friend.

You're going to frank.

Hey, you guys are going to keep all day on Part of the sparks are going to ask you another question.

But > > you talk about the haves and the have nots single-digit proficiency.

These in Bridgeport, we're going to underscore that.

We're also going to underscore the fact that yes, kids in Derry N which is very nearby Bridgeport some of the other suburbs there of of Stanford.

They could read at a better rate.

But not necessarily because we know that some of those kids are still using.

Guess the word or they're using private tutors or something like that.

So the reading situation has been bungle.

The bet there are disparities.

I'm glad that Kate and friend brought that up because we want to hear from you.

Are you seeing disparities out?

There are the haves separating themselves even further from the have nots.

Give us a call.

8, 8, 7 to 0.

6, 9, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7.

I haven't said the number and a couple of weeks live.

8, 8, 7, to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, looking at school budgets.

More broadly, though, friend many Connecticut towns are financially strained.

Residents can be, let's say, reluctant nowadays to approve increases for education.

How does that pressure show up in school budget goodness.

I have never seen so many referendums in my life and failed referendums on.

> > and a variety of districts and > > you know, I worked personally with Bridgeport quite a bit.

spring and summer.

I see them heading into the year and barely barely making their budget and looking at a looming, 26 million shortage by the end of the school year.

budgets budgets are very tough.

And I'll tell you something.

I believe the budget is the road map for his school district.

That's what you hold as important.

Mostly your budget isn't staffing if those, but just to cut back staff is going to go and stuff is the most important piece of anyone's budget, especially if you've already put together the budget.

and you've got to cut it again.

And, you know, superintendents and leadership teams are spending inordinate amounts of time just trying to get a budget passed.

That takes away from other things that are very important as well.

I would argue that the single basic conversation that's ongoing perpetually and in school district is money.

> > And it's unfortunate because that is not what any of the people that are engaged in those conversations got in this work to do.

It is foundational it is necessary.

It's important for sure.

But it is an unfortunate distraction in a state like Connecticut.

Listen that we have a broad landscape of responsibility that we could talk about, you know, where 6 in the country for per people expenditures but 44th in the country for state contribution.

That is our opportunity gap in numbers, quite frankly.

So, you know, you end up in spaces Derrian cut their mill rate, cut their their budget at the local level and and is having that conversation with.

They've got a 14 military that their military is 14 and then you contrast that with hand in that can't increase their mill rate anymore.

They are max capacity of what they can do to their community and are are struggling the state kind of is wedged in the middle of that as well as in terms of what is their contribution.

And they haven't kept pace say now you have municipal responsibility that is really quite burdensome.

And then you layer in the federal instability.

And so there are spaces that can manage that better than others because they have more wealth in their communities and so vac it gets played out real transparent, like 100%.

So so then you guys got to help me figure this out.

How does the state to fill in the blanks?

> > Well, I think state has an obligation to invest in public education by looking at, like, for example, the foundation grant of the ecs formula has not kept pace with inflation.

It is currently and for new Well, it is.

So here's the deceptive model.

The foundation itself has not kept pace with inflation is 20 $13.

So we're we're pacing the base of BCS formula.

Other aspects of that formula have increased it's kind of this.

We've seen increases in the in the dollars going to municipalities, but the base of that foundation by that that base amount has not kept pace with inflation.

So while dollar figures go up, the proportional contribution has.

Yeah, the base is about 11,000.

Something.

I mean, the cost of educating a child.

> > The average cost in Connecticut is well over 20,000.

So 11,000 is very, very far behind.

We have been pushing for a change in the foundation for quite some time and I just want to say one thing I know money isn't everything.

It's also about leadership and it's about good good practice.

But let me tell you, without money, you can't do it.

And I just have to say that I experienced it in Bridgeport with my teachers when I didn't have the resources to provide the system of intervention that was needed.

And my teachers left because they said they wanted to be successful.

And I didn't have the conditions to give them that success.

It it was horrible because I didn't have the resources.

I knew what was needed for the classrooms.

But I didn't have the resources to provide and that was before we're dealing with all of what our potential federal cuts.

I appreciate your perspective there.

And I think that's a great place to land.

I think that was a really excellent testimony.

Appreciate.

> > Having both of you on this morning, Fran Rabinowitz executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

Thank you so much for coming in.

Thank you.

Frankie and KD as the president, the Connecticut Education Association.

Thanks for being here today.

> > Always a pleasure.

You all have a lot of work to do.

God bless you and good luck here go.

Thank goodness we work very closely together.

Yes, that's right for you.

I like that.

They're in lockstep here.

And this program today after the break, a field trip to Congress will look at what's on the docket for lawmakers as they return from their August break.

It is up 88 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7.

I remember the number the same 88 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, ♪ ♪ > > Support comes from the Connecticut Democracy Center who invites you to visit Connecticut's old State House this summer.

Bring the family or a date to immerse yourselves in the state's rich history.

Check out their event calendar at CT Old State House DOT Org.

> > Do you have a good book?

Literary themes like you up Cavendish and host of Where We Live.

We're channeling our because passion into a new initiative where we read and we want to connect with you, my team and I want to hear about the author's topics and types of events you're into.

No, if and reading no pressure, just relaxed conversation.

Among fellow book lovers Saturday, September 6th at 11:00AM at Rebel Dot Coffee in East Hartford.

Visit CT Public Dot org slash where we read to RSVP.

> > This August, Connecticut Public is celebrating Black Business month by simplifying the voices of black entrepreneurs across our state from roundtable, conversations to spotlight story.

Discover the drive resilience and impact of black owned businesses shaping Connecticut's future.

Explore new episode, local features and more at CT Public Dot Org.

Slash black voices discover learn share.

> > In New England, the weather is always changing Wilson for forecast from Meteorologist Garrett R G Ana's during morning edition.

And all things considered support comes from Colombia Implant Center and Kings Town.

Green eco-friendly caskets.

This is the Wheelhouse from Connecticut Public Radio.

Frankie Graziano Congress is back from their August recess with a big deadline looming.

The government budget must be finalized by the end of September.

What's Connecticut's delegation hoping to see happen in the days ahead joining me now, good friend of mine, Lisa Hagen.

Lisa is a federal policy reporter for Connecticut Public and Connecticut Mayor.

Lisa, thanks so much for being > > Ian, thanks for having me.

here.

Always good to be here.

Good to see you from Capitol Hill this morning.

We hope you'll join the conversation if you're not on Capitol Hill or if you're in Connecticut, just give us a call.

> > It's 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, put Lisa Knight of the test.

See if there's anything that you want to talk about.

Congress returns to Washington in September.

I know some of these lawmakers are starting to trickle back.

Lisa at the top of the agenda and what what what is at the top of the agenda?

What kind issues will lawmakers want to focus on in their first weeks back?

> > The big thing is funding the federal government, which always interesting and becoming an increasingly tougher fight.

> > For Congress over the past few years.

And so that's the big thing.

They they are on recess for last week.

They return after Labor Day.

So next Tuesday and then they have less than a month to to get it done to get some type of federal funding done.

> > And again, that's becoming increasingly hard a time where a lot of federal funding is under threat or has been cut.

There's disagreement over how to do that.

And again, this is a fight we see all the time and is it is never easy for Congress, but I think it'll be especially tough this time.

So again, the big question is whether this is a short-term funding fakes can Congress do a full year, you know, funding bill that I don't know.

We'll see at this point.

It's looking at least like a short-term fix.

At least 4.

The foreseeable future, at least until they figure out they're negotiating.

> > It sounds like things are pretty divided down there in Washington just an meant in terms of when it comes to funding the government.

How often do we actually see full-year spending bills pass?

Or should we expect something else you talked about it?

Is it more realistic to expect another short-term fix like the old CR, the continuing resolution?

> > I mean, at least from what I'm hearing from our delegation, the Connecticut delegation, really seems like they're all expecting a continuing resolution, which just to quickly explain that it's just funding the federal government at existing levels for usually it's a very short period time.

It could be anywhere from these 2 weeks and it just kind of hold them over until they do all their negotiating for a full-year spending bill.

Currently, Congress is operating on one since March.

So it's been it's been months.

They're actually not even existing on current fiscal year levels.

This is from fiscal year 2024.

So Congress has little bit behind on that.

They will enter a new fiscal year's fiscal year 2026.

On September, 30th.

And so they're hoping to get new spending levels done so that, you know, just figure out what each agency needs and stuff like that.

again, I think the bigger question is not like when, you know, not if, but when on the CR, but can it take them till the end of the year?

Typically Congress will past full-year spending bills.

Usually it's all put together in on the bus, usually by around Christmastime, end of December.

I don't know at this rate it might go longer.

Congress may have to be keep operating on these a short-term fixes.

> > And we talk about those short-term fixes and what it means for agencies and schools back home in Connecticut.

Are they concerned about the funding staying the same?

Are they concerned about that limbo period where they not sure if it's going to go up or down.

What are some of the impacts for some of these agencies back home here in Connecticut?

> > Yeah, I mean, the nice thing about doing short-term bill, a continuing resolution is that everything just keeps going as it is.

It's not going to be a shutdown that that's the bigger pressing for states re.

That's definitely a tougher position to be put in.

So just funding the government least keeping a flat funded is better than nothing.

That'll keep Canada going.

I mean, schools are mostly operating on local budgets.

But again, I do it as long as Congress can pass government funding the state in the country will be okay for that for the time being.

I think the thing to watch, though, is once we get past, this may be short-term bill and Congress is negotiating longer-term full-year funding.

How much are some of these agencies going to get?

How much will I the committees approved for say the Department of Education for things like programs in title one funding, some of that, some of that funding that you guys were talking about earlier and so that that's up for negotiation at this point.

That is something that both parties will have to weigh in.

Obviously, there's different desires for how to fund things like the Department of Education.

But I think that's really the thing to watch.

But in the short term, you know, Connecticut and all the agencies will be if they if they hold off on the shutdown.

> > The delegation has put forward request for millions in earmarks.

What are some of the biggest ticket items they're hoping to secure for the state?

> > Yeah, you know, I look through these every year and a lot of times you see the same repeat.

These are projects and nonprofits things lawmakers have seen in the district for some time.

And that is something that always catches my eye.

As I always notice that there's a lot of affordable housing development projects that are being funded.

So that always seems to be ones that are really high on the list.

That's not too surprising in a state like Connecticut where.

We're constantly talking about a high housing crisis and the housing shortage.

Other things, you know, infrastructure projects.

Also, there's education in there.

There's healthcare initiatives, things like community health centers.

And so, you know, I think was also notable this time around is some of these projects and recipients they have at times lost federal funding just throughout this year.

And so some of them have been restored like, like, say, for community health centers.

But sure a lot of them are looking to Congress for some of the earmarks funding to get some sort of funds.

> > But the disadvantages sort of their first 8 lawmakers, especially if they're going into special session soon.

I would imagine is that they really can't necessarily rely on that or or have any intel going into the special session or would you maybe have to wait to have the special session until after these budget negotiations?

Start because we are talking about September for a special session in Connecticut.

How are these federal negotiations impacting the special session?

You have any idea.

> > Yeah, I mean, if the special session and that being in September mean, that's going to coincide with a lot of these you know, state lawmakers and the governor, they're not going know quite what you know Congress is doing.

And I you know, the they're looking, I think more towards was passed in the big beautiful bill.

And so they're working on some kind of runway.

They know where cuts are going to happen.

A lot of these things won't be implemented until a few years from now.

So I think, you know, Paddack in states, Alice, when there is that thing that they again, they have some lead time before they have to think about things like cuts to snap Nutricia need or to Medicaid.

So I mean, they're they're going to take that all into consideration.

But that will probably weigh most heavily on them as they're trying to figure that out.

But yeah, this would also coincide with government funding again, I don't think at this point we really know where that's going to land or where agencies might see some some further gaps.

> > So if those earmarks don't make it through, and certainly they probably won't.

While we're in a special session here, what options do Connecticut delegation members have to those priority sort of get pushed to their next session or the next Congress.

> > It depends because let's say they come back in September and they decide to put government funding to December.

Earmarks.

Don't go away.

They're going to still be talking about funding the federal government for again, the upcoming fiscal year, 2026. and so if that is still on the table, then earmarks could be green lit.

And then, you know, let's say there's, you know, the kind of the end of the year Christmas miracle that basically happens.

And then a lot of these projects and recipients in Connecticut could see those earmark dollars.

What can happen, though, and this happened in the past.

The current fiscal year is that if they just keep operating on the CR is that they keep asking short-term funding and they don't include earmarks.

They basically go away.

And so that's why a lot of the one that didn't get your marks from the current fiscal year.

They were requested.

The delegation, SOT funds for them again for this upcoming year.

And so that's why you're seeing a lot of repeats because no one, no one got that special earmarks funding this year.

> > Congress, as I said earlier, feels more divided than ever.

you see it in terms of the cra's.

We're seeing more of the continuing resolutions in recent years than we had in past years.

At least that's my understanding of the situation.

But there also divided in the work that they have to do in trying to.

So what happens is you have so much to do and you're so divided, you don't necessarily have time to come up with these for your resolutions and you have other business that you're trying to take care of.

One person I talked to yesterday was Chris Murphy for an upcoming episode.

The Wheelhouse actually talked to him 2 days ago.

Watch that full interview, folks next Wednesday at 09:00AM.

> > He says in it he doesn't know Democrats how Democrats can vote for a budget that doesn't, quote, rollback Trump's corruption and lawlessness, unquote.

So he thinks there's a lot of work that needs to be done first before there's a budget that passed that should maybe have bipartisan support.

How are lawmakers on both sides of the aisle viewing the government budget right now?

> > Yeah, I think someone like Senator Chris Murphy is really interesting in this particular Fey.

Obviously he's has national profile really rising.

But also he is on the Appropriations Committee on the Senate side.

And then you also have one of the other members of the delegation, Rosa DeLauro, who has a really high profile role.

She's, you know, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

And so you the delegation will all have a chance to vote on this.

But I think Murphy into Lauro have particularly interesting roles in the upcoming government funding fight.

And so, you know, they're going to have to figure out the best way to go.

She at a time when they don't have any power in Congress.

That mean Republicans control both majorities and so they have the upper hand.

But at the same time to pass anything, especially through the Senate, you need to you need buy-in from Democrats.

And so that's where you have a little bit more of that leveraging so I I think they're going to we'll see if they take different tax and You know, the way that the Senate and the House are handling government funding right now in negotiations are very different.

And so when you look at someone like Chris Murphy, the Senate is doing currently a bipartisan process of trying to pass government funding bills and you heard him speaking that interview and I and I heard him as well.

That he he's mad about all the rollbacks of federal funding, including that rescission package that could a bunch of public broadcasting funding and foreign aid funding.

And so > > it he's he's you know, he's not taking both on these things even though they have support from almost all Democrats, he doesn't want to vote.

> > Or something that has reversed a lot of federal funding.

And so that's his strategy.

Weather.

You know, Democrats all take that same again.

That same strategy that the impact and that threatens to shut down.

We'll have to see.

There's always that shutdown blame game.

And so I think that factors a lot into these conversations on.

It's an important reminder, especially for somebody who's been on vacation like I have for the last couple of weeks, even though you did have some the Wheelhouse content.

That's an important reminder.

> > From Lisa Hagen that the federal Republican rescission package there did take money away from public broadcasting, including 2.1 million dollars annually from Connecticut Public.

We're Lisa and I both work.

So that is important to remind folks that as we're talking about in education earlier, when you lose money, it means that jobs could be lost.

We haven't seen that yet here.

Connecticut Public, but it's always murky here.

When you talk about these kind of things, I'm glad you brought that point up because there is so much going on.

But that's one situation in the Senate.

And then you have the situation in the House.

God be with our lawmakers.

There.

Courtney DeLauro, Larson, of course you have Himes and then Jahana Hayes because they're even talking about whether or not they're going to bring up Epstein files and things like that.

They've got a lot of business there in the House that they may be focused on other than the CR.

> > that's definitely true.

We'll see how that factors into all that.

Again, that the big thing for them is going to be.

It is pushing that government funding bill.

But you know what again is especially when you look at a place like the House.

they have special less leverage there because you can just pass things with a simple majority and so that that's not to say that all Republicans are going to be on board with this.

And so again, we've seen at the same time when they had a past things.

They're called suspension.

Bill, you need two-thirds majority.

That's when you need Democrats because there's such a small majority.

So again, Democrats can still play their hand on this.

I don't know the push issues like bills around the Epstein files.

That's probably going to come.

So, you know, come to bear at some point.

I don't know of.

I don't know how or maybe if they'll tie that to government funding.

But I'm just saying I got a lot of business.

They're trying to take care of a short period of time.

I think you.

> > I think those kind your main point earlier is that it's like its September and they only have a short time when they get back in before the deadline.

So there's just a lot of work to do.

I want to say before we finish up here, the president did President Trump did come into office promising to dig the country out of a budget crisis.

Is he making progress there?

And what can you tell us about the numbers?

> > Police are looking at something like the big beautiful bill that passed pretty recently.

I mean, that's kind of what I'm looking at the most because it will lease the numbers show that it will increase the national debt.

I've seen, you know, figures around 3.4 trillion dollars.

And so that's mainly because there are all these different tax cuts in spending in there.

And it basically there just wasn't Wallace, significant amounts of spending will be are being cut.

It wasn't enough to offset that.

And so that's the thing.

You could look at them most in terms of where we are with that, you know, a budget crisis or looking at the national debt.

And so I you know, I have seen Trump and he spoke about this a lot.

We talked about his tariff policy about having some of that kind of on offset some of the national debt being able to raise enough revenue through tariffs.

I've seen quota 4 trillion dollar number again, that might be over a significant period of time.

And, you know, frankly, we also need to see will will tariffs hold up.

You know, he's he's moved on a lot of those things there in place.

Currently, I don't know if that will change in.

So I think it's a little bit hard to tell at this point.

How much tariffs in kind of eat into, you been learning national debt.

The larger point is that they're going to need to raise money in.

This is what you're saying because of the fact that you have this spending package.

> > And of course, is an administration that in the first 100 days to spend more than any other and ministration of the big concern that Murphy had when I talked to him the other day was the spending that they've done particularly on immigration enforcement and perhaps putting more federal law enforcement on the streets.

So that's going to be something to look forward You can hear that conversation again with Christopher Murphy, senator next week.

Next Wednesday on the Wheelhouse.

And you can follow more of Lisa Hagens reporting at CT public.

That organ CT near Dot Org.

Lisa, so good to see you.

Thank you for coming back on the show.

Thanks.

Thank you for us or > > All you as well after the summer.

break, we hear from one superintendent of schools here in Connecticut whose district is trying out a year-round school calendar.

Let's hear more about that.

Join the conversation.

Ask your questions for doctor Cynthia Ritchie, 8, 8, 8, 7, to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7.

Back with more after this.

♪ ♪ > > This is Connecticut Public Radio.

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He is looked at as a problem versus the and that follows them for Pre-K into adulthood.

We're imagining black boyhood and the schools that are doing it right.

It's the latest in a week-long exploration falling behind the Miseducation of America's Boys.

> > That's on the next on point.

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This is the Wheelhouse from Connecticut Public Radio.

I'm Frankie Razzano Summer break may be over for Congress and most public school students in Connecticut.

But for some students, school is still in session.

And has been.

Joining me is doctor Cynthia Ritchie, superintendent of Schools for New London Public Schools.

Dr Ritchie, thank you so much for being here.

> > Good morning.

Thank you so much for having me.

So happy to have you on the show this morning.

And folks, if you want to give us a call and talk to us or really quickly, make sure you get on.

Now, we only got about.

> > 10 minutes left, 8, 8, 8, 7, to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, is the number.

It ate 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, Dr. Richard, can you walk us through how the school year works in New London?

> > Sure, absolutely.

So we basically restructure the calendar of the school days to be laid out differently around the academic school year.

So we have divided the academic sessions to be 6 weeks of schooling and then 2 early breaks pretty much around the calendar year.

So this does not mean adding more school days per se to the academic calendar for students.

But we just leave him out differently.

Enter aims were to leverage time space resources, facilities ultimately in hopes to close achievement gaps for students.

> > What are you have any intel on what those students are doing during that two-week breaks?

> > Yes, so we started the program thinking that it would just be a break.

So in conversations with community conversations with teachers, with students, with families, with community and we started this program coming back.

Post COVID and there was a lot of kind of fear angst to, you know, worry about what was coming into the schools and how we were going to help catch students up.

So during the model of the planning, we were thinking about all of those different lenses of how we can help and benefit everyone during the breaks.

Some take break.

They actually have vacation during the break.

Some come to school for child care during the breaks.

Some also received virtual tutoring or home visits to their homes where teachers are having an opportunity to have and build a better relationship with families during the break through also leveraging our local businesses to try to start to advertise what they could offer for families to take children out to learn more.

That really saying that learning can happen everywhere in any time in space and it doesn't have to be from 8 to 3, just 10 months a year during the school year.

> > I'm glad the talked about post COVID as a time frame for this.

You started this around that.

So it's been going on for a few years now.

How are families and educators liking this format?

What are they telling you?

> > Yes, so we started really small with a co-worker.

We had one classroom that open post COVID and we had a kindergarten slash grade one classroom and again, they are multi age multi-year Session Bay School in models.

So through that model, the cohort of students stays with the teacher and teacher team at that time for 2 years.

So that was a benefit because a lot of times like not all students learn in 10 months, you know, with so many minutes per content area at the same pace and we were figuring out that there's a lot of wasted time with transitions.

So for many of our students, they do need to catch up there.

Few grade levels behind academically or socially or emotionally.

And we've we realize there wasn't enough time in the regular day.

And if you think about this, when you start school, you have a teacher.

Most of September is learning rebuilding relationships, learning routines, everyone getting to know each other and then you kind of go through the school and most of our students come back in the summer for summer school to different teacher.

Same thing being that.

And then you come back in the fall different teacher, you know, looking for files, getting to same thing.

And we thought, you know, we could really we use that time benefiting the knowledge that we have to planned instruction for our student and work with our families to close gaps.

So that alone just reducing transitions helps it put it in perspective this way.

If you have to change your doctor every single year.

How efficient would that be?

Here?

Teachers really know our students and those that are choosing to do home visits for extra tutoring or meeting up with them during the breaks.

It's just an added bonus to help students continue to progress.

> > Oh, my God.

That's my biggest learning curve as a parent has been become transitions children with special needs.

We know judge transitions are very important, 2 to work on, but also and even neurotypical children.

When you have to change a teacher or something like that, that's always got my daughter.

That's always been our bugaboo every year.

And now some of those kids are having to worry about that.

Your say?

> > Yes, so we started the K one back in 2022. and since then, we have slowly without really advertising been expanding.

So now all of our elementary schools have the model program.

It is a program that fits within the school of a traditional model as well.

So when students come with their families to register, they have 2 tracks to pack.

They can pick the 10 month traditional model or the year-round schooling model and both equally wonderful.

It just depends on family need.

And in student need.

And the 2 tracks of work within the same school setting.

We had to leverage our again time space and resources to benefit students.

And when we look at the benefits that we principles are 12 months.

So they're already there.

We had secretarial staff that was 12 months that they were already there.

Everyone rides the same bus.

Everyone still has the same, you know, lunch waives in recess waves and participates in after school programming.

So everything was fitting and then we took a look at our summer programming, which we have to have any ways we have.

Yes, why for special education students and then we have general education summer school programs.

We just combine this year around model to match those weeks again leveraging the same resources that are already in the building and the buildings are open anyways.

So that has been a benefit for all.

Now we have the program all the way up to middle school.

So as the 3 years have gone by, we've we've quadruple that and we're really proud.

Just really just really quickly besides the transition element, what other kind of things we're trying to saw for when you were doing this?

> > So we're trying to sell for academic gap so that teachers in the classroom to start.

So we did a lot of small group instruction.

> > And then again, making it multi age that means that, you know, if a child is on a in grade 3, but on a let's say great to level are great for level the teacher can differentiate up and down the curriculum pulling out priority standards for mastery to make sure the child needs those goals.

And the teacher has 2 years to do that.

So the teacher has 12 sessions, which is 2 years to really know the grade level standards for both.

So besides transitions, we had some adjustment for the curriculum to be teaching units of instruction that we're 6 weeks long.

We also built in a strong parent component piece.

So parents are invited in at the end of each six-week session to the classroom.

Were they actually see the teachers teaching and the kids then model, they're learning and that has been a huge benefit as well because teachers and schools can't do the work alone and learning doesn't.

And again, at 3 o'clock when school gets out.

But through this model, parents actually see what was happening and the classroom see the resources.

And then they're able to get preview what they're going to be learning about when school reopens.

So it's a different start in in a particular units.

And then it's that you have a little bit of an insight of what's to come and then in between.

You have a little bit of opportunity for if you need more.

If your student needs more, it's a cost-effective way to offer to teachers.

Would you like to to a virtual tutoring?

Would you like to do a home visit and then the child care?

I'm going to be a little more dynamic in the next couple of minutes here.

Just to kind of get some more stuff in and out of you so that we really get a couple minutes left.

So.

> > Just looking at the big picture, would you recommend this model to other districts to feel like it's been a success overall?

> > I do recommend this model to other districts that we've only had 140 families so far our outcomes have been fantastic.

And you measure comes from the two-year cohort.

So the first year that we did it with the team teaching model 100% of our students met mastery in both math and literacy.

So we are extremely thrilled that model has continued.

And now we're all the way up to.

We have preschool program came site, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 right now, even if districts don't want to change to this calendar year, I think there are benefits to sharing.

> > So, for example, the partners that we leverage on the brakes.

Let's say we're doing in art music dance.

Having guest speakers come having students come for field trips, you can share that with others around us and they can also benefit by coming and joining in or leveraging the resource teachers surprised us with a new idea.

They're substituting sometimes on their big days for extra money and never thought about that.

And parents surprised us with this model and they are gathering during break time almost like an be Nico part of homeschool families in porn ideas here that you're giving us in terms of buy in from businesses, students, teachers and parents is very good to hear about this.

You've been listening to.

> > Doctor Cynthia Ritchie, superintendent schools for New London Public Schools, Dr Ritchie, appreciate coming on the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

Today.

Show was produced by Chloe when it was edited by Robin can our technical producer is Dylan Race special.

Thanks to test terrible Meagan Fitzgerald and the rest of our team here, Connecticut Public.

I'm Frankie Graziano.

This is the Wheelhouse.

Thank you for listening.

♪