Education

This bill updates Connecticut's compulsory education laws to allow parents to choose between public school, private school, or home-based equivalent instruction for children aged five to seventeen. It requires parents to formally notify their local school district each year of their chosen educational path and mandates that districts provide information about available educational options. The legislation also raises the age at which students can voluntarily withdraw from school from seventeen to eighteen years old and clarifies definitions for equivalent instruction and nonpublic schools.

SB 298 reallocates state funds across multiple agencies for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. It reduces $3.4 million from Temporary Family Assistance (TANF) funding for the Department of Social Services while appropriating $1.7 million to the Labor Department for unemployment program IT upgrades and $1.7 million to the Department of Education for Adult Education. The bill allocates $1.5 million to five school districts (Newington, Wethersfield, Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Middletown) for high-acuity school-based mental health programs and $750,000 for a teacher residency program operated by the Capitol Region Education Council. These changes directly affect TANF recipients, school districts, mental health providers, and teacher training initiatives.

SB 325 prohibits public agencies from disclosing the residential address of public school teachers (those holding a professional educator certificate) under the Freedom of Information Act, effective October 1, 2026. It also establishes a task force to study how public agencies handle mass information requests generated using artificial intelligence and to recommend legal changes if needed. The task force, composed of appointed members including government officials, open government experts, and AI specialists, must submit a report by January 1, 2027. This bill directly affects public school teachers by adding their home addresses to a list of protected personal information under FOIA, while the task force focuses on addressing AI-driven request patterns.