Schools Protest at Capitol Ends with Arrests
by Mona Mahadevan, May 21, 2025, New Haven Independent
Ten public education advocates, including five New Haven teachers and one student, were arrested at the state Capitol Wednesday [May 21] afternoon during a sit-in outside Gov. Ned Lamont’s office. ….
Chief among their demands: raising the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) foundation amount and adopting a higher weight in the ECS formula for students with special needs.
The demonstration — organized by the New Haven Federation of Teachers, AFT Connecticut, and Connecticut For All — took place as New Haven Public Schools Supt. Madeline Negron considers laying off 129 employees, including 56 teachers and all 25 librarians, to close an anticipated budget shortfall of $16.5 million for the 2025 – 2026 school year. …
Included among those arrested as part of Wednesday’s act of civil disobedience were New Haven teachers union President Leslie Blatteau and Wilbur Cross student John Carlos Serana Musser, a student representative on New Haven’s Board of Education.
[To read the article in its entirety, please go to www.newhavenindependent.org/article/teacher_arrests]