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Connecticut has long had among the most burdensome charter approval processes in the country, requiring both State Board of Education authorization and a separate legislative appropriation just to open a school.

Although Connecticut’s charter school sector has produced, per-pupil funding has not increased in years, and the pipeline for new charter schools was effectively closed without a clear opening in sight for schools and families. 

But something incredible happened in this year’s legislative session: Four new schools won approval, lawmakers provided a special fund specifically for charters, and charter paraprofessionals gained new benefits.  

To accomplish this, it took a coalition of education advocacy organizations showing up together, sharing strategy, coordinating closely with school leaders and families, and trusting each other through the hard moments. 

Currently, Connecticut has 23 operating charter schools serving roughly 12,000 students. Massachusetts, with a similar demographic profile and only modestly larger population, has more than 80 charter schools serving close to 50,000 students. The gap reflects, in part, a system that has made opening new schools unusually difficult, even as waitlists continue to grow. This session began to change that.

and the Alliance for Connecticut Charter Schools, both built specifically to grow and strengthen the state’s charter sector, came into this session as close partners. and the , with their deep statewide education-policy expertise and relationships across the broader public education landscape, were essential allies, bringing their own statehouse relationships and credibility to bear on behalf of charter families when it mattered. 

That kind of multi-organization coordination is harder than it sounds in a policy environment where groups often compete for credit or diverge on strategy. This year, these groups didn’t. The result was the most consequential legislative session for Connecticut charter schools in decades.

Now four new schools are on the path to opening, a significant achievement in a state where new launches have been stalled for some time. 

cleared its final legislative hurdle and is fully funded to open. This marks the culmination of years of community organizing, including more than 3,000 letters of support from New Haven families. , already serving students in Stamford, secured full funding, cementing its long-term footing. And three more schools, , in Stamford, and in Ansonia, received planning grants that formally launch their path to opening in the coming years.

PROUD Academy is incubating through the , a joint initiative of The Mind Trust Connecticut and Leaders for Educational Advocacy and Diversity that backs leaders building new charter schools across the state.

The legislature also passed an $8.7 million supplemental grant for charter schools, the largest single-session funding gain the sector has ever seen, adding approximately $685 per student. 

Charter paraprofessionals had been wrongly excluded from a state healthcare subsidy available to their traditional district peers. Legislators adjusted this so that these educators may finally gain access. It’s the kind of fix that sounds technical until you talk to the people it affects. 

There is still work to do. Two schools with approved charters in hand — one in Danbury, one in Middletown — still have no clear path to open. The Mind Trust Connecticut and ACCS will keep showing up for those communities until that changes. Charter schools also still need a long-term structural funding fix, not just supplemental grants, to ensure real financial stability. 

Supplemental grants prove the political will exists to fund charter schools. A permanent change to the funding formula turns a good year into a durable system that fairly funds high-quality charter schools across Connecticut.

But the trajectory is unmistakable. Governor Ned Lamont has convened targeting a school finance overhaul in 2027. State education leaders have committed to releasing a formal charter application process later this year after several years of pausing applications. The pipeline behind it is packed with talented operators who have been waiting a long time for exactly this opening. 

Connecticut has no cap on charter schools, which means the ceiling on growth is set by political will and quality execution, not by statute. The demand is real: thousands of families on waitlists, communities ready to organize, school leaders ready to build.

More importantly, these wins reflect a broader commitment to expanding educational opportunity for students and families who need stronger public school options.

None of this was inevitable. It was built by The Mind Trust Connecticut and ACCS, alongside partners ConnCAN and the School and State Finance Project, and the families and school communities who never stopped showing up. The coalition is still standing. Connecticut’s charter sector is just getting started on its next chapter.

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