State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) announced today that the state senate has approved a bill to bring approximately $1.5 million in much needed funding to the state's vocational agriculture (Vo-Ag) high schools. The bill, which Senator DeLuca co-sponsored and helped bring to the floor of the senate, will increase the per-pupil reimbursement Vo-Ag schools currently receive from the towns that send them students.
"This bill is going to be a big help for our state's Vo-Ag schools, and I am glad we were able to do something so significant for them this year," said Senator DeLuca. "We hear a lot of complaining from the big cities about how they don't get enough funding for education, but out in rural Connecticut we have Vo-Ag stations trying to do a very hard job every year on a limited budget. These kids in the Vo-Ag programs are the future of agriculture in Connecticut, and it's up to us in the legislature to make sure they get the kind of education they deserve."
Under current law, Vo-Ag schools are reimbursed by other school districts at a rate of 102% of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) foundation amount, or $6009 per student. The new law will reimburse the Vo-Ag's at 120% of the ECS foundation, or $7,069 per student.
Senator DeLuca pointed out that the General Assembly's annual Agriculture Day may have provided the state's Vo-Ag students with an unexpected forum to be very effective lobbyists.
"Agriculture Day is one of our favorite events every year at the State Capital because we get to visit with the kids in Future Farmers of America and taste samples of their food, so I guess today we earned our milkshakes," joked Senator DeLuca. |
