A state commission weighing how to make Connecticut's school funding more equitable heard pushback Thursday from a Greenwich lawmaker, who argued the state can't fully account for the budget pressures facing individual municipalities. State Rep. Tina Courpas, made the comments Aug. 20 to Gov. Ned Lamont's Blue Ribbon Commission on K-12 Education Funding and Accountability.

The friction emerged after Georgetown University's Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab, presented a "tap and tame" funding model to the commission. Under that approach, the state would set a per-pupil spending target, determine how much a municipality can raise based on its wealth, and cover the gap. If the state decided a district should spend $20,000 per pupil and determined the town could raise $15,000 itself, the state would provide the remaining $5,000.

Courpas pressed the point further.

"These [strategies] … assume a level of state familiarity and expertise with the particular needs and concerns of every municipal budget," she said, according to CT Public. When Roza asked what would distinguish one municipal budget from another, Courpas replied: "I guess that's my point. A million things that the state can't possibly be privy to."

The exchange matters for Greenwich taxpayers because the town already shoulders nearly all of its own school costs. Under the state's FY2027 adjusted budget, Greenwich received just $110,062 in supplemental education aid, according to School+State Finance Project data, one of the lower allocations in the state, reflecting the town's high property wealth.

Courpas wasn't alone in questioning Roza's approach. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker argued that financially distressed districts got there because of uneven state funding, not mismanagement. "In New Haven, we've closed four schools, we've reduced our staff when we actually should increase our staff because our students need more," Elicker said.

Windsor Board of Education Vice President Leonard Lockhart warned that additional state requirements on districts could "complicate the situation and possibly make it worse."

Roza's broader presentation showed Connecticut's funding system remains inequitable: wealthy towns spend more per pupil than poorer districts, and the Education Cost Sharing formula has not been adjusted for inflation since 2013. The General Assembly approved roughly $180 million in additional school funding earlier in 2026, but advocates say more is needed.

When Candelora announced Courpas's appointment in April, she said the ECS formula was failing communities across Connecticut and that local property taxpayers were left covering the cost.

Courpas is a first-term Republican representing the 149th District covering parts of Greenwich and Stamford. Before entering politics, Courpas worked at Goldman Sachs and Greenwich-based Silver Point Capital, and later led two nonprofits.

The commission's next meeting is Sept. 17. Its final report is due Jan. 15, 2027, and recommendations are expected to shape legislation when the General Assembly reconvenes that month. A public survey for residents to share input with the commission is open through the end of August.