Increased budget would help Connecticut school district implement the CCSS

Whether school districts plan to purchase new textbooks or provide teachers with professional development, it is no secret that their transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will not be cheap. In Connecticut, a state that has adopted the CCSS, the implementation process could end up costing $178.6 million, according to a 2012 report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

No matter how much the CCSS ends up costing Connecticut, officials at Regional School District 13 believe they will need more money than they currently have in their budget for an adequate transition to the new Standards, Durham-Middlefield's Patch website reported. Susan Viccaro, the District's superintendent, actually considers her budget to be the most difficult she has worked on in nine years.

"This budget is going to be a budget of making choices," said Viccaro, as quoted by the news source.

As a solution to the District's money problem, Viccaro proposed a 3.27 percent increase in spending during the 2013-2014 academic year. The additional money would go toward improvements to the school system's technology and supplies, which, in turn, would better support the implementation of the CCSS.