NEWINGTON - An expanded education platform released yesterday by 27th Assembly District Candidate Josh Shulman highlighted specifics for addressing shortfalls in the state’s Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula, relieving the burden of municipal property taxes, and reeling in the growing cost of magnet school tuition-among other related areas.

       Shulman, an attorney and current member of the Board of Education, posted the proposals on his campaign’s Facebook page a day after releasing a comprehensive strategy for addressing the needs of Connecticut’s veterans.

       The ECS formula-currently underfunding Newington by $7 million-and what Shulman refers to as an â€�"overreliance” on municipal property taxes for the funding of local education-have been near the top of his priority list since he was nominated during the early summer months.

       Municipalities get 71 percent of their revenue from property taxes, with 11 towns pulling 90 percent of their funding from this area, according to a 2016 Candidate Bulletin report put out by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.

       The average resident pays over $2,500 in yearly property taxes, for more than twice the national average, according to the report.

       â€�"Towns like Newington, which are stagnant with their Grand Lists, can’t properly fund education through property taxes without hurting our homeowners,” Shulman wrote. â€�"It’s time for a big change.”

       That big change may take time, given the state’s fiscal climate, but starting the conversation now could yield results within the next few years, Shulman said in past interviews.

       Shulman’s updated platform extended to magnet school tuition-slated for another increase. Under their terms with CREC, municipalities fund part of the yearly cost per student, but often have to make up the difference whenever the state’s share lessens.

       By Superintendent of Schools Bill Collins’ latest reports, the district will â€�"likely” see a jump in magnet tuition costs while simultaneously losing out on $50,000 in Open Choice funding-ECS revenue equivalent to half the cost of one in-district pupil in exchange for enrolling students from Hartford.

       â€�"CREC magnet tuition should only be able to rise as much as the average budget increase in the CREC districts,” Shulman wrote. â€�"Why should CREC be able to raise tuition more than districts are able to pay?”

       Shulman’s platform also touched on unfunded mandates-an issue as broad as the volume that the district reportedly receives. Collins recently spoke out against a third party software contract provision within a student data privacy bill-legislation that he says has unintentionally handcuffed the district against trying new apps within its new 1-to-1 technology program-and Shulman’s platform also calls for a revision of that policy.

       The district would have to wait until the 2017 legislative session to push for any changes.

       Shulman, who has also been outspoken about the issue of college affordability, is proposing to institute a program that allows students that attend school and work in Connecticut to deduct their tax payments from their student loan interest.

       He is also calling for tuition increases to be controlled to align more closely with wage growth.