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HARTFORD, CT —The Connecticut Education Association added another plaintiff Friday to its lawsuit against Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his executive order which eliminates education funding for 85 communities and reduces it for another 54.

The town of Stratford will join Brooklyn, Plainfield, and Torrington as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Stratford is one of the 85 communities that received no Education Cost Sharing grant from the state on Oct. 2. In 2017, the town had received $21.46 million in ECS funding.

The October payment to communities is only the first quarter of the total payment. That means Stratford didn’t receive about $5.3 million in October.

The Connecticut Education Association filed the lawsuit earlier this month arguing that Malloy should keep funding at 2017 levels, even though the state has no budget.

Malloy has been operating the state under an executive order since July 1. The state has been without a budget for 115 days.

The first pre-trial hearing where the parties will set a briefing schedule will take place Nov. 6.

Related: CEA and Three Communities Challenge Malloy’s Executive Order