Now we’re getting somewhere when it comes to funding of public school systems in Massachusetts.
House and Senate leaders last week announced a school finance overhaul that has the support of key education groups who say the influx of $1.5 billion in new state money over the next seven years would dramatically change the education landscape across the Bay State.
“Every single public school district across the state will benefit from this bill,” Senate President Karen E. Spilka said of the so-called Student Opportunity Act.
We hope she’s right, and we encourage the Senate to approve the legislation when it votes Oct. 3. The House should follow suit when the matter comes before its chambers a short time later.
While changes are likely to be introduced after hearings on the proposal in both chambers, the bones of a solid bill are in place for a perfect back-to-school gift for educators and other advocates who have been clamoring for the state to bring education spending up to speed for years. The last major education funding overhaul occurred 25 years ago, and in 2015, a state commission found the current school finance formula underestimates the cost of education by $1 billion to $2 billion annually.
After stalled talks and failed efforts to address the formula since then, the Student Opportunity Act would mean a lot of new money for our public schools through much of the next decade. The new bill reworks the formula to boost spending in four main areas: employee health care, special education, low-income students and English language learners.
The bulk of the money — $1.4 billion — would take the form of new Chapter 70 aid to local school districts, with $90 million used to expand the state’s special education reimbursement program to include transportation costs and $10 million for a new trust fund supporting innovation in education.
Other highlights in the bill include a budget increase of $150 million to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to allow for more school building and construction projects. That’s a big deal for communities in Hampshire County. Amherst, for example, is currently waiting to hear from the MSBA on its application for a plan to replace Fort River and Wildwood elementary schools with one school.
The act also calls for the formation of a commission to study specific problems facing rural districts with declining enrollment, such as underfunding of regional school transportation costs. It would also require districts to report on how they are spending the money remaining in local control, and to create three-year plans to show how they intend to close opportunity gaps within their districts.
Finally, the bill seeks full funding for its charter reimbursement program within a three-year timeline. The reimbursements are meant to provide transitional aid to help districts when students leave to attend charter schools.
The bill isn’t perfect, however. It’s disappointing that legislative leaders did not provide a breakdown of potential aid amounts to individual districts under the legislation. Everyone knows the numbers may vary seven years into the future, but such estimates are critical to help municipal officials plan, especially those considering Proposition 2½ overrides to pay for rising school costs. That’s the case in Northampton, where Mayor David Narkewicz has delayed a citywide vote on an override request to next March to give the city time to find out what a new education funding formula will mean for Northampton.
In the end, however, the bill has sweeping support from an array of experts, comes with no new taxes and will “dramatically change the conditions of our students’ education,” said Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Now is the time, in this legislative session, to wrap up this much-needed gift for education in Massachusetts.