BOSTON — Massachusetts’ public schools will receive their largest influx of new money since the state first established its school funding formula in 1993, under a bill signed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 63 years, it’s that talent is evenly distributed,” Baker said after signing the bill. “What’s not evenly distributed is opportunity. There’s a reason why this is the Student Opportunity Act, because this legislation is about making sure that every kid in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, regardless of where they live, where they go to school, where they’re from, has the opportunity to get the education they need to be great.”
Baker signed the bill at The English High School of Boston, the first public high school founded in the U.S., which today serves a large number of poor students, students of color and English language learners. As he put pen to paper, the student marching band played and students chanted, “Sign the bill.”
State lawmakers, including House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, Education Committee Chairs Rep. Alice Peisch, D-Wellesley, and Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winthrop, and a host of others sat in chairs on the gym floor. They were joined by advocates, mayors, including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and students filling the bleachers.
“Today we declare by our actions and not just our words that public education is not a luxury, it is our greatest responsibility and our greatest opportunity,” Spilka said. “We are creating an opportunity to finally close that persistent achievement gap that has remained despite all of our efforts in the state.”
The education funding overhaul will provide $1.5 billion more in funding annually for the state’s public education system, compared to funding today, once it is fully phased in seven years from now. The districts slated to receive the most money are those with high concentrations of poor students and those with a large number of students learning English.
School districts will be required to develop plans for how they will spend the money in order to reduce gaps in academic performance between wealthy and poor students, students of different races, or among students who are learning English or have disabilities.
“This legislation will close the opportunity gap,” DeLeo said. “It ensures that all students have access to the types of classrooms and supports that they need in order to succeed in school and beyond.”
Updating the school funding formula has been under discussion by lawmakers since a 2015 commission identified significant underfunding of schools related to employee health benefits, special education costs, English language learners and districts with a high concentration of poverty.
The new law allocates additional money to each of those areas.
In addition to the funding formula update, the bill also lets the state reimburse districts for the first time for out-of-district transportation costs for special education students.
It lets the Massachusetts School Building Authority pay for $800,000 in school building projects annually, compared to the current $600,000 cap. The bill commits the state to fully funding charter school tuition reimbursements by 2023. It creates a new grant fund to implement new ideas to address educational disparities and to support efficiencies in rural schools.
Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, said Holyoke, where the schools are in receivership, will be able to do things like expand prekindergarten, expand the dual language program, enhance professional development for teachers focused on trauma, and provide trauma-informed counseling to students. “It means additional dollars that’s been sorely needed,” Vega said.
Districts can expect to start seeing some money as early as this school year. They will be required to develop their first three-year plan by April, for the 2020-21 school year.
Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Boston, who led the 2015 commission and introduced an earlier version of the bill, said it will take “a handful of years” for schools to see measurable results. But, she said, “There is a real sense of urgency baked into this bill.”
Lawmakers tried to pass an education funding update in 2018, but talks on a final version of the bill fell apart. This time, senators and representatives on the Education Committee released a bill in September, which had an unusual amount of consensus from teachers, parents, the business community and other groups.
There was enormous advocacy behind the bill by a range of interest groups, as well as a lawsuit intended to force lawmakers to act.
There was some debate over the role of the state in ensuring that school districts are accountable for how they spend the money. The final compromise requires school superintendents, with input from the school community, to develop three-year plans. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would have authority to set statewide standards for achievement and make sure the plans conform with specific requirements laid out in the law.
Peisch stressed the need for policymakers and educators to be held accountable for making changes in schools and developing high standards for educating their students. “This is just the first step down what I predict is going to be not an easy road,” Peisch said.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released a spreadsheet in October with estimates of how much each school district will get, although lawmakers questioned the accuracy and completeness of those numbers.
According to those numbers, Springfield has a foundation budget of $411.5 million in fiscal 2020, of which the state pays $370.7 million. By fiscal 2027, Springfield’s foundation budget would be $655.4 million, of which the state would pay $605.4 million.
During a lengthy speaking program, lawmakers talked about the “historic” and “monumental” scope of the bill, but also spoke in personal terms. Lewis, who said he was motivated to run for the Legislature because of funding cuts at his daughter’s school, said the signing of the bill “for me ranks right up there with my wedding day and the birth of my two daughters.”