Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Dear Representative,
We are writing on behalf of the cities and towns of the Commonwealth to extend our deep appreciation to Speaker DeLeo, Chairman Dempsey and the members of the House Ways & Means Committee for their leadership to secure full funding for the charter school reimbursement program in the fiscal 2014 supplemental budget bill that will be before you this afternoon. We urge you to support this vital component of H. 4069.
As you know, the diversion of Chapter 70 school aid away from public schools to pay tuition to charter schools has imposed a heavy financial burden on cities and towns, a problem made more acute as the state grants more charters and existing charter schools expand. State policy and law is intended to mitigate a portion of this financial impact through Section 89 of Chapter 71 of the General Laws, which establishes a formula to reimburse school districts for the loss of a portion of their Chapter 70 aid that is redirected to fund charter schools, but the funding for this program depends on adequate appropriations in the state budget or in subsequent supplemental budgets.
When charter school reimbursements fall short, communities are forced to cut other programs and services to make up the difference. Of the 20 cities and towns with the largest shortfalls, ranging from $250,000 to $10.3 million, 14 of them have been deemed by the state to have underperforming schools. These include some the state’s poorest and most financially distressed cities and towns. Line item 7061-9010 of the supplemental budget includes a $27.6 million appropriation to DESE to fully fund the Commonwealth’s statutory commitment in fiscal 2014, and we thank you and your colleagues for including this top-priority matter in H. 4069. Your support will aid many of the most vulnerable and challenged school districts and communities in Massachusetts.
In addition to full funding for charter school reimbursements, we also ask you to fund the McKinney-Vento mandate on cities and towns. In fiscal 2013, the state budget provided $11.3 million to fully fund the state-mandated costs that resulted from the Commonwealth’s adoption of the federal McKinney-Vento Act and the ruling by the State Auditor that the state-adopted program is an unfunded mandate on cities and towns. We appreciate the action you and your colleagues took to provide full funding soon after that ruling. Under the program, communities are providing very costly transportation services to bus homeless students to schools outside of the local school district.
However, the fiscal 2014 state budget reduced McKinney-Vento reimbursements to $7.35 million, underfunding this state mandate. Please support the amendment filed by Rep. Paul Heroux and many others to add $6.8 million to fully fund this mandated school transportation program this year. Without full funding, cities and towns will be forced to reduce support for other education programs and services to pay for the McKinney-Vento mandate.
Thank you very much for your partnership with cities and towns, and for embracing these key local government priorities. Please do not hesitate to have your office contact MMA Legislative Director John Robertson at (617) 426-7272 at any time if you have any questions or need additional information.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey C. Beckwith
Executive Director, MMA