The MMA’s Fiscal Policy Committee voted unanimously on March 22 to oppose legislation that would increase the number of charter schools that may operate in Massachusetts without any changes to the rules governing how charter schools are funded and the impact that they have on local public schools.
 
The committee’s recommendation to the Board of Directors includes opposition to a proposed ballot question for the November 2016 election that would allow the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to approve up to 12 new Commonwealth charter schools annually, with a yearly enrollment cap of 1 percent of statewide students (about 9,500 students). The ballot question would give priority to charter schools seeking to locate in school districts in the lowest 25 percent in performance measurements.
 
The policy committee also opposed similar legislation, filed by the governor, that would limit charter schools granted under this new provision to the lowest-performing districts.
 
In anticipation of charter school bills potentially being debated in the House and Senate over the next couple of months, the committee voted to support measures to end the off-budget funding of charter schools, which has reached nearly $500 million, and to require that some level of appropriation to pay charter school tuition be included as an annual appropriation in the state budget.
 
The policy committee also voted to support measures that would ensure that any charter school transition reimbursements to mitigate the impact on local public schools is adequate and fully funded. The current statutory six-year reimbursement schedule is underfunded by nearly $50 million.
 
Fiscal Policy Committee members also heard a presentation from Rep. Jay Kaufman, House chair of the Joint Revenue Committee, on a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution to establish an additional 4 percent state income tax on incomes in excess of $1 million. Revenue from the new tax would be dedicated to public education, including public higher education, and to the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges and the support of public transportation. The MMA committee is expected to vote on the measure at its April meeting.
 
The MMA’s Policy Committee on Municipal and Regional Administration is scheduled to take up a ballot question that would permit the possession, use, distribution, and cultivation of marijuana in limited amounts by persons age 21 and older and would remove criminal penalties for such activities. The proposed law would provide for the regulation of commerce in marijuana, marijuana accessories, and marijuana products and for the taxation of proceeds from sales of these items.
 
The text and summaries of these and other proposed ballot questions can be found on the attorney general’s website (www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballot-questions/current-petitions-filed.html).
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