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Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Foundation Budget Review Commission heard from about 100 municipal and school officials and other people from across the region during its third of six public hearings on Jan. 10 in Northampton.
Local officials told panelists that state school finance law is not adequate to fund local education programs and is forcing cuts in municipal services, including public safety and public works.
Commission members heard that the state’s basic school spending standard set under the Chapter 70 statute significantly understates the real cost of educating students, especially in how it accounts for special education and school employee health insurance.
Northampton Schools Superintendent John Provost testified that actual special education enrollment in city schools is far higher than assumed in the Chapter 70 calculation, which understates real costs. He added that employee benefits are nearly double the foundation estimate even after the city has implemented cost-savings measures allowed by law.
Provost noted that funding pressures from special education and employee benefits were diverting funds away from other important education programs, such as technology.
Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz testified about the impact on his city of the state’s methods of funding charter schools. He told the panel that his city has five charter schools nearby, and that they reduce school aid by $1.9 million even after reimbursement of a portion of aid withheld for payments to charter schools.
In written testimony, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said “education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty” and that additional funding is needed to support local schools and avoid cuts on the municipal side of the budget. There are almost 23,000 students living in poverty in Springfield, he wrote, with 89 percent of students eligible for free and reduced-cost lunches.
Mayor Sarno singled out mandated school transportation costs as a particular problem. Special education transportation costs Springfield $11.5 million, and McKinney-Vento mandated transportation for homeless students adds another $1 million. There are also additional amounts required by law for the transport of charter school students.
The Jan. 10 testimony struck similar themes raised by local officials at the first two hearings, in Danvers in November and Somerset in December.
The fourth hearing was scheduled for Jan. 24 in Bolton. Other meetings are scheduled for Feb. 7 on Cape Cod, and March 9 in Boston.
Details will be posted on this website as soon as locations are announced. The MMA website includes a way for local officials to provide comments on school finance issues to MMA staff and Attleboro Mayor Kevin Dumas, who serves as the MMA representative on the Foundation Budget Review Commission.
The commission, established in the fiscal 2015 state budget act, is charged with reviewing parts of Chapter 70 school finance law, with a focus on how the “foundation” spending standard is calculated. The commission has 21 voting members and is co-chaired by Rep. Alice Peisch and Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, the House and Senate chairs of the Legislature’s Committee on Education. There is also a six-member, non-voting advisory committee.
The commission includes eight legislators and four members of the Executive Branch. There are nine members representing other public education stakeholders, including Mayor Dumas, the immediate past president of the MMA.