To: The Massachusetts State House, The Massachusetts State Senate, and Governor Charlie Baker
Fund Our Public Schools Now!
The Massachusetts Legislature must fix our broken public education system by passing the PROMISE Act this summer and fully funding our schools.
Right now Massachusetts is facing a funding crisis in public education. Over three years ago, the Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) made recommendations to the Legislature about how to fix the broken education funding system. Years later, this critical work still hasn’t been finished and communities across the Commonwealth are in crisis. We call on our legislators to make a commitment to ALL our students and take action to ensure all our schools are properly and equitably funded.
Right now Massachusetts is facing a funding crisis in public education. Over three years ago, the Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) made recommendations to the Legislature about how to fix the broken education funding system. Years later, this critical work still hasn’t been finished and communities across the Commonwealth are in crisis. We call on our legislators to make a commitment to ALL our students and take action to ensure all our schools are properly and equitably funded.
Why is this important?
Months ago, the Joint Committee on Education had this session’s hearing on the PROMISE Act which seeks both to increase investment in our schools and change the formula so it is more equitable.
Since then we have not seen movement out of this committee. Recent news coverage from The Boston Globe has indicated that there is a major fault line in the Education Committee's negotiations surrounding the question of how much to boost funding for low-income districts.
We are concerned and alarmed by this news, especially since this is an inexplicable back-track for the committee. Last year, House and Senate Democrats and Republicans unanimously supported FBRC’s full recommendation for our state’s poorest students.
The previous consensus on this issue is nearly unprecedented and signals the weight of both the FBRC’s recommendations and the common-sense understanding that it will take at least as much investment to close gaps for our poorest students as we currently spend on more privileged students.
These necessary reforms are included in the PROMISE Act, which is co-sponsored by more than half of the members of the Legislature. We know that all of the FBRC’s reforms are possible given the state budget that the Senate just passed. Given the extraordinary levels of pre-existing consensus behind these reforms, we fear the Education Committee’s “working on” the issue of low-income allotment is a euphemism for back-tracking on it.
We urge you, our legislators, to insist that any bill advancing to the House or Senate floor contain at least as much commitment to low-income students as last year’s Education Committee bill. Anything less would be a shocking abandonment of both principles and realism about what it takes to close achievement gaps.
In addition we call on our legislators to push other key issues like fixing the negative fiscal impact of charter schools on district-school students, accurately counting low-income students in each district, and supporting English learners and special education students.
As a minimum starting point on all of the above, we need a credible bill out of committee that includes the five FBRC recommendations, including the full low-income rate.
We MUST fix our broken education funding system to create equity in our school system and equal opportunity particularly for our low-income districts. We call on the Education Committee and all legislators to make a commitment to equity and our public schools by complying with the FBRC’s recommendations.
Since then we have not seen movement out of this committee. Recent news coverage from The Boston Globe has indicated that there is a major fault line in the Education Committee's negotiations surrounding the question of how much to boost funding for low-income districts.
We are concerned and alarmed by this news, especially since this is an inexplicable back-track for the committee. Last year, House and Senate Democrats and Republicans unanimously supported FBRC’s full recommendation for our state’s poorest students.
The previous consensus on this issue is nearly unprecedented and signals the weight of both the FBRC’s recommendations and the common-sense understanding that it will take at least as much investment to close gaps for our poorest students as we currently spend on more privileged students.
These necessary reforms are included in the PROMISE Act, which is co-sponsored by more than half of the members of the Legislature. We know that all of the FBRC’s reforms are possible given the state budget that the Senate just passed. Given the extraordinary levels of pre-existing consensus behind these reforms, we fear the Education Committee’s “working on” the issue of low-income allotment is a euphemism for back-tracking on it.
We urge you, our legislators, to insist that any bill advancing to the House or Senate floor contain at least as much commitment to low-income students as last year’s Education Committee bill. Anything less would be a shocking abandonment of both principles and realism about what it takes to close achievement gaps.
In addition we call on our legislators to push other key issues like fixing the negative fiscal impact of charter schools on district-school students, accurately counting low-income students in each district, and supporting English learners and special education students.
As a minimum starting point on all of the above, we need a credible bill out of committee that includes the five FBRC recommendations, including the full low-income rate.
We MUST fix our broken education funding system to create equity in our school system and equal opportunity particularly for our low-income districts. We call on the Education Committee and all legislators to make a commitment to equity and our public schools by complying with the FBRC’s recommendations.