Today Governor Baker signed into law first major overhaul of our state’s public school funding formula in 26 years. The Student Opportunity Act (SOA) makes an unprecedented investment in our children and takes important strides in ensuring that child is enrolled in a school that has adequate and equitable resources to provide a top-notch education to its students. Over the seven years to bring it to full implementation, it will infuse over $1.4 billion dollars into the Commonwealth’s K-12 schools. By providing additional funds to meet the needs of low income students, the bill particularly targets Worcester and districts like it.
Work toward this groundbreaking law began in 2015 with the release of the report of the Foundation Budget Review Commission. The Student Opportunity Act fully implements the recommendations of that body. Specifically It creates a new funding formula which:
Fully considers employee and retiree health costs, a responsibility that previously had proven burdensome to district budgets,
more accurately considers district special education enrollment and associated cost assumptions,
increases funding for English learners,
provides additional funding for districts with high enrollment of low-income students.
In addition, the Act:
increases rates for guidance and psychological services thereby expanding access to social and emotional learning and mental health supports,
expands reimbursement for extraordinary special education costs.
provides an additional $150M to the Massachusetts School Building Authority allowing more projects to address critical school infrastructure needs.
The Student Opportunity Act does not just provide additional dollars however, but also provides mechanisms to ensure these funds are used wisely and consistent with best practices to improve student outcomes and close opportunity gaps. The Act creates a trust fund that districts may tap to pursue creative approaches to teaching and learning. Importantly, the new law requires that districts develop plans with goals and metrics to track success in closing opportunity gaps an important element in ensuring accountability to our students.
The Student Opportunity Act is a thoughtfully crafted, bi-partisan law that sets a new state, and indeed a new national standard for equitable K-12 education funding. It is not a band-aid approach, but rather the first fundamental change in a generation in how Massachusetts funds, supports and holds itself responsible and accountable for the work of K-12 education. The SOA is also a powerful testament to what can be accomplished with the alliances between and stalwart advocacy of students, parents, educators, and local leaders in service of a fundamental civic responsibility. Their work continued unabated even when changes to Chapter 70 funding were deemed DOA by many.
Special thanks are due to Joint Committee on Education Chairs Jason Lewis and Alice Peisch and to Committee members Rodrigues, O’Connor, Tucker, and Ferguson. Further recognition is due to Senator Chang-Diaz and Representatives Vega and Keefe who led the charge on Act’s provisions on equity. And thanks are due to Governor Baker for recognizing the importance of the bill for our common future by signing it into law.
