Four years ago this very month, the Foundation Budget Review Commission highlighted how the state has been shortchanging public schools due to an outdated funding formula.

Because of the advocacy of teachers, students, parents, community members, and YOU, that formula will finally get fixed.

The Student Opportunity Act will provide $1.5 billion per year in new school funding to help the students who need it the most.

Tomorrow, when the MA Senate votes on the bill, we have an opportunity to strengthen it so that this once-in-a-generation bill is as strong as possible.

In the 1980s, steep cuts in property taxes strained school budgets across the state, creating gaping inequalities between the richest and poorest communities.

In response to that, parents from Brockton sued the state, claiming that it was failing to meet its constitutional obligation to “cherish” education for all students. This language written goes all the way back to John Adams.

In June of 1993, the Legislature responded to this lawsuit -- and the underlying funding crisis -- by passing the Education Reform Act, which has shaped the course of public education in Massachusetts since.

What You Need to Know: Education Funding in Massachusetts

In the 1980s, steep cuts in property taxes strained school budgets across the state, creating gaping inequalities between the richest and poorest communities.

In response to that, parents from Brockton sued the state, claiming that it was failing to meet its constitutional obligation to “cherish” education for all students. This language written goes all the way back to John Adams.

In June of 1993, the Legislature responded to this lawsuit -- and the underlying funding crisis -- by passing the Education Reform Act, which has shaped the course of public education in Massachusetts since.

One core part of ensuring that every student got a quality public education was the Chapter 70 formula.

Here's how it worked:

(1) Calculate a "foundation budget": A district 's foundation budget is determined by multiplying the number of students at each grade level and demographic group (e.g., low-income students and English Language Learners) by a set of education spending categories (e.g., teacher compensation, building maintenance) and totaling those numbers up.

(2) Calculate a required local contribution: This is done by looking at incomes and property values. In other words, how much can a city or town contribute based on the resources that it has?

(3) Fill the gap with state aid. And if districts can and want to, they can choose to spend more than their required contribution.

And this worked! Well, at first.

Some things from 1993 last forever.

But most haven't. And the assumptions built into this formula are now out of date.

The Legislature knows this, too.

In 2015, a commission created by the Legislature (the Foundation Budget Review Commission) found that we are underfunding state aid to public school districts by up to $2 billion a year due to outdated assumptions about the cost of health care, special education, English Language Learner education, and closing income-based achievement gaps.

That's a lot of money!

And as a result, we have one of the most unequal public education systems in the country. All students lose out due to our outdated funding formula, especially the students who need extra help the most.

Wow, we really need to see action on this. What can I do?

The Legislature has been debating various proposals this year. Some, like the PROMISE Act (part of our Legislative Agenda), provide a comprehensive solution. Others are less far-reaching or have some provisions that could make inequities even worse.

It's important that when legislators take action this fall, they get it right. 

That means providing 100% additional funding for the poorest students so that all students, regardless of income, have the opportunity to succeed.

For that to happen, your legislators need to hear from YOU, their constituents. They have to vote well for you to continue to vote for them to represent you. It's that simple.

Are we a state that believes in high-quality public education for all students, or are we not?

So here's what you can do:

(1) Look up your legislators' phone numbers and email addresses here. (Put the numbers in speed dial!)

(2) Explain that you need them to commit to 100% additional funding for the poorest students. They need to be communicating this to House Leadership. (If they send a letter, ask them to send you a copy).

Here's a sample script:

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent from [YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD/CITY/TOWN].

It's been almost four years since a commission created by the legislature showed that we are underfunding our public schools by up to $2 billion a year due to an outdated funding formula from 1993. It's far past time for the Legislature to update this formula, and we have to do it right.

A good bill will do right by all our students, especially the most vulnerable. And that means providing 100% additional funding for the poorest students.

I urge you to only support a bill that delivers on this promise of quality public education for all and to communicate this to Speaker Bob DeLeo and Education Chairwoman Alice Peisch.

Can I count on you to send a letter to them outlining your demands for an education funding bill?

[If time, personalize the issue by referencing the needs of your own school district or speak about your own experience as a student/teacher/parent/community member.]

(3) Let us know how the call went.

(4) Set yourself a calendar reminder for one week to call again.

(5) Ask five of your friends to do the same.

In Massachusetts, people shouldn't have to sue to make progressive change happen, but too often, that's been the case. Two and a half decades ago, parents sued the state for failing to guarantee a high-quality education for all children, and they're doing so again today. Similarly, lawsuits have been necessary to force the state to take the bold action on climate change that's required for a resilient and sustainable future. 

It shouldn't have to be this way. If our elected officials were bold enough, they would be proactively passing the bills to move us forward, not waiting until they're forced to.

That's where you come in.

Yesterday, US News & World Report ranked Massachusetts #1 in the country in education. That's all well and good, but that hides more than it reveals.

That's because we have one of the most unequal education systems in the country: the children in Lawrence and Brockton are not getting the same quality of education as students in Dover and Weston.

The question is not whether we are doing more than other states but whether we are doing as much as we need to--and as much as our students deserve.

The following testimony was delivered to the Joint Committee on Education on Friday, March 22, 2019.

We are writing in support of the Promise Act. As retired special educators who also consulted with districts and families, we strongly support an end to the tiered educational system that exists in Massachusetts.

TL;DR:

1. Call your state rep about fully funding our schools.
2. Call your state senator about common sense gun regulations.
3. Let your state senator and state rep know that it’s time to act on the Safe Communities Act.
4. Email your state rep in support of voting rights.

Saturday’s convention was exciting, as we saw all three of our endorsed candidates--Jay Gonzalez, Quentin Palfrey, and Josh Zakim--win the party’s endorsement.

But the convention also reminded us of all the work we still have cut out for ourselves this legislative session. The speakers highlighted how Massachusetts needs to do more to set a good example for other states and to fight back against Trump.

And that can’t wait.

Here are a few things that you can do this week.

I know that most of us here in Massachusetts are still reeling from the results of the Presidential election, but I feel compelled to share some thoughts on the outcome of the vote to raise the cap on charter schools.

On one hand I am delighted by the result of the vote. The voters of Massachusetts have spoken and they absolutely oppose any attempt to expand charters at the expense of traditional school districts. But on the other hand, I am utterly outraged at what the corporate education reformers have put our kids, our teachers and our school districts through over the last ten years given how little electoral support we now know that these champions of privatization have across the state.

Clear Message to MA Legislature

Consider this: Question 2 only passed in 16 out of 351 communities in the Commonwealth.

• Seven of these communities are located in one single state rep’s district on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
• The other nine are spread across six other state rep districts.
• And the only other district where a majority of voters voted 'yes' is in Education Committee Chair Alice Peisch's district in Metro West.

(click here for larger image; click here for original image source at WBur/Edify)

This means that the 'yes' side only carried two of the 160 state rep districts in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It was even defeated by a 2 to 1 margin in Speaker DeLeo's district of Winthrop/Revere.

Want a Halloween fright? Peel back the curtain and look at the dark money behind Question 2.

If you want to know who is funding all those commercials for lifting the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts, you’ll need a good pair of binoculars.

Just like grainy, horror-movie TV campaigns ads, the commercials you’re seeing in favor of lifting the cap are made by PACS and superPACS, organizations whose names often suggest the exact opposite of the position they support.

This is the proverbial dark money: Individual investors give money to organizations that don’t have to disclose donors’ names, but use the money to fund ads for candidates and causes under the organizations’ names.

Analysis by Robert Fitzpatrick, Progressive Newton

On March 4, Governor Charlie Baker released his proposed state budget for Fiscal Year 2016, which starts this July 1. The new Governor’s first budget proposal – and the reaction of some Democratic legislators to it – contains some positive developments but a lot more to be concerned about.