1993 was a major year in education history. It is the year that Massachusetts passed the Education Reform Act, which has defined education policy ever since. It was also the year I entered kindergarten. Okay, maybe the latter wasn’t quite as “major.”
The Education Reform Act introduced the current system of local aid to schools in Massachusetts (Chapter 70). The corresponding funding formula set a foundation budget for each school district based on a calculation of the money necessary to provide an adequate education to all students in that district.
The funding formula has remained the same since 1993. However, the world has changed a lot since 1993 (and not just because I’m now almost 30, instead of a kindergartener). It has changed economically, politically, socially, culturally, and demographically. Massachusetts, of course, has changed on all of these fronts as well.
The Purpose of Creating a Commission is to Listen to It
Understanding this, the Legislature created a commission to study this issue in the FY15 budget: the Foundation Budget Review Commission. The FBRC, chaired by Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and Representative Alice Peisch, brought together experts from around the state to study this core question: Are we doing enough to ensure that all our students can succeed?
The answer: No. The FBRC’s resulting report found that the Massachusetts has been short-changing school districts because of outdated cost assumptions around special education, health care, English Language Learners, and closing income-based achievement gaps. Short-changing them by more than $2 billion a year.
Affluent suburbs are able to make up for this gap, but not all districts are so lucky.
We can see this in state rankings. Whereas Massachusetts is regularly lauded as having the best public education system in the country, we are in the bottom half when it comes to achievement gaps based on income and race. As the state with the sixth highest income inequality in the country, this is no surprise.
The purpose of creating a commission is to get recommendations for action.
Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, co-chair of the FBRC and the Joint Committee on Education, deserves credit there. At the start of the session, Chang-Diaz filed a bill (then S.223) to implement the recommendations of the FBRC on these four areas.
Because of her hard work and the advocacy of groups around the state, we eventually reached a point where EVERY senator was a co-sponsor of the bill, and it passed the Senate unanimously. That’s right: unanimously.
Abandoning Immigrants and the Poor Isn’t a Democratic Value
As too often happens, progressive legislation that passes the Senate (even, again, unanimously) hits a wall in the House (see also: climate change legislation, immigrant protections, zoning reform last session, wage theft last session and possibly this one — the list goes on).
After Rep. Aaron Vega got more than half of the House (including members of both parties) to sign onto a letter in support of the Senate bill, Ways & Means Chairman Jeffrey Sanchez and House Education Committee Chair Alice Peisch shot back with disingenuous counterarguments:
“There has been a push to adopt more aggressive and sweeping reforms,” Peisch and Sanchez wrote. “However, the availability of resources and the lack of a reliable revenue source in the proposals offered remains a concern for the fiscal well-being of the Commonwealth and the numerous other vital programs serving our most vulnerable residents which would likely be impacted as a result.”
The Senate bill did not appropriate money, but it’s important to know how much the state should be spending. If we don’t know the amount that our students need, then we’re certainly not going to be meeting those needs.
And, frankly, our Democratic representatives should view this as something worth finding the revenue for. We are one of the most affluent states in the country, with a thriving economy (and a booming biotech sector that our Legislature loves giving handouts to). The money’s there — the problem is a lack of political will.
But back to the House. When the House decided to take up education funding last week, they decided to eliminate the provisions for English Language Learners and low-income students. That’s right: they–our overwhelmingly Democratic House–threw the most vulnerable students under the bus.
Chairman Jeff Sanchez, the first Latino Ways & Means chair, whose personal story as a politician emphasizes growing up as a poor Latino kid from Mission Hill, told today’s poor Latino kids in Mission Hill (or Lawrence or Holyoke or Springfield or elsewhere) that their education just isn’t that important.
Where Things Stand, with a Clock That’s Ticking
The Senate promptly amended the House bill with its own bill, and a Conference Committee was formed earlier this week.
The Democratic conferees on the House side are Alice Peisch and Claire Cronin.
Alice Peisch’s Wellesley-based district is very affluent and very white. The district can easily make up for funding gaps on its own, and it isn’t much affected (comparatively speaking) by insufficient funding for low-income students and English Language Learners. However, I would like to think that the residents of a district that went for Clinton over Trump 71-23 have regard for low-income and immigrant students in other cities and towns. We all know that Trump would gladly leave these students behind. Shouldn’t our Democratic reps be better than that?
Claire Cronin’s district, by contrast, contains Brockton, one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts. Brockton has been suffering so much from insufficient education funding that it is suing the state. Shouldn’t Claire Cronin stand with the students, teachers, parents, and community members in support of greater equity?
With all that the federal government is doing to impoverish the impoverished and demonize and criminalize immigrants, states like Massachusetts need to be bastions of just and equitable policy. The Legislative Session ends in less than two weeks — on July 31st. We’ll see if the Legislature agrees.
I just taught a lesson for summer school on the busing crisis, and I focused on how the funding disparities led to the court order to desegregate. That issue is still with us today. The wealthy white suburbs are doing just fine, its the districts in the middle (think Revere, Medford) and those gateway communities that are struggling (New Bedford, Brockton, Randolph, Chelsea) with an influx of immigrants and new residents displaced by gentrification. They need this funding.
There is a great Op-Ed from the Mayor of New Bedford in Commonwealth talking about how fixing the formula in light of Question 2’s defeat should also be a priority so that charters are not taking an unfair share from districts. Doing so should improve cross collaboration between these types of schools.
Equalizing per pupil spend as much as possible should be a goal of a revamped formula, which it’s own architect concedes is short by a figure of several billion dollars. Fair Share was a push to get these funds for the schools, the T, and investing in affordable housing. Now that the legislature has co-opted it, maybe they can do the heavy lifting on education. After all, what’s the point of a supermajority if you don’t even use it.
The Constitution demands it:
“Wisdom, and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools and grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in their dealings; sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous sentiments among the people. “
This is a relatively easy situation to understand. The foundation budget is the dollar value, calculated via formula, which represents the amount a city/town must spend to achieve a “reasonable” education for its children. Another formula determines how much a local community must contribute towards that budget from local taxes, and then the state makes up the difference via Chapter 70 money.
How does one determine reasonable? It seems to be that if a town spends more than the foundation budget, that is a strong signal that the people feel the foundation budget is too low, and if most towns spend more than the foundation budget, it is a strong signal that the state population believes the foundation budget to be too low.
I have put the data below: the per-town percent of actual money spent compared to the foundation budget for 2018. I filtered out towns with less than 200 students enrolled. The data clearly shows that there is a problem. If you take a cursory look at the clustering, this is what I see:
Cape & Islands are spending way more than the foundation budget says they need to. That signals that they may have extra costs that other communities don’t, but these costs are not accounted for in the foundation calculation.
Super-wealthy towns like Dover, Lincoln, Weston, Carlyle are also spending way more than the foundation budget – over twice as much. Those are towns that want to distinguish themselves from others, but they are spending considerably more than others, and generally more than 2x the foundation budget to educate their already-advantaged populace.
There are other cities and towns which pride themselves as liberal bastions (Cambridge, Amherst, Lenox) which are spending a ton on education even though they may not be able to afford it as much as those super-wealthy towns.
I see the vast middle, where cities and towns are spending about 130% to 150% of their foundation budgets. This probably represents the amount the foundation budget is skewed low.
Now look at the very bottom. Fitchburg, Lawrence, Springfield, Worcester, Fall River, New Bedford, Brockton, Gardner, etc. Those are cities which are budget constrained, and surprise, they are spending almost right at the foundation budget. These are the places that realtors steer prospective families away from. There are a lot of students in this particular cohort.
(It is worth noting that Springfield’s foundation budget is higher than its Proposition 2.5 levy ceiling – in other words, Springfield is legally required to spend more on its schools than it is legally permitted to collect from its local taxes. Let that sink in for a moment as a dramatic symbol of inequality in our state)
The numbers are pretty clear. People who have the capacity to spend on education make it clear that the amount we believe we should spend on education is far too low – and by ignoring this problem, we are shortchanging hundreds of thousands of children in lower-income communities.
Data below (marked as spoiler to make post shorter).
[spoiler title=” “]District Enrollment Pct
TRURO 209 314%
DOVER 485 277%
EDGARTOWN 410 265%
MINUTEMAN 346 256%
UPISLAND 392 254%
LENOX 521 246%
ERVING 226 243%
CAMBRIDGE 7159 238%
TISBURY 365 231%
WESTON 2159 226%
ORLEANS 220 220%
CARLISLE 563 219%
LINCOLN 653 218%
MARTHAS VINEYARD 704 212%
OAK BLUFFS 459 211%
AMHERST 1136 208%
CONCORD 2029 205%
NANTUCKET 1583 202%
ROCKPORT 735 202%
AVON 538 202%
SOUTHBOROUGH 1235 202%
SHERBORN 415 201%
FRONTIER 551 200%
SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE 662 200%
NAUSET 1183 200%
MATTAPOISETT 451 197%
MOUNT GREYLOCK 500 191%
BERKSHIRE HILLS 1079 189%
BURLINGTON 3495 189%
MIDDLETON 666 188%
PIONEER 724 187%
BOXFORD 739 185%
BREWSTER 490 184%
MANCHESTER ESSEX 1351 184%
NORTHBOROUGH 1642 183%
WATERTOWN 2634 181%
DEDHAM 2612 181%
HULL 971 181%
AMHERST PELHAM 1490 181%
DOVER SHERBORN 1207 180%
TOPSFIELD 576 180%
BROOKLINE 7541 179%
CONCORD CARLISLE 1321 178%
WAYLAND 2602 177%
HAMPSHIRE 704 176%
MONOMOY 1867 176%
HAMILTON WENHAM 1735 174%
LEXINGTON 7126 173%
MASHPEE 1590 172%
PLYMPTON 221 170%
NEWTON 12857 170%
LEE 621 170%
WESTWOOD 3077 170%
WELLESLEY 5030 169%
NEEDHAM 5447 168%
MASCONOMET 1882 168%
DEERFIELD 329 168%
FARMINGTON RIVER 238 168%
LINCOLN SUDBURY 1633 167%
PLAINVILLE 701 166%
BEDFORD 2647 166%
WALTHAM 5498 166%
SWAMPSCOTT 2119 165%
NEWBURYPORT 2395 164%
NORFOLK 892 163%
SUDBURY 2788 163%
COHASSET 1525 162%
SEEKONK 1912 162%
FOXBOROUGH 2597 161%
WILMINGTON 3439 160%
ANDOVER 5911 160%
WRENTHAM 923 159%
DANVERS 3460 157%
FRAMINGHAM 9061 157%
SANDWICH 2886 157%
CENTRAL BERKSHIRE 1623 157%
FALMOUTH 3442 157%
BRIMFIELD 268 156%
NAHANT 270 156%
SHARON 3401 155%
MARBLEHEAD 3233 155%
LITTLETON 1589 155%
HARVARD 980 155%
MARION 455 155%
TEWKSBURY 3595 154%
SOMERVILLE 5353 154%
RALPH C MAHAR 637 154%
WEST BOYLSTON 862 153%
MEDFIELD 2490 153%
ROCHESTER 467 152%
IPSWICH 1744 152%
WESTBOROUGH 3849 152%
SAUGUS 2678 152%
CANTON 3340 152%
MENDON UPTON 2143 152%
HUDSON 2712 151%
GROTON DUNSTABLE 2385 151%
LONGMEADOW 2824 151%
GILL MONTAGUE 1078 150%
TRITON 2390 150%
NORWELL 2145 150%
MOHAWK TRAIL 934 150%
BILLERICA 5034 150%
MILLIS 1199 149%
LYNNFIELD 2191 149%
HADLEY 565 149%
PENTUCKET 2394 148%
MILLBURY 1748 148%
BERLIN BOYLSTON 540 147%
SCITUATE 2932 147%
WOBURN 4685 146%
DENNIS YARMOUTH 3395 146%
NORTH READING 2426 146%
NORTH MIDDLESEX 3208 146%
HOPEDALE 1019 145%
BOURNE 1981 145%
ACTON BOXBOROUGH 5443 145%
NORWOOD 3442 144%
QUABBIN 2074 144%
LUDLOW 2602 144%
RANDOLPH 3266 144%
NATICK 5466 143%
HATFIELD 354 143%
AMESBURY 2217 143%
CHELMSFORD 4932 143%
STURBRIDGE 871 143%
MILTON 4093 143%
AGAWAM 3831 143%
MARLBOROUGH 5081 143%
MAYNARD 1429 142%
GLOUCESTER 3189 142%
HOPKINTON 3471 141%
OLD ROCHESTER 1180 141%
WALPOLE 3744 141%
EAST LONGMEADOW 2678 141%
WESTFORD 4883 141%
SOUTH MIDDLESEX 716 140%
MONSON 967 140%
WEST BRIDGEWATER 1052 139%
PLYMOUTH 8212 139%
MANSFIELD 3932 139%
KINGSTON 1046 139%
HAMPDEN WILBRAHAM 3016 138%
TYNGSBOROUGH 1678 138%
MEDWAY 2248 138%
UXBRIDGE 1869 138%
AYER SHIRLEY 1771 138%
GATEWAY 880 138%
HOLBROOK 1165 137%
GEORGETOWN 1347 137%
WESTPORT 1491 137%
WAKEFIELD 3535 137%
NORTHBORO SOUTHBORO 1473 137%
NORTHAMPTON 2746 137%
BELLINGHAM 2332 137%
BOSTON 64602 137%
ASHLAND 2547 137%
BROOKFIELD 234 136%
SOUTHWICK TOLLAND GRANVILLE 1484 136%
STONEHAM 2425 136%
MEDFORD 4847 135%
ABINGTON 1930 135%
NORTON 2517 135%
WINCHESTER 4484 135%
ARLINGTON 5607 135%
KING PHILIP 2176 135%
HOLLISTON 2612 135%
BOYLSTON 275 135%
SALEM 4537 134%
CAPE COD 623 133%
HANOVER 2530 133%
CARVER 1651 133%
MIDDLEBOROUGH 2870 133%
STOUGHTON 3651 133%
EASTON 3648 133%
DUXBURY 3028 132%
SUTTON 1422 132%
READING 4191 131%
SHAWSHEEN VALLEY 1352 131%
AUBURN 2431 131%
GRANBY 742 131%
BELMONT 4355 131%
BARNSTABLE 5475 130%
HALIFAX 633 130%
NASHOBA 3203 130%
SOUTH HADLEY 1900 130%
SHREWSBURY 6039 130%
DIGHTON REHOBOTH 2877 130%
SOMERSET 1804 129%
GREENFIELD 1913 129%
LUNENBURG 1705 129%
SOMERSET BERKLEY 979 128%
BRAINTREE 5667 128%
BEVERLY 4444 128%
FRANKLIN COUNTY 437 127%
SPENCER EAST BROOKFIELD 1592 127%
QUINCY 9321 127%
HINGHAM 4328 126%
PATHFINDER 577 126%
MARSHFIELD 4128 125%
DARTMOUTH 3646 125%
ROCKLAND 2361 125%
FRANKLIN 5818 124%
PALMER 1495 124%
WAREHAM 2680 124%
PEMBROKE 3005 124%
NARRAGANSETT 1304 124%
PITTSFIELD 6026 124%
DOUGLAS 1328 124%
BLUE HILLS 881 124%
BELCHERTOWN 2374 123%
SOUTHAMPTON 492 123%
LEICESTER 1572 123%
ACUSHNET 1210 122%
SWANSEA 2049 121%
OLD COLONY 459 121%
WEYMOUTH 6263 121%
BRIDGEWATER RAYNHAM 5445 121%
NORTH BROOKFIELD 596 121%
FREETOWN LAKEVILLE 2788 121%
NORTH ADAMS 1506 121%
SILVER LAKE 1833 120%
NORTH ANDOVER 4811 120%
WACHUSETT 7066 120%
NORTHBRIDGE 2305 120%
ASHBURNHAM WESTMINSTER 2208 120%
BLACKSTONE MILLVILLE 1783 120%
MILFORD 4244 120%
GRAFTON 3151 119%
EAST BRIDGEWATER 2153 119%
WHITMAN HANSON 3860 119%
PEABODY 5892 118%
UPPER CAPE COD 739 118%
CLINTON 2026 118%
ADAMS CHESHIRE 1377 118%
NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH 4346 118%
NASHOBA VALLEY 675 117%
BRISTOL COUNTY 412 117%
EASTHAMPTON 1771 117%
SOUTH SHORE 620 116%
TANTASQUA 1631 116%
WEBSTER 1989 115%
WESTFIELD 5474 114%
DUDLEY CHARLTON 3802 113%
BERKLEY 784 113%
WINTHROP 1968 112%
NORTHERN BERKSHIRE 456 112%
MELROSE 3799 112%
WARE 1341 111%
DRACUT 3769 111%
ESSEX NORTH SHORE 1014 111%
REVERE 7655 111%
ATHOL ROYALSTON 1729 111%
BLACKSTONE VALLEY 1227 110%
NORTHEAST METROPOLITAN 1239 110%
WEST SPRINGFIELD 4082 110%
TAUNTON 8012 109%
WHITTIER 1228 109%
ORANGE 615 109%
QUABOAG 1307 108%
METHUEN 7088 107%
NORFOLK COUNTY 279 107%
OXFORD 1785 107%
TRI COUNTY 963 106%
MALDEN 7529 106%
LEOMINSTER 6123 106%
CHELSEA 7143 106%
HAVERHILL 8304 106%
FAIRHAVEN 1801 106%
GREATER LAWRENCE 1555 105%
LYNN 16852 105%
ATTLEBORO 6251 104%
CHICOPEE 7758 104%
ASSABET VALLEY 799 104%
LOWELL 16025 103%
SOUTHBRIDGE 2380 103%
EVERETT 7635 103%
GREATER FALL RIVER 1447 103%
GARDNER 2531 103%
BROCKTON 17888 102%
GREATER NEW BEDFORD 2157 102%
BRISTOL PLYMOUTH 1341 102%
SOUTHERN WORCESTER 1145 102%
NEW BEDFORD 13624 102%
GREATER LOWELL 2252 101%
FALL RIVER 11662 101%
WORCESTER 27751 101%
SPRINGFIELD 29533 100%
LAWRENCE 15312 100%
FITCHBURG 5757 100%
MONTACHUSETT 1496 100%
SOUTHEASTERN 1509 99%[/spoiler]