More Than 100 School Committees, Local Governing Boards Support Promise Act
Local Elected Officials Call for Passage of Equitable School Funding Legislation
With another school year under way and still no action from the Massachusetts legislature on equitable school funding legislation, the Fund Our Future campaign today announced that more than 100 democratically elected school committees and other local governing boards across the state have passed resolutions asking the state Legislature to pass legislation that fully implements the recommendations of the bipartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC). That legislation, known as the Promise Act, would increase state funding for preK-12 schools in Massachusetts by more than $1 billion annually.
“School committees all across Massachusetts support the Promise Act because it’s the only proposal that fully implements the Foundation Budget Review Commission’s recommendations, and the only proposal that will truly deliver equal access to great public education in every community,” said Lynn School Committee member Lorraine Gately. “Because it provides millions of dollars more for the highest-poverty districts whose students have the greatest needs, the Promise Act would allow communities like Lynn to give our students the same great public education that’s available in wealthy suburban districts.”
When fully implemented, the Promise Act would give local school districts $1.41 billion more in state education aid than the status quo and $946.3 million more than Governor Baker’s education funding plan, with the biggest difference coming from the additional resources the Promise Act directs to low-income students in the highest poverty schools. It does this by funding the “low-income increment” at the maximum rate recommended by the FBRC: 100% of the base rate in the districts with the highest concentrations of low-income students.
“This year’s state budget was a critical down payment on comprehensive school finance legislation, but our students need action on that long-term fix to our broken funding system,” said Fall River School Committee member Tom Khoury, a retired Fall River educator. “With the $11.3 million in new state Chapter 70 aid we received this year we were able to hire 70 new staff, including classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, adjustment counselors, attendance officers and custodians. That’s a great start, but imagine what we could do for our students with the $53 million increase in funding our district would receive under the Promise Act.”
The Promise Act also provides relief to districts that lose significant funding to charter schools, by guaranteeing that state aid would never fall below the target set by the Foundation Budget for each community. A map showing the additional state funding each school district in Massachusetts would receive under the Promise Act can be found here.
Parents, students, and educators have attended dozens of local school committee meetings this year to ask school committees to voice their support for the Promise Act.
“I’m glad my school committee passed this resolution and supports the Promise Act, because if the Promise Act is passed, my child will have smaller classes, more music and art, more counselors and librarians, and all the other things that students in wealthy communities take for granted,” said Ivelisse Caraballo, a parent with one child in the Brockton Public Schools. “All parents want a great education for their kids, and the Promise Act is how we make that happen for students in every community. It’s time for the legislature to listen to students, parents, teachers, and school committees and pass the Promise Act!”
Abington School Committee
Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee
Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee
Amesbury School Committee
Amherst School Committee & Town Council
Amherst-Pelham School Committee
Andover School Committee
Athol-Royalston School Committee
Ayer-Shirley School Committee
Bay Path Regional Vocation (Southern Worcester County Regional) School Committee
Belmont School Committee
Berkshire Hills School Committee
Berkley School Committee & Selectmen
Beverly School Committee
Blue Hills Regional School Committee
Boston School Committee & City Council
Bourne School Committee
Brockton School Committee
Burlington School Committee
Cambridge School Committee
Carver School Committee
Chicopee School Committee
Clarksburg School Committee
Danvers School Committee
Dennis-Yarmouth School Committee
Easthampton School Committee
Everett School Committee
Fairhaven School Committee
Fall River School Committee
Farmington Rivers Regional School Committee
Fitchburg School Committee
Framingham School Committee
Gateway Regional School Committee
Grafton School Committee
Granby School Committee
Greenfield School Committee
Groton-Dunstable Regional School Committee
Hampshire Regional School Committee
Harvard School Committee
Hatfield School Committee
Haverhill School Committee
Holbrook School Committee
Holyoke School Committee
Hull School Committee
Lawrence City Council
Lee School Committee
Leicester School Committee
Lexington School Committee
Littleton School Committee
Lowell School Committee
Lunenburg School Committee
Lynn School Committee
Lynnfield School Committee
Malden School Committee & City Council
Ralph C. Mahar Regional School Committee
Marlborough School Committee
Marshfield School Committee
Maynard School Committee
Mendon-Upton Regional School Committee
Middleborough School Committee
Millbury School Committee
Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee
Monomoy Regional School Committee
New Bedford School Committee
North Adams School Committee
Northampton School Committee
Northborough School Committee
North Middlesex Regional School Committee
Norton School Committee
Old Rochester Regional School Committee
Orange School Committee
Palmer School Committee
Petersham School Committee
Pittsfield School Committee
Quabbin Regional School Committee
Revere School Committee
Rochester School Committee
Rockland School Committee
Salem School Committee
Scituate School Committee
Seekonk School Committee
Shrewsbury School Committee
Southampton School Committee
Southborough School Committee
Southbridge School Committee
Springfield School Committee, City Council & Springfield Empowerment Partnership Board
South Hadley School Committee
Taunton School Committee
Uxbridge School Committee
Wachusett Regional School Committee
Ware School Committee
Wareham School Committee
Watertown School Committee
Webster School Committee
Westford School Committee
West Springfield School Committee & Town Council
Weymouth School Committee
Whitman-Hanson Regional School Committee
Worcester School Committee
Background
The Fund Our Future campaign was formed to end the generation-long underfunding of local public schools and public colleges and universities in Massachusetts and is endorsed by the following members: Act on Mass, AFT Massachusetts, Alliance for Brookline Schools, Asian American Resource Workshop, Boston Democratic Socialists of America (BDSA), Boston Education Equity Coalition, Boston Education Justice Alliance, Boston Teachers Union, CEPA at UMass Amherst, Citizens for Public Schools, College Dems of MA, Hampshire Franklin Labor Council, Interfaith Worker Justice, JALSA, Jewish Labor Committee, La Communidad, La Voz de la Comunidad – Framingham, Local 26 Unite Here, Lowell Education Justice Alliance, Mass COSH, Massachusetts Communities Action Network , Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Massachusetts Voter Table, Merrimack Valley Central Labor Council, MNA, NAACP New England Area Conference, North Shore Labor Council, Pioneer Valley Labor Council, Pioneer Valley Street Heat, Progressive Massachusetts, Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM), PUMA Parent Union of Mass, QUEST (Quality Education for Every Student), Revere Youth in Action, SEIU 888, Showing Up for Racial Justice, Tikkun Olam Congregation Bnai Israel Northampton, Union of Minority Neighborhoods, Women Encouraging Empowerment, and Youth on Board.
The Fund Our Future campaign supports passage of two pieces of education funding legislation:
The Promise Act would implement the recommendations of the bipartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission and result in more than $1 billion in additional state funding for preK-12 schools in Massachusetts. It would deliver the bulk of new resources to the most economically disadvantaged communities, while also guaranteeing meaningful minimum aid increases for all districts, and providing relief to districts that lose significant funding to charter schools, by guaranteeing that state aid would never fall below the target set by the Foundation Budget for each community. When fully implemented, the Promise Act would give local school districts $1.41 billion more in state education aid than the status quo and $946.3 million more than Governor Baker’s plan, with the biggest difference coming from the additional resources the Promise Act directs to low-income students in the highest poverty schools. A map showing the additional state funding each school district in Massachusetts would receive under the Promise Act can be found here.
The Cherish Act would implement the core recommendation of the state’s Higher Education Finance Commission and result in more than $500 million in additional state funding for public higher education in Massachusetts. The legislation would require in statute that the Commonwealth fund public higher education at no less than its FY01 per-student funding level, adjusted for inflation, and freeze tuition and fees for five years.
