Tag: Isabella Oland

  • Student Opportunity Act enters its final year in MA. What’s next?

    Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal of $63.36 billion calls for cutting the minimum per-pupil aid increase in half from the current year, reflecting declining enrollments and changes in federal aid. But Senate President Karen Spilka said MetroWest communities have seen significant increases in school funding already, thanks to the Student Opportunity Act.

    “In MetroWest alone, some communities have seen their state aid nearly double in the time since its passage (in 2019),” Spilka, D-Ashland, said in a statement given to the Daily News.

    Spilka helped spearhead the law through the Legislature more than six years ago. The measure increased Chapter 70 aid and other funding that year by $1.5 billion over inflation for Massachusetts K-12 public education. Now entering its final year, the bill has provided an estimated $2.3 billion to local school districts.

    Gov. Maura Healey, pictured in 2023, told the Joint Ways and Means Committee last month that her budget would allocate $7.6 billion in Chapter 70 aid to local school districts. Marc Vasconcellos/The
    Enterprise

    Healey told the Joint Ways and Means Committee in early February that her budget would allocate $7.6 billion in Chapter 70 aid and guarantee a minimum per-pupil aid of $75 for all local school districts. The current year allocates $7.36 billion for Chapter 70 aid, with a minimum allocation of $150 per pupil, a historic high.

    State leaders plan to revise the Student Opportunity Act during fiscal 2027, the governor said. Its current focus has been to provide funding to districts with high concentrations of low-income students, while also directing investments to support special education programs.

    “The Student Opportunity Act was also structured to ensure that every child in the Commonwealth has the opportunity to receive a quality education, regardless of background or ZIP code,” Spilka said, adding that in MetroWest municipalities the funding has gone to teachers’ salaries as well as modernizing facilities.

    “In our enrollment in specific student groups, the Student Opportunity Act has certainly helped us funding wise, to support students and staff,” added Lincoln Lynch IV, executive director of finance and operations for Framingham Public Schools.

    Legislator didn’t feel state was giving her town enough aid

    Spilka said she spearheaded the legislation based on her personal experience with how funding was distributed to her children’s schools in Ashland, saying she felt the state education budget was not giving her hometown the funding it “deserved,” due to “the way the state formula was structured.”

    This year’s 50% reduction comes as more municipalities are seeing declines in enrollment, pushing additional districts into minimum-aid status. External factors, such as federal funding cuts, have also influenced the amount of state-allocated student aid.

    In response to a question from House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, D-Boston, about the future of the Student Opportunity Act, Healey acknowledged that “as a general matter, we recognize that cities and towns across the state are really struggling with their own budgets right now.”

    But Massachusetts is also feeling strained by federal cuts to the state’s Health and Human Services budget, particularly a $2 billion cut from MassHealth, according to Massachusetts Municipal Association.

    In the face of those constraints, lawmakers last month agreed to take a fresh look at how the state and municipalities divide education costs.

    Despite those pressures, Spilka said the Senate “remains committed to working alongside educators and communities to find solutions that help deliver a world-class education for every Massachusetts student.”

  • Why Bill Galvin is concerned about Gov. Healey’s fiscal ’27 budget

    Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has said that Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal may not include enough money to cover what he says will be significantly higher costs for local and state elections later this year.

    At least two MetroWest town clerks agree with him.

    Galvin recently told the Joint Committee on Ways and Means that up to 12 ballot questions could appear on the November state ballot. He pointed out that the $89.6 million Healey is proposing to be set aside for ballot printing costs is only slightly more than the $82.9 million spent on fiscal 2025 elections, which included the 2024 Presidential Election.

    Healey’s proposal sets aside $15 million as a contingency, but Galvin said that won’t cover an expected 50% increase in printing costs.

    “In the real world, I need real money. I can’t get an IOU balance,” the state’s top election official said.

    Hopkinton Town Clerk Connor Degan said he appreciates the state anticipating unforeseen costs, given $3.7 billion in federal government cuts to the Commonwealth. But he has concerns about meeting local costs for things like early voting.

    “I know we’ve continued to see less financial support coming from the federal level, so knowing that the state is ready to pick up the slack is comforting,” Degan said.

    Town clerk worries about reimbursements to municipalities

    The state election budget includes funding for reimbursements to municipalities for unfunded mandates such as the costs associated with early voting. Degan said he’s hopeful that “there’s going to be enough money to ensure that reimbursements can be made to municipalities.”

    Degan anticipated a higher early voting turnout for the November mid-term elections, which will include races for governor, state legislators, Congress and a U.S. Senate seat. In past election cycles, Degan said Hopkinton dedicated resources such as staffing to early voting locations but did not see the anticipated turnout.

    Natick Town Clerk Andrew Ghobrial said communities must also budget for town elections. Natick’s budget includes three elections in the upcoming year, including the September primary, the gubernatorial election in November and a town election in March 2027.

    Ghobrial said he has “boosted the budget to ask for funding to cover all the expenses related to vote by mail, early voting, operational costs for overtime, for staff, everything in between.”

    Galvin specifically pointed to the costs associated with the 12 ballot questions. His office is required to include an informational booklet with the full text of each proposal. When including comments from those on both sides of each question, that booklet could run to 100 pages.

    Galvin estimated needing an additional $4 million just for the printing costs, not including postage, adding he doesn’t believe that could be covered by Healey’s $15 million contingency.

    In his eight terms as secretary of the Commonwealth, Galvin said he has never seen more than eight questions on the ballot. He urged lawmakers to resolve some of those issues before May 6, to reduce both the number of questions on the ballot and the costs associated with them.