Below is a press release from State Representative Dave Robertson’s office:
BOSTON, MA — Closing out several weeks of negotiation between House and Senate educational experts, the state legislature passed sweeping legislation that would bring Tewksbury and Wilmington hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in local school assistance.
The landmark Student Opportunities Act, while focusing on many financially-strapped districts, boosts aid across all cities and towns with emphasis on special needs programming, transportation costs, employee healthcare cost mitigation, and general educational assistance.
Early estimates place the increase seen to the Tewksbury and Wilmington school districts by several hundred thousand dollars a year, potentially returning millions in state aid to both towns in immediate coming budget years.
“This bill is a win across the board. It uses no new taxes or revenue streams, helps mitigate rising local property taxes as school budgets are one of the largest and most critical town budget categories, and educates children of all capabilities to become independent and productive adults,” said Representative Robertson upon passage of the bill. “Everyone wants to see children succeed, and this legislation stands by the commitment I gave to support strong, local schools that provides lifelong benefits for everyone. I myself was a product of public education from pre-school through college, and I remember the importance it had on me. The world looks to Massachusetts and the Greater Boston area because of our education and workforce talent, it’s why we’re historically at the top of the national education rankings, they choose to invest here because a well-educated child grows up to become a hard-working, efficient, and creative adult.”
In addition to adjusting outdated formulas to better reflect modern costs of student transportation, special needs support, and charter school costs, the legislation also included critical changes to more closely reflect the actual estimated numbers of student subcategories. After consultation with Department of Education officials and school administrators, the legislature assumed a greatly increased number of students enrolled in special needs programs and English-learning classes, something previously understated. Additional components of the legislation also focused on increased school accountability, having districts develop publicly available plans laying goals and shortfalls of each town.
The bill finally laid out future plans requiring the foundation budget review committee, charged with developing and refining reimbursement formulas, to meet every ten years for review of successes and failures to continuously evolve state aid.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority, which works with districts to build efficient and proven schools for all ages, also received a capital increase of $200 million dollars for future school projects and renovations.
The bill now awaits the Governor’s signature for approval.
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