OP-ED: Time to Fix Our School Funding Formula

Massachusetts has been a national leader in public education for nearly 200 years.  We were the first state to provide access to free public school for all children, and, a few decades later, instituted the first special education program for students with additional needs.  We have long understood that education is the key to a vibrant civil society and strong economy.

Now, however, our progress is threatened by an education funding formula that is outdated, inadequate, and does not treat all communities fairly.  To fix the formula we need to start by undertaking a systematic review of the resources necessary to provide a quality education for our children in the 21st century.

The funding for Massachusetts public schools is determined by the Chapter 70 formula which was created as part of the state’s landmark Education Reform Act of 1993.   First, a Foundation Budget is calculated for each school district to determine the resources needed to educate the students in that district. 

Second, the Local Contribution -- the amount that each city or town must contribute from its local revenues -- is calculated based upon each community’s income levels and property values. 

Third, the state government provides Chapter 70 aid to fill the gap between the Foundation Budget and Local Contribution (or to provide a minimum state contribution).  Finally, each community can choose to put more of its local resources toward education if it wants to spend an amount greater than the Foundation Budget.

The chief problem with the formula is that the foundation budget no longer accurately reflects the true costs to educate our students.  This is due to a number of factors, including:

• Healthcare costs.  According to a December, 2010 report from the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, healthcare costs for school employees grew by 13.6% per year from 2000 to 2007, while the overall inflation adjustment in the formula was 3.4% per year.  Over this period, annual healthcare costs in school budgets grew by $1 billion, or $300 million more than the entire increase in the state’s Chapter 70 aid.
• Special education. The growth in the number of special education students and their educational needs has exceeded assumptions in the formula.
• Teacher salaries and professional development. The average teacher salary allowed in the foundation budget is $7,000 below what the average teacher is actually paid.  The foundation budget does not recognize changes since 1993, such as longer school days and additional professional status required and attained by many teachers.

• Educational technology. Technology has changed, improved, and permeated our lives in ways unfathomable in 1993.  Today, schools are expected to implement a range of new technologies to enhance teaching and learning.

As a result of these dramatic and ongoing changes in educational needs over the past two decades, the state needs to conduct an “adequacy study” to systematically review the components and assumptions in the original foundation budget. 

Massachusetts was the first state in the country to undertake an adequacy study in 1991 (this served as the basis for the Chapter 70 foundation budget in the Education Reform Act).  Since then, more than 50 adequacy studies have been undertaken in over 35 states, and the methodology for determining and costing out the necessary resources has become much more sophisticated and accurate.

Conducting an adequacy study is the first step to fixing the Chapter 70 formula and ensuring that all our communities have the resources they need to provide our children with a quality education.

Representative Jason Lewis has sponsored and Senator Katherine Clark has co-sponsored legislation that would implement a comprehensive adequacy study of the Chapter 70 school funding formula.