SCHOOL FUNDING REVIEW PANEL

This from John Nunnari, Medfield’s eyes on the state legislature –

COALITION SEES OPENING FOR SCHOOL FUNDING REVIEW PANEL: The House this year agreed in its budget to establish a commission to examine the allocation of education aid from the state, which supplements local property tax revenues to provide the basis of K-12 education financing.  The decision has raised the hopes of local officials who claim a review of the state’s Chapter 70 formula is long overdue since its current roots date back to the 1993 education reform law and much has changed since then.   “The equity of the formula and the ability of a non-expert to understand it have often been called into question,” the Suburban Coalition, a statewide group of local elected officials that advocates on education issues, wrote in an email circulated Tuesday morning.    Coalition vice president Dorothy Presser said the Senate has several times voted to establish a Foundation Budget Review Commission but the House has never agreed to it, until this year.   Ahead of Wednesday’s launch of Senate budget deliberations, coalition officials are urging senators to support a commission amendment sponsored by Education Committee Co-chair Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz of Jamaica Plain.  “A formula that accurately reflects the cost of education and that is equitable and understandable would be a great step forward for our communities,” Presser wrote in her email.    The Chang-Diaz amendment has 21 cosponsors so its passage appears assured.  Under her plan, the Education Committee co-chairs would co-chair the commission, which would also include top state education officials and others, and the panel would be charged with making recommendations and a final report by June 15, 2015

John Nunnari, Assoc AIA
Executive Director, AIA MA