Executive Summary

Legacy of Learning

K-12 Education and Local Aid

The Governor's Budget guarantees that every school district is able to meet its minimum foundation funding level with a $72 million increase over FY04 in direct "Chapter 70" local aid to schools. In addition, no community with an operating school district will see any year-to-year reduction in direct allocations of state aid. Overall, local aid increases 1.7%.  Additional local aid information based on the Governor's Budget, for individual cities and towns, is available at http://www.mass.gov/dls/CHERRY/

FY04-FY05 Local Aid

New Initiatives

Legacy of Learning, a collection of new initiatives, forms the cornerstone of the Governor's Budget this year. Administered by the Department of Education (DOE), this new investment of $44 million will help boost overall DOE spending by 3.3%, as shown below.

FY04-FY05 K-12 Department of Education Spending*

John and Abigail Adams Scholarship

A new John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program awards the top 25% of Commonwealth high school seniors (measured by statewide MCAS scores taken by the end of junior year) with free tuition to the University of Massachusetts, or to any state or community college. In addition, the top 10% receive a $2,000 bonus to help cover additional campus expenses. Reimbursement to higher education campuses for tuition and fees is administered through line item 7077-0025.

This merit-based program requires full-time study (up to four years) and is contingent upon maintaining at least a 3.0 grade point average. Parochial and private school students who take the MCAS exam at their own expense are also eligible to participate.

School Building Assistance Reform

Our historic Commonwealth contains many old buildings, and local schools are no exception - the average school was built during the Eisenhower administration. A state and local government partnership, called the School Building Assistance program, now reimburses the construction or rehabilitation of over 750 buildings. But success has resulted in an unsustainable explosion in demand and a long waitlist - now 420 projects valued at $4 billion.

Fiscal constraints, exercised through a moratorium, halt new projects and delay reimbursements to ones already completed. The Governor's Budget reforms the School Building Assistance program, clears the waitlist by FY09, and honors all prior commitments made to cities and towns.

Projects Currently Receiving Reimbursement (748 Projects)

Under the current program, cities and towns with a school project borrow for the entire cost of the project. The Commonwealth then reimburses its share, 71% on average, in a series of annual payments. In essence, municipalities borrow on behalf of the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth reimburses its portion of the municipality's debt service.

Under the Governor's proposal, the Commonwealth will take advantage of historically low interest rates to refinance its share of reimbursement payments to cities and towns, extending borrowing from 20 years to 40 years to better match the useful life of school buildings. Newly issued state debt will retire all remaining local obligations (determined by the present value of all remaining payments). Since the state will deposit its share into a local escrow account, municipalities will avoid the uncertainty of future appropriations. In addition, a single bond issuance will save the Commonwealth at least $150 million in FY05.

Projects on the Waitlist (420 projects)

The single issuance savings of $150 million will accelerate waitlist clearance to as early as FY09 if proposed construction reforms are simultaneously adopted. Reimbursement rates and sequencing originally promised by the Department of Education remain unchanged. Click for a School Construction Grant Schedule.

Key Related Reforms

In addition to an innovative financial restructuring, a comprehensive solution to school building requires construction reform and future programmatic changes to be developed by an independent commission.

Simply put, construction reform lowers project cost and improves quality. Lower cost translates into more schools by accelerating the clearing of the waitlist.

The proposed commission, comprised of members from the executive and legislative branches, and local officials, must address long-term sustainability of the program.

The School Building Assistance presentation contains additional information on this important reform.

Focus on Low-Scoring Districts

The lowest scoring districts and schools include the following 24 municipal districts, 5 charter schools, and 13 vocational technical high schools:

These districts exhibit an unacceptable achievement gap: only 45% of first-try students pass the MCAS, compared with 77% statewide. Furthermore, while they represent less than a third of total enrollment, these districts struggle with the majority of performance issues, including:

• 54% of all tenth graders who fail the 2003 MCAS.
• 90% of students statewide who are not proficient in English.

Clearly, these communities need additional help. The Governor's Budget proposes $20 million to provide 60 hours of individual or small group instruction by qualified teachers after school and during the summer for children in 4th through 8th grade, and similar assistance to 9th and 10th graders during regular school hours. This assistance complements the $10 million for MCAS tutoring already appropriated in FY04.

Full-day Kindergarten

According to several studies, full-day kindergarten improves a child's school success, social skills, and achievement on standardized tests. Seven low scoring districts - Brockton, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Lynn, Southbridge, Wareham, and Winchendon - do not offer full-day kindergarten to all students. The Governor's Budget expands full-day kindergarten in these districts with $9.9 million in new funding for teacher salaries, appropriate furnishings and equipment, and if needed, portable classroom space. This appropriation complements the $23 million appropriated in FY04 for kindergarten development grants.

Disciplinary School Grants

Disruptive youth spoil learning opportunities for their peers, and make it difficult for teachers to focus on classwork. Five million dollars in new grants will help districts handle difficult student behavioral issues without distracting those focusing on their studies.

Parent Orientation and School Participation

Parent orientation - $2 million

All parents of children enrolled in state-subsidized child care are already required to meet with an intake counselor every six months. For parents in these programs with children under five, $1.7 million will provide individual parenting orientation sessions as an integral part of this mandatory process. Counselors trained in child development will share information with parents on what to expect at various stages of their child's development, how they can participate in their child's school, and what they can do to encourage their child to learn and grow.

These parents will also receive a guidebook developed by the Department of Education, the Office for Child Care Services and other organizations, to help them better understand what they can do to help their child. The Governor's Budget includes $300,000 to publish this guide in five languages for the parents of over 60,000 children.

School Participation Incentives

The Governor's Budget also provides $2 million in grants for 29 low-scoring districts to boost parental participation through teacher/parent conferences, open houses, family nights, volunteer opportunities, and family outreach.

Math and Science Teachers

In some districts, over 50% of students are failing MCAS math. Improving our students' math and science skills is the best way to help them meet the challenges of today's economy. The Governor's Budget includes $3 million for a number of initiatives aimed at improving students' math achievement by improving the math skills of current teachers, and retaining and recruiting new teachers.

The proposals include:

• $1.46 million to expand the federally-funded Math and Science Partnership Program for teacher math and science skills.
• $600,000 to fund a $3,000 incentive for math and science teachers, with an enrollment goal of 200.
• $500,000 for online self-diagnostic tools for math skills to help teachers assess their professional development needs.
• $440,000 to fully fund third-year bonuses to 110 teachers in the Massachusetts Institute for New Teachers Program.

Management Support for Under-performing Districts

Under-performing districts need technical assistance and management support to turn their schools around. The Governor's Budget includes $2 million for leadership and management training, performance management assistance, and curriculum review.

Charter School Expansion

Charter schools provide choices for families and introduce competition into our school system. Public charter schools in Massachusetts have shown impressive results in student MCAS performance and have expanded the array of rigorous and innovative programs available to students in the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, the current charter school cap puts this educational option out of reach for families in some communities.

The Governor's Budget removes these limits, thereby lifting restrictions on 152 school districts that are virtually prohibited from adding new charter schools under the current law.

The Governor's Budget also establishes charter school management organizations for multiple campus administration. Current law mandates that each charter school hold an individual license with separate boards and management. This unnecessary restriction makes the sharing of resources difficult, especially in smaller communities.

Higher Education

The Governor's budget increases higher education funding by $75 million, or 9.6%, as shown below.

FY04-FY05 Higher Education

Unlike previous years, the distribution of new funds to individual state and community college campuses reflects a consensus formula based on objective criteria, including instructional costs driven primarily by enrollment and program needs, support staff requirements, and physical plant costs.

The Governor's Budget also proposes new merit-based scholarship aid.