PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 70 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the section and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:–

Section 1. It is the intention of the general court, subject to appropriation, to assure fair and adequate per student funding for public schools in the commonwealth by defining a foundation budget and a standard of local funding effort applicable to every city and town in the commonwealth. It is the further intention the commonwealth shall provide funds necessary to supplement local funding to ensure equitable distribution of state funds. In order to promote effective use of resources, the general court intends that multi-year financial plans be developed to achieve adequacy, equity and predictability.

The definition of adequate education shall include full-time kindergartens, pre-school special changes the education inclusion classes, k-3 class size ratios of 18 or less, and grades 4-8 of 25 or less, added weighting for students requiring special education, for students whose first language is other than English who are in regular education programs, for bilingual, immersion and ESL programs, for vocational-education, for students whose family incomes qualify for free or reduced lunches, and for extended day or extended year programs for low and moderate incomes students and those who have not achieved advanced or proficient status on MCAS. The foundation budget also includes funding for staff development, support and administrative services, transportation, educational technology, as well as testing and evaluation This legislation also revises the distribution formula for Chapter 70 aid to weight median income as well as residential and commercial/industrial property value per student, The legislation also provides for a 5 year phase-in process (20% adjustment per year), with a minimum of 10% and a maximum of 90% aid to any school district. The legislation prioritizes restoration of any monies cut from Chapter 70 to operating school districts in the FY2002- 2004 period.

SECTION 2. Section 2 of chapter 70 is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Adjusted property valuation” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:–

"Adjusted property valuation'', the sum of the equalized industrial and commercial property valuation and the equalized residential property valuation of the municipality. The equalized residential property valuation shall be multiplied by (i) the most recent median household income for the municipality, divided by the median household income for the commonwealth for the same period, as reported by the department of revenue or (ii) 1, whichever is less.

SECTION 3. Said section 2 of chapter 70 is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of
”Assumed tuition-out special education enrollment,” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:–

“Tuitioned-out special education enrollment'', the total tuitioned-out foundation enrollment in a district

SECTION 4. Said section 2 of chapter 70 is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of “Assumed in-school special education enrollment” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:–

"In-school special education enrollment'', the total in-school special education foundation enrollment in a district

SECTION 5. Said section 2 of chapter 70 is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of “Base aid”, and inserting in place thereof the following definition:–

""Base aid'', aid amounts payable to municipalities in any fiscal year equal to the total of state school aid of the previous fiscal year, less foundation aid in the current year

SECTION 6: Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definitions of “Commissioner” and “Department”, and inserting in place thereof the following 2 definitions:–

“Commissioner”, the commissioner of education.

“Department”, the department of education.

SECTION 7. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “District” the following 2 definitions:-

“District target gap”, for any district, the positive difference, if any, between: (i) the district target share multiplied by the district foundation budget; and (ii) the sum of the foundation aid and base aid allotted to the district from all member municipalities.

SECTION 8. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 109, the words “equity gap multiplied by the foundation aid per cent” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- high contribution adjustment, if any.

SECTION 9. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definitions of “Equity gap” and “Excess debt service amounts.”

SECTION 10. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Extraordinary maintenance allotment” the following definition:-

“Fiscal strength index”, half the sum of the relative household median income and the relative equalized property valuation per pupil

SECTION 11. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 139 and 140, the words “gap multiplied by the statewide foundation aid percent” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- budget less the minimum required local contribution. Foundation shall be calculated separately for each municipality's share of each district to which it belongs.

SECTION 12. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of “Foundation aid percent”.

SECTION 13. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of “Foundation gap”.

SECTION 14. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definitions of “Gross overburden amounts” “Gross standard of effort”, and “Local contribution” and inserting in place thereof the following 5 definitions:–

“High contribution adjustment”, in fiscal year 2006, 1/5 of the high contribution gap; in fiscal year 2007, 1/4 of the high contribution gap; in fiscal year 2008, 1/3 of the high contribution gap; in fiscal year 2009, 1/2 of the high contribution gap; in fiscal year 2010, of the high contribution gap; in fiscal year 2011, 1/2 of the high contribution gap; in fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, the high contribution gap.

“High contribution gap”, the positive difference, if any, between a municipality’s implicit tax rate and 125 per cent of the statewide average implicit tax rate, multiplied by the municipality’s adjusted property valuation.

“Implicit tax rate”, for any municipality, the preliminary local contribution per 1000 dollars of adjusted property valuation.

“Low contribution adjustment”, in fiscal year 2006, 1/7 of the low contribution gap; in fiscal year 2007, 1/6 of the low contribution gap; in fiscal year 2008, 1/5 of the low contribution gap; in fiscal year 2009, 1/4 of the low contribution gap; in fiscal year 2010, 1/3 of the low contribution gap; in fiscal year 2011, 1/2 of the low contribution gap; in fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, the low contribution gap; provided, however, that the low contribution adjustment shall not be greater than the positive difference, if any, between: (a) the municipality’s foundation budget, including the foundation budget associated with the municipality’s pupils enrolled at local and regional districts of which the municipality is a member; and (b) the sum of prior year state school aid and the municipality’s current year preliminary local contribution with the low contribution adjustment set at zero.

“Low contribution gap”, the positive difference, if any, between 75 per cent of the statewide average implicit tax rate and a municipality’s implicit tax rate, multiplied by the municipality’s adjusted property valuation.

SECTION 15: Chapter 70 is hereby amended