Watch Your Wallets !

School finance commission outlines early recommendations

May 26, 2015


The special commission charged with reviewing the basic spending standard portion of the Chapter 70 school finance law has taken a first look at two substantial changes that could add more than $1.5 billion to the total statewide minimum school spending standard, which this year is $9.87 billion.

At its May 5 meeting, the Foundation Budget Review Commission focused on two areas in the foundation budget – employee benefits and special education – where analyses done by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and others has shown that the two factors, included in the 1993 education reform law, now significantly understate actual costs at the local level.

A proposal by DESE staff to update these two factors would add an additional $1.5 billion to the statewide foundation budget and would result in $900 million in new school aid and nearly $100 million in additional required local contributions. Given the impact of the update, it is expected that new local contribution and aid amounts would be phased in.

The employee benefits proposal would adjust the foundation employee benefits rate to reflect the average rate paid by the state’s Group Insurance Commission, which provides health insurance to state and some municipal employees. This change would add an estimated $684 million to the statewide foundation budget.

The special education proposal would change the rates for both in-district special education and out-of-district placements to better reflect current costs. These changes would add $826 million to the foundation budget.

On May 5, the Foundation Budget Review Commission did not take a formal vote on any recommendations. It has scheduled meetings on June 9 and 23, with a vote expected at the latter meeting.
The commission did vote to continue working on other aspects of the foundation budget beyond the June reporting deadline and to seek an extension for this work until Nov. 1.
The commission, established in the fiscal 2015 state budget act, is charged with reviewing parts of Chapter 70 school finance law, with a focus on how the “foundation” spending standard is calculated.

The commission, composed of 21 voting members, is co-chaired by Rep. Alice Peisch and Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, the House and Senate chairs of the Legislature’s Committee on Education. There is also a six-member non-voting advisory committee.

The commission includes eight legislators and four members of the Executive Branch. There are nine members representing other public education stakeholders, including Attleboro Mayor Kevin Dumas, who represents the MMA.

• View MMA's Foundation Budget Review Commission resource page

Written by MMA Legislative Director John Robertson