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Amid Mass. school budget crises, lawmakers weigh how to fix school funding system – The Boston Globe

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Amid Mass. school budget crises, lawmakers weigh how to fix school funding system – The Boston Globe


The recommendations could address budget challenges districts are facing due to causes including recent high inflation, the end of federal pandemic relief funds, and the rising costs of special education and student transportation.

“There are few issues as important as ensuring we have well-funded, high-quality public schools for all of our children, no matter what communities they live in,” Lewis said. “Even though the inflation rate has come down to more manageable levels, we had several years where inflation was quite high, and that has a real impact on school districts.”

Lewis helped lead the creation of the Student Opportunity Act, passed in 2019, which will add more than $1.5 billion to school budgets by 2027. Most of the new money has gone to Gateway Cities such as Springfield, Worcester, and Lawrence, which serve disproportionate numbers of high-needs students and depend heavily on state education funding. The law has also ensured all districts receive at least $30 more per student each year.

But that financial boost has been greatly eroded by inflation: its annual inflation cap is 4.5 percent, but inflation in the wake of the pandemic surged to more than 7 percent. It has since come back down, but the gap it created in district finances remains. Teachers and other school staff continue to seek raises to keep pace with the cost of living, including through increasingly frequent strikes.

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School leaders, teachers unions, and advocates have called for the state to cover the gap created by inflation. Lewis’s proposal appears to have early bipartisan support; Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr is a cosponsor of the bill, while Senate President Karen Spilka said in her inaugural address earlier this month she hopes to tackle school funding this year.

Ed Lambert, director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, said it made sense to try to address some of the challenges identified by Lewis, but said the state should not just be focused on how much money it provides districts.

“We need to really be prioritizing, along with how the money is distributed, how the money is being spent,” Lambert said. “If they’re not spending it on evidence-based practices … you can change the formula all you want, it’s not going to make a difference.”

Lambert’s group is one of those that would get a seat on the commission, according to the bill.

Other drivers of rising costs include special education, particularly the $1 billion-plus Massachusetts districts spend to send students with disabilities to specialized campuses, including private special education schools. The cost of transporting students — also often to special education schools — has also risen significantly.

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Making district finances more difficult is the state’s property tax cap, which limits increases to 2.5 percent annually unless voters approve an override at the polls. Dozens of communities have sought overrides in the last two years — often unsuccessfully.

Colin Jones, deputy policy director for the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a progressive think tank that would get a seat on the commission, said in a statement his group has not taken a position on the bill, but immediate action is also necessary.

“Over the past five years, the Student Opportunity Act has added $1 billion in school funding across Massachusetts,“ Jones said. ”Even with that incredible progress, it is a fitting time to have a systemic review of K-12 funding.”

Lewis acknowledged the budget challenges go beyond the schools, and said he would also support reexamining how the state distributes other local aid, but education is his priority.

“The school budgets are typically by far the largest part of municipal budgets, so if a community is looking to have to make budget cuts, that’s often going to fall disproportionately on the schools,” he said.

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This year also marked the end of federal pandemic relief funds, which infused more than $2 billion into Massachusetts schools since 2020. That money was always known to be temporary, but it was used to “shore up the finances of many districts,” Lewis said. Other districts spent it on new staff, including tutors and extra classroom aides, to help their students, who are still behind their pre-pandemic peers.

Lewis noted the commission would take years to produce a new school funding formula and said the state should try to provide more funds to school districts on an annual basis in the meantime.

According to the bill text, the commission would also consider whether to remove the inflation cap on state aid, how to fund special education and transportation appropriately, and how to adapt to many districts losing enrollment, given state aid is largely allocated based on enrollment, except the state does not cut aid to districts with falling populations.

That could even include examining areas of potential cost savings, Lewis said, such as having small districts with declining enrollment share resources or consolidate.

The commission would include members of both parties in the state Legislature, the state education department, teachers unions, various municipal and school associations, and five appointees of the governor.

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The commission would also consider removing or altering a requirement for the state to assist even the wealthiest towns with their school budgets. The state calculates a “foundation budget” required to adequately educate the community’s students (though districts can and do spend more) and funds at least 17.5 percent of the foundation budget for every district.

Lambert said the commission should address that provision as well as the annual per-student increase received by every district, as both run counter to the system’s goal of sending more needs-based aid to needier districts.


Christopher Huffaker can be reached at christopher.huffaker@globe.com. Follow him @huffakingit.





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Massachusetts

Stop & Shop will close Mass. distribution center if deal isn't reached by today

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Stop & Shop will close Mass. distribution center if deal isn't reached by today


A strike is looming over Stop & Shop as an ongoing contract dispute reaches a key date.

Friday marks the deadline for a new contract agreement between the grocery chain and union workers at the distribution center in Freetown, Massachusetts. If that contract isn’t reached, both sides have threatened to take action.

The company says without a deal, it will make plans to close the facility and outsource the work to a third party. The warehouse would not close Friday, but at a later date in June to allow ample time for the transition to a third-party distributor. 

Stop & Shop says it’s seeking to reduce labor costs at the facility by implementing a new health plan.

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Stop & Shop says it will close its distribution center in Freetown, Massachusetts, and outsource the work if it cannot reach a new agreement with the Teamsters Local 25 union by the end of the month.

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But the Teamsters Local 25 — who represent the 900 workers at the warehouse, and picketed here with them last week – have so far rejected that proposal, saying it would require workers to contribute 20% of the costs. 

The five local United Food & Commercial Workers unions which represent roughly 30,000 Stop & Shop employees throughout New England have vowed to strike in solidarity with the Teamsters if a deal isn’t reached today.

If that happens – those unions say you could see an impact at your local grocery store.

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The state treasurers of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have gotten involved – sending a letter to the supermarket giant, encouraging it to “engage in good faith negotiations” with the Teamsters.

Stop & Shop sent us a statement this morning saying in part, “Stop & Shop’s stores remain open and ready to serve our customers, and we do not anticipate any disruptions to our store operations.”

The deadline is set for midnight.





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Mass. ‘is going to stay true to who we are’: Healey, Campbell say schools should commit to DEI amid pressure from Trump – The Boston Globe

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Mass. ‘is going to stay true to who we are’: Healey, Campbell say schools should commit to DEI amid pressure from Trump – The Boston Globe


“We believe that bringing people of different backgrounds and perspectives to the table — including women, People of Color and the LGBTQ+ community — is a strength, especially in education. We are committed to working closely with our incredible schools, colleges and universities to support all of our students,” Healey said in the statement.

State Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in the statement that schools can ensure diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

“Despite the Trump Administration’s continued attempts to create confusion and anxiety, the law has not changed, and schools must continue their work to make sure that every student, regardless of background, can access educational opportunities in the Commonwealth,” Campbell said.

Since taking office, Trump has moved with shocking speed to reshape America’s education system. Decrying “Marxist” teaching in higher education, he’s moved to cut off funding for universities that don’t align with his vision, causing some colleges to go as far as scour references to diversity, equity, and inclusion from websites.

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Trump also has threatened to withhold federal funding from K-12 schools that taught what he called “critical race theory,” and permitted “radical gender ideology.”

Trump has also moved to dismantle the US Department of Education. Meanwhile, the agency released a Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter, signed by Craig Trainor, the department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, that said DEI programs teach students “certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens” that others do not, which ”stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes.”

Massachusetts officials Thursday said their guidance for local schools and universities reaffirmed that the recent federal actions do not prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in admissions and access to higher education or other educational settings.

“Schools and higher education institutions should continue to take affirmative steps, within the law, to create and maintain a positive school climate where all students feel safe, supported, respected and ready to learn. This includes reviewing current practices to ensure they comply with all applicable anti-discrimination, anti-bullying and civil rights laws,” the statement said.

The guidance said the Department of Education letter misconstrues Supreme Court precedent, wrongly implies it might be unlawful for schools to consider the impact of policies and practices on diversity, and creates a misimpression of the impact of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programming.

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“To be clear, nothing in the letter changes existing law and well-established legal principles that encourage — and even require — schools to promote educational opportunity for students of all backgrounds,” according to the guidance document.

Among the officials who signed the statement were Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ronald Mariano, and Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler.

“This country has long fought for all students to have equal access to a public education. The federal government is attempting to take us back decades, exacerbating real inequities that still exist today,” Tutwiler said in the statement. “ Today’s joint guidance reaffirms that Massachusetts will continue to acknowledge and address historical and persistent gaps in student access and achievement, including Black and Brown students, students with disabilities, low-income students, LGBTQ+ students and other marginalized student populations.”

Teacher union leaders also backed the statement, including Jessica Tang, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts and Max Page, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

“Our laws are clear and enable us to support all students and colleagues and to respect their views and dignity. Public schools, colleges and universities have a responsibility to ensure every student and staff member feels safe and supported,” Page said.

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John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.





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Winning Lottery Ticket Sold In Malden

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Winning Lottery Ticket Sold In Malden


MALDEN, MA — A winning Mass Cash ticket worth $100,000 was purchased from the Malden Quickstop on 273 Salem St. Tuesday, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery.

Mass Cash tickets are available for purchase at $1 each, with drawings taking place daily. Players choose five numbers between 1 and 35. Tuesday’s winning numbers were 3, 10, 24, 25, and 27.



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