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Senator Moore proposes $1.5 billion reform of state Education Aid
Uxbridge legislator's bill calls for a predictable, fair formula

January 23, 2006 - On the heels of Governor Mitt Romney’s pledge to increase education aid next year by $300 million, one senior lawmaker has proposed an even more ambitious plan to reform and increase education aid over the next nine years. In a bill filed last week in the Senate, Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) proposed a plan that builds on Romney’s one year increase of $300 million by increasing education aid by $150 million a year through fiscal year 2015. 

“Governor Romney only proposed an increase for one year,” the Senator stated. “While the $300 million additional funding will help some of those districts hardest hit by the recession of 2002-2004, educators need some predictability in order to plan for quality education,” Moore explained. “I’d like to see the state commit to a reasonable increase each year for the next decade to allow better financial and educational planning,” he added.

Senator Moore also included provisions in his bill to reform the Chapter 70 Education Aid formula to produce more fairness in the distribution. “School officials have told me that state aid to education should more accurately reflect the demographics of Massachusetts cities and towns by using the current number of pupils in each municipality and by using current values to determine the financial ability of each municipality to provide an adequate education for all pupils,” Senator Moore said of his formula proposal.” 

Senator Moore’s bill to reform Chapter 70 also:

  • Redefines “base aid” by setting the base at FY ’06 instead of FY ’93 when the state’s education reform legislation began; thus taking advantage of a much higher base.
  • Grants the Commissioner of Education the authority to adjust a district’s “minimum required contribution” to education spending if that required contribution would cause a hardship for local taxpayers.
  • Redefines “local share of foundation budget” to be 70% for a municipality exactly at the state-wide average equalized property valuation per pupil. For municipalities at less than the state-wide average equalized property valuation per pupil, the local share of the foundation budget would be the product of 70% and a relativity factor which is calculated by dividing the local equalized valuations per pupil by the state-wide average equalized valuation per pupil. For municipalities at greater than the state-wide average equalized property valuation per pupil, the local share of the foundation budget shall be 100% minus the quantity (thirty percent divided by the relativity factor).
  • Establish state education aid to be 30% of the local education spending factored to equalize economic differences among communities.
  • Simplifies the formula for allocating education aid by eliminating a number of factors previously included in the education aid formula such as: adjusted property valuation, equity aid, equity gap, excess debt service, foundation gap, foundation aid percent, general revenue sharing aid, gross overburden amounts, gross standard of effort, local contribution, minimum aid, municipal revenue growth factor, overburden aid, preliminary local contribution, standard of effort gap and state overburden obligation.
  • Eliminates a provision of the law that reduces state education aid by a percentage of any increases that a community receives in lottery aid or other assistance.

Senator Moore explained that the formula changes that he was advocating have been proposed in the past by other legislators, however he believes that, combined with a new higher aid base and a predictable annual increase in aid, the results will provide adequate and fair distribution of school aid for all school districts. 

“My plan may not be perfect, and may well be adjusted in various ways, but the real purpose of the bill is to initiate the debate that we must have for reform of Chapter 70 education aid so that the children of the Commonwealth will not be shortchanged,” Moore asserted.

In addition to the predictable annual increases in school funding and the formula reform, Senator Moore includes a concept that would ensure a reasonable level of aid even if the state experienced another recession. The bill would require that, if revenues should drop in some future year, that education funding would have a priority claim on whatever funding might be available in order to provide a measure of protection against state spending being favored over local aid if cuts have to be made.

To view a copy of the proposed bill or learn more about Senator Moore’s education initiatives, log on to his web site at www.senatormoore.com.

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