School-funding advocates and the fallout from the state’s coronavirus-created financial plight are on a collision course.
At the same time Gov. Charlie Baker indicated that he’s postponing the enactment of the new school-funding law, city officials from across the state warned that holding back that money could have a catastrophic impact on the commonwealth’s most vulnerable students.
With the start of the new fiscal year just a week away, the Baker administration informed municipalities that upcoming monthly local-aid payments will be based on fiscal 2020 estimates.
Districts received $5.2 billion in state aid this school year; that money generally covers more than 80% of education costs in larger poor, majority-minority cities.
The Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services said it can’t provide “cherry sheets” — the administration’s best estimates for amounts of local and school aid the state will provide in fiscal 2021 — because previous budget numbers were compiled before the onset of this viral pandemic.
School districts had been anticipating an infusion of Chapter 70 money from the passage of the Student Opportunity Act, which committed the state to $1.5 billion in new K-12 funding over seven years, starting in fiscal 2021. Baker had proposed a first installment of $303.5 million in the spending plan he filed in January.
But all the revenue assumptions on which that budget was based went out the window with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented both a public-health and financial crisis from which the commonwealth is slowly recovering.
State officials have been told fiscal 2021 tax revenues could be $6 billion less than projected, which could lead to local-aid reductions. Beacon Hill leaders could solve part of that revenue shortfall by cutting spending or raising taxes — tough decisions that have yet to be made. Dipping into the state’s rainy-day fund or borrowing could also be employed to make up some of the difference.
But presently, it’s not certain when or how lawmakers will craft a fiscal 2021 budget.
The school-funding law earmarked most of its resources for the most financially strapped districts — primarily in Gateway Cities like Lowell and Fitchburg — that have the most vulnerable students, such as those with disabilities, language barriers, or living in poverty. The previous school-funding mechanism had shortchanged those communities’ needs.
But this new law came with a proviso that allowed funding increases to be put on hold in case of a fiscal crisis. That’s because this legislation didn’t create a dedicated funding source, relying instead on overall revenues to cover the cost.
Both those shoes have fallen with a thud.
The Legislature’s presently considering a $1.1 billion bill to cover COVID-19 response costs. House and Senate leaders said it would prioritize funding for personal protective equipment, emergency child care, food security, as well as supports for community health centers, behavioral health services, housing and efforts to offset homelessness.
It’s obvious that other COVID-19 related funding must be funneled to school districts as they prepare for some combination of in-person and virtual instruction in the fall. That will dramatically reduce class sizes and the number of students riding a school bus; it will also create new expenses, such as purchasing masks for students and staff.
In this environment, it’s unrealistic for school districts to expect another $300 million on top of all these unanticipated costs.
For the time being, that school-funding law’s in recess.
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June 25, 2020 at 12:13PM
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COVID-19 costs claim additional school funding - Lowell Sun
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