State Advocacy opportunity – listening session

/ Uncategorized / By
The Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools is making a  plea for more people to speak up for changes to state funding. There is a listening session on Thursday 11/6 4:30 – 6:30 in Greenfield that some Amherst families are planning to attend. If you can’t attend, there is also a virtual session on 11/18 (registration is required – instructions below), or you can submit written comments to C70PublicComment@mass.gov
 
These listening sessions are focused on the local contribution – meaning the split between what a town is required to pay versus what the state is required to pay for public education. It is important to note that tweaking just this part of the Chapter 70 (school funding) formula won’t actually help Amherst or the Regional schools very much because, like 210 other districts in MA, our funding is calculated differently, because our enrollment is declining. And our two school districts have seen a steeper decline than pretty much anywhere else, which means that many other tweaks also won’t help us. So, what can you say to advocate for us? Here are some ideas: 
  • As a sharply declining enrollment district, small tweaks to the Chapter 70 formula won’t help our districts
  • We need help that addresses the actual causes of our financial trouble – 1) Amherst and our regional schools need reform to charter tuition funding (for the state to take more responsibility for tuition) and 2) Amherst and our regional schools need funding from the state that actually accounts for the high number of our students who receive special education services. 
  • Currently, as our education costs rise, the state is paying a smaller and smaller percentage of the total, leaving the town to pick up the tab.
  • The most impactful thing you can communicate is the ways in which you see our schools struggling – your own stories and anecdotes – personal observations of the state of our schools. You don’t need to talk about state funding details – we can share that we desperately need help and leave it to the experts to determine how to help us. 
—

It is important that we have robust participation in these sessions, and share your concerns directly with those tasked with proposing fixes to the formula. Without it, the budget challenges facing your districts and towns will only worsen, as sparse crowds convey to the legislature that this issue lacks urgency and doesn’t warrant prompt action.
Three sessions remain. We strongly encourage you to prioritize attending one or more:

No registration is needed for in-person sessions (a sign-up sheet will be available on site), but speakers are limited to 3 minutes each. If you can’t attend, submit written comments to C70PublicComment@mass.gov
Senator Comerford, State Representative Blais and Noah Berger from MTA put together an excellent presentation on Chapter 70, which we highly recommend you watch and share with your school communities. 

 
Link to Solutions: A Fairer Way to Fund Schools, Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools