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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3768 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3894
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Manny Cruz
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to state aid for public schools.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Manny Cruz7th Essex1/19/2023 1 of 6
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3768 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3894
By Representative Cruz of Salem, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3894) of Manny
Cruz for legislation to establish a municipal education fund to be administered by the
commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Education.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to state aid for public schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
2section 2AAAAAA the following section:-
3 Section 2BBBBBB. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the
4commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Municipal Education Fund. The
5commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall administer the fund. The fund shall
6be used for: (i) funding school districts considered minimum aid communities or currently a
7below effort increment community; (ii) supporting municipal K though 12 school districts; and
8(iii) prioritizing gateway city school districts, rural school districts, and school districts serving a
9large per cent of students with high needs.
10 (b) The fund shall be credited with: (i) revenue collected pursuant to the second
11paragraph of article XLIV of the Articles of Amendment to the Constitution of the
12Commonwealth; (ii) funds from public and private sources such as gifts, grants and donations; 2 of 6
13and (iii) interest earned on money in the fund. The fund shall not be subject to section 5C of
14chapter 29 and shall be subject to appropriation.
15 (c) Annually, not later than October 1, the commissioner of elementary and secondary
16education shall report to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the joint committee
17on education and the house and senate committees on ways and means on the fund’s activities.
18The report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the source and amount of funds received; (ii)
19the expenditures made from the fund and the purposes of such expenditures; (iii) any anticipated
20remaining revenue from awards; and (vi) the number municipal K though 12 school districts who
21received funding.
22 SECTION 2. Section 2 of chapter 70 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
23Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Required local
24contribution” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-
25 “Required local contribution”, a municipality's preliminary local contribution; provided,
26however, that if the preliminary local contributions greater than the target local contribution, then
27the preliminary local contribution shall be reduced by the product of its excess effort and the
28effort reduction percentage; provided further, that if the preliminary local contribution as a
29percentage of the foundation budget is between 2.5 and7.5 percentage points below the target
30local share, then the preliminary local contribution shall be increased by 1 per cent; provided
31further, that if the preliminary local contribution as a percentage of the foundation budget is more
32than 7.5 percentage points below the target local share, then the preliminary local contribution
33shall be increased by 2 per cent; provided further, that in a municipality with a combined effort
34yield equal to or greater than 100 per cent of its foundation budget, the required local 3 of 6
35contribution shall not be less than the capped percentage of the municipality’s foundation budget
36established pursuant to section 18; and provided further, that the commissioner shall allocate
37each municipality's required local contribution among the districts to which the municipality
38belongs and such allocation shall be in proportion to each district's share of the municipality's
39foundation budget.
40 SECTION 3. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further
41amended by striking out the definition of “Target local contribution” and inserting in place
42thereof the following definition:-
43 “Target local contribution”, the lesser of: (i) a municipality's combined effort yield; or (ii)
44the capped percentage of its total foundation budget established pursuant to section 18.
45 SECTION 4. Said chapter 70 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
46following section:-
47 Section 18. (a) The capped percentage for purposes of determining a municipality’s
48required local contribution and target local contribution shall be:
49 (i) 82.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is less than the municipality’s
50foundation budget;
51 (ii) 84.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is equal to or greater than
52100 per cent of the municipality’s foundation budget;
53 (iii) 86.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is equal to or greater than
54150 per cent of the municipality’s foundation budget; and 4 of 6
55 (iv) 88.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is equal to or greater than
56200 per cent of the municipality’s foundation budget.
57 (b) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c), the department may adjust the percentages
58on the caps in subsection (a). Each time the department adjusts a cap, the adjustment shall not be
59less than .25 per cent and not more than 1 per cent.
60 (c) The board shall establish a review process for making adjustments to the caps
61pursuant to subsection (b). No adjustment shall be made by the department, pursuant to
62subsection (b), unless the recommended adjustment is presented to the board for review and
63approved by a vote of the board.
64 (d) The department shall establish rules and regulations that are necessary to implement
65this section.
66 SECTION 5. (a) There shall be a special legislative commission established, pursuant to
67section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws, to examine the distribution of education funding in
68the commonwealth. The special commission shall review and evaluate: (i) how combined effort
69yield is calculated; (ii) how enrollment changes are calculated; (iii) below effort increment in the
70formula; (iv) the municipal revenue growth factor; and (v) the target local contributions.
71 (b) The commission shall consist of: (i) 1 member to be appointed by the speaker of the
72house of representatives, who shall serve as co-chair of the commission; (ii) 1 member to be
73appointed by the president of the senate, who shall serve as co-chair of the commission; (iii) 1
74 member to be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; (iv) 1
75member to be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; (v) the chair of the house 5 of 6
76committee on ways and means; (vi) the chair of the senate committee on ways and means; (vii)
77the chairs of the joint committee on education; (viii) the secretary of education or a designee; (ix)
78the commissioner of elementary and secondary education or a designee; (x) the secretary of
79administration and finance or a designee; (xi) 1 member to be appointed by the American
80Federation of Teachers Massachusetts Professional Development Institute; (xii) 1 member to be
81appointed by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute established in section 6B of chapter 40J of
82the General Laws; (xiii) 1 member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association;
83(xiv) 1 member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, Inc.; (xv)
841 member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, Inc.; (xvi) 1
85member to be appointed by the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, Inc.; (xvii) 1
86member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc.; (xviii) 1
87member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, Inc.; and
88(xix) 4 current superintendents in the commonwealth to be appointed by the commissioner of
89elementary and secondary education whose districts have in the last 2 fiscal years been assessed
90a below effort penalty.
91 (c) The commission shall commence no later than 90 days after the effective date of this
92act.
93 (d) The commission shall create a report of its findings and recommendations, including:
94(i) how to ensure a more equitable distribution of school funds and state aid for public schools;
95(ii) recommendations for new revenue generating options for municipalities to implement and
96increase local education allocations; and (iii) additional education revenues attributable to the
97fair share amendment to the Constitution adopted by the voters at the 2022 general election. 6 of 6
98 (e) No later than December 31, 2025, the commission shall file the report required by
99subsection (d), including any draft legislation, with: (i) the clerks of the house of representatives
100and the senate; (ii) the chairs of the house and senate committee on ways and means; and (iii) the
101chairs of the joint committee on the education.