School leaders plan meet to discuss lawsuit
Possible litigation eyed on education funding formula
School leaders from across the Bay State are meeting on Monday to discuss a potential lawsuit against the state over education aid — a move fueled by the Legislature’s inaction this week on proposals to reform the 25-year-old Chapter 70 school funding formula.
“I think the entirety of the commonwealth is interested in joining a potential lawsuit,” said Fall River Public Schools Superintendent Matt Malone, who added the School Committee would join any suit. “There are 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. There’ll be a huge motivational push for communities to join the lawsuit because of the failure on the Hill to accomplish the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission. This is an issue for all of us.”
Legislators considered competing House and Senate bills to implement the Foundation Budget Review Commission recommendations before the end of this session.
The commission found in 2015 the state was shortchanging schools by $1 billion to $2 billion a year.
Many school advocates hoped this would be the year the formula was updated to reflect rising costs of health care, special education, English language learners and low-income populations.
Brockton and Worcester school officials have already discussed a potential lawsuit. Brockton had brought the original lawsuit in the early 1990s, McDuffy v. Robertson, that led to the creation of Chapter 70 aid for schools.
“In collaboration with the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and our superintendent colleagues statewide, we will continue to plan strategically, including through advocacy, building coalitions with other districts and interested organizations,” said Brockton Superintendent Kathleen Smith. “Due to the recent inaction in this legislative session, our focus will be to research all options to ensure students throughout the commonwealth receive proper funding.”
Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, told the Herald school leaders were meeting to discuss next steps going forward. The meeting is preliminary and no suit has been filed yet, Scott said.
“What has happened is the end of the legislative session has fueled people to want to do something,” Scott said. “The bottom line is there are significant concerns that the Legislature didn’t act with respect to the Foundation Budget Review Commission findings. Many districts are expressing concerns about falling behind. A lot of hope was put into a resolution for this.”
New Bedford Public Schools is also considering litigation.
“The 1993 Education Reform Act was expressly designed to reduce resource inequalities, and yet significant school funding disparities persist,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell. “The bottom line is that state aid for New Bedford Public Schools plainly does not reflect the particular needs of our student population.”