Representative Gomez (D – 2nd Hampshire) has filed house bill 4439 to support the requests of the school committees of Amherst-Pelham Regional, Amherst, Northampton, Greenfield, South Hadley AND now Easthampton to address the municipal cost impact of charter school public funding. Representative Sabadosa (D – 1st Hampshire) has co-sponsored the bill.
On behalf of the undersigned districts, we thank our local legislators for the bold step forward.
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/HD4439
This bill targets funding to the public school districts with the highest unfunded K-12 educational needs and/ or the least means to provide additional funding for their school districts. Charter School and School Choice Public funding effectively make districts compete against each other and charter schools for public funds.
Education should not be a competition, but a public good that is supported by the Commonwealth. We are not asking for charter schools or wealthy districts to pay this cost, we are instead asking for the legislature to take responsibility for the asymmetrical and inequitable impact of specific regressive provisions in the chapter 70 funding formula.
The Commonwealth has a constitutional obligation to educate every child “rich or poor” in Massachusetts. We believe H 4439 is the most equitable, transparent and expedient way to provide targeted funding relief to school districts that need it the most.
MASS Promise to Invest: School Funding for Every Child 