Two big meetings for the state this week

 And wouldn't you know, it's a double header, because these things aren't coordinated!

• On Tuesday at 9 AM, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has their regular monthly meeting. While I suspect the interim graduation report will be getting attention in public comment, remember that it's an interim report. The final report is due in June. 
  What I'm going to paying most attention to is the Commissioner's 2025 School Accountability Designations, which implies that he has some to make. Whether, as some parents at UP Academy Dorchester apparently fear, he'll be moving schools out of receivership, or, as hinted at last year by then Acting Commissioner Russell Johnston*, he'll be moving some in, we'll have to listen to learn. 
  
  
• On Tuesday at noon, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means is holding the consensus revenue hearing. For those of you who don't mark this on your calendar in big letters, this is when the two chambers of the Legislature together with the executive branch hold a hearing to inform their decision as to how much money they'll budget for next fiscal year, FY27.
  State House News Service last week noted in a timely article that this number is more and more not what they spend at all. 
  

  Since fiscal 2019, when Senate and House Ways and Means Chairs Sen. Michael Rodriguesand Rep. Aaron Michlewitz began leading the budget committees, four fiscal years ended with total spending that outstripped the next year’s enacted budget.
  The pattern raises questions about whether the formal annual budget — debated for months and trumpeted each summer — has become less a blueprint for state spending and more of a starting point that lawmakers revise dramatically and with increasing regularity through midyear spending.

  What it will do is begin to give some sense of how they're thinking about next year. I'm also looking forward (?) to seeing if anyone else is concerned about the massive impact the federal changes to Medicaid and SNAP are going to have on this and following budgets. 

I am planning on following this, but all online, as one cannot quickly get from Everett to Boston!


__________________________________________
*As a reminder, the schools he named were: 
Brockton: Arnone Community Elementary School
Chelsea: Clark Avenue Elementary School
Framingham: Harmony Grove Elementary School Springfield: Lincoln Elementary School
Worcester: North High School

And as someone in Worcester: I'm really concerned about North, which is in the lowest performing 2% of districts in the state.

What isn’t being mentioned in state school funding advocacy: a 🦨 at the garden party post

 It is time once again for another of my “skunk at the garden party” posts; partly in response to last week's Ways and Means hearing on education and local aid, I want to flag something which is not, generally, being mentioned.

With thanks to my husband for his photos of actual Worcester skunks

There's a Worcester Public Schools FY25 budget hearing today at 6 pm

 At the time and place so advertised or at any time or place to which such hearing may from time to time be adjourned all interested persons shall be given an opportunity to be heard for or against the whole or any part of the proposed budget.

In adherence to MGL Ch. 71, sec. 38N, the Worcester School Committee is holding a hearing on the proposed FY25 Worcester Public Schools budget today at 6 pm. There is a remote participation link in the posting.

And you can of course always contact the School Committee directly 

Yes, the proposed Worcester Public Schools FY25 budget is posted

 And you can find it online here.

and there is our rueful fish in his budget habitat

I am not going to give you any analysis in this post--I haven't cracked this open yet!--but let me give you a few tips in reviewing:

• Revenue matters. As much as we all immediately want to plunge into what the recommended allocations are and aren't, the money has to come from somewhere. The majority of the Worcester Public Schools' funding comes from the state--which is what's led to this push around inflation, which is the main reason for the FY25 budget gap--

  

  from page 18; as a side note: the federal grant triangle here is back down,
  because the ESSER funding that boosted it is gone
  total federal grants was $70,633,666 (FY22), $83,720,834 (FY23), $65,411,638 (FY24)

  
  
  ...but there is a state mandated balance between that and city funding for the general fund budget. The first place I always flip (and the one thing I did check right away yesterday) was if the city's budgeted spending is projected to meet the state requirement. This year that's on page 377:
  
  
  
  ...and the answer is no: we're $1.1M short.
  Now, if you follow the math, what's happening is that we're still catching up from the $3M from FY23; plus this current year, it was back to a little over $1M until the School Committee had to cut $800K from the budget due to the charter school tuition/reimbursement coming through other than what was expected.
  
  
  
  Nonetheless, not meeting the state mandate again. 
  And as a reminder: 
  
  
  

  

  from page 10

  
  
• I know you're going to look at the school by school, but remember that isn't how the budget gets passed. Particularly in a year where there are cuts, anyone with a connection to a particular school is going to flip to those pages first (they start on page 234). I get it.
  The budget is not passed school by school, however, and school committees in Massachusetts don't have that level of authority over the budget (or assignment authority at all).
  The budget is passed at the cost center level, which is the account by account section of the budget that starts on page 155, as listed in the table of contents.
  I anticipate, by the way, that this may be a struggle for the Worcester School Committee this year, with the new makeup of the committee. Committee members cannot move money in such a way that it will only benefit their own district.
  If you're going to advocate, keep this in mind with your advocacy. 
  
  
• Most of those numbers are big. This sounds silly to say, but small changes are not what makes big differences in a budget of this size. As I've said before, and no doubt will again, don't get caught bikeshedding the budget. 
  
  
• The budget isn't done until the bottom line is voted. This is a proposed budget; each account gets reviewed and passed by the Worcester School Committee over June 6 and 20 (starting at 4), and the bottom line is approved on on the 20th.
  
  
• They have to hear from the public first. It was only recently posted, but the public hearing date is Monday, May 20 at City Hall at 6 pm.

Go review it! Be grateful we get the comprehensive budget document we do!

And let me know if you have questions I might be able to answer. 

What DESE needs to hear from you at the charter hearing

 The single page PDF of this is here. Slides are here. Video of slides is here.

I plan to testify against the proposed charter school in Worcester…

What does the state need to hear from me?

If you are a student:

The state needs to hear of the choices you have available to you in the Worcester Public Schools; of the partnerships your school has with museums and other cultural institutions in the city; of how your academic differences are supported in your school; of how you as a learner and as a person have grown in your experience with the district.

 

If you are a parent or caregiver:

The state needs to hear of the different choices available to your family within the Worcester Public Schools; of how your student’s different learning needs have been met by the public school system; of the experiences your family has had with Worcester’s cultural institutions through the school system; of how your family has been supported through the district; of how your students have succeeded through and beyond the Worcester Public Schools. 

 

If you are an educator:

The state needs to hear of how your school and our district meet the needs of diverse learners; of innovation that is ongoing within the district; of the high quality teaching and learning that is happening in the Worcester Public Schools; of the ways in which there are ongoing efforts to make our curriculum more culturally responsive; of the social-emotional and multi-tier system of supports for students; of the rich community partnerships that your school has; of the ongoing work to improve the work we do for our students.

 

If you are a community member: 

The state needs to hear of how the district is moving forward under new leadership that is focused on building relationships with families, educators, and the community; of the strong array of options available to families in Worcester for public education; of the lacks of connection and experience with needs of students, families, and the city demonstrated by the proponents; of the extractive nature of the proposal. 

Join us for public testimony:

Friday, December 9
4 pm

Herbert Auditorium, Suprenant Building

Quinsigamond Community College

Coming up!

 The Worcester School Committee does not have any meetings this week, but I did want to share this one right away: We're holding a hearing on ESSER spending--that's the federal pandemic grant--on Monday, December 20 at 7pm. It will be virtual.