October Board of Ed: FY20 budget

Craven: annual letter that the Board sends to the Secretary for consideration
process by which Ch.70 is being evaluated
"how the Department should talk with that"
"I think there were ten working groups on aspects of the foundation budget"
"we do know that in a district as small as Holyoke...having no answer over time isn't an answer"
the letter says "be directed to districts with identified achievement gaps in student learning to support reforms that have evidence of narrowing achievement gaps"

other districts that are close to 100% of net school spending
trust that the Department will look at where to put dollars in the foundation budget formula
other items: Breakfast in the classroom, social emotional initiatives
McKenna: raised the issue of follow-up: PD for new frameworks
civics bill passed by both houses
know that teachers were concerned about professional development
"in terms of what happened in Pittsburgh...one thing we should be concerned about is media literacy"
put that in civics
"targeted assistance in terms of achievement gap legislation"
legislative panel report: out of school time
Stewart: structural problems in Ch.70 in Holyoke
32 communities that are within 5% of 100% of net school spending
charter school reimbursment also specifically mentioned, impacting Holyoke and elsewhere
"if we can annualize targeted assistance, I think this is a very important level that would help going forward"
growing numbers of English learners
help all of our kids succeed

Bell: Ch.70 charge that we're working on
Governor had recommended $30M on targeted assistance over three years; Legislature appropriated $5M towards that
looking to annualize $5M, so it's not just a one-time bump to the account
"a lot of policy development work going on"
Governor has requested policy options as it relates to the foundation budget for his consideration in House 1 this coming January
needs in community with relation to state aid; "has to be targeted in a way that best serves students to close the achievement gap"
"leading a number of different groups...in developing what those policy options would be for the Governor's consideration for House 1"
Group Insurance Commission, Dept of Revenue, DESE, all mentioned
" better targeting our education aid"

Fernández: implementation of LOOK action (funding needed!)
raising of fees for licensure, how to make that work with diversifying pipeline, knowing that fees can be a barrier
Bell looking to improve the ELAR (licensure system) and work in educator preparation

Moriarty: call to action in Holyoke
"I think they're in a bit of a canary in a coal mine here...caused Holyoke to dig deeper" and get in touch with other communities
uh...not exactly. But we're glad they're on board
and there was a thing there about third grade reading again

Stewart: called to our attention by the district
presentation isn't available online, but their budget from the spring
notes also funding of circuit breaking

West: charter school reimbursement in first paragraph
think even clearer statement of Chapter 70 in letter
"ultimately, we'd like this formula to accomplish a lot of what we're trying to do here with a lot of this targeted assistance"

Peyser: "even thought there is a formula...it's really about local control...to the extent we want to influence..things on the ground...where we can exert some leverage..."
"what's the right balance, so we're not putting all of our chips on Chapter 70 aid"
"there's clearly momentuum, rightly so, around reforming funding K-12 education...but at the same time, extract some reform along the way"

Bell: "don't want to get out in front of the Governor, but there is a lot of work on policy"
Sagan: funding issue "but put in place some levers for the Commissioner" to influence policy