Joint Committee on Ways and Means on FY20 education funding

We're at Bristol Community College (across the street from Fall River's new Durfee High project) for the Joint Committee on Ways and Means hearing on education accounts. This Committee is jointly chaired by Senator Michael Rodriguez of Westport and Representative Aaron Michelwitz of Boston. Note that generally the administration makes their pitch first, thus we'll hear early on from Lt. Governor Polito, Secretary Peyser, and the three Commissioners (early ed, K-12, and higher ed). 
Posting once we start 
Vice Chair Denise Garlick introduces Rep. Carole Fiola (of Fall River) and Sen. Jason Lewis (of Winchester, Assistant Vice-Chair), who will be co-chairing today. 
President of Bristol Community College welcoming the joint committee...two members from Fall River School Committee and one from New Bedford School Committee here today


Fiola "This is not a public hearing...we travel around the Commonwealth to allow our colleagues and those in the administration to see as much of the Commonwealth as possible" thus will not be taking public testimony

Polito: thanks Bristol Community College for hosting, president for welcome
"doing amazing work on this campus"
"remember being a member of the Ways and Means Committee and really enjoying this month" traveling around the Commonwealth together
reminder "where we have been and where we hope to go as a Commonwealth"
"let's go back to 1993...what happened then as a Commonwealth was transformational"
made us "unquestioningly number one in the nation"
"have so much to be proud of when it comes to our students, our teachers, and our public school system"
"have been able to keep our commitment by fully funding one of the most progressive funding systems in the nation"
things have changed "whether it's achievement gaps or opportunity gaps"
"want to thank the Foundation Budget Review Commission [for] the work they did over the past couple of years"
couple of years??!?
"provide a multi-year school finance reform...increasing funding in all our school systems...and have access to the very best public education system"
"under our proposal we fully fund all our those recommendations and fully actionable now"
"how we spend it is just as important to closing achievement gaps"
"opportunities for underperforming schools to invest in proven" systems like expanded learning and acceleration academies
close achievement gaps between urban and suburban schools
"hold the accountability system" in place and graduate with the skills that are employable
early college and innovation pathways
"and these will allow us to really help our employers"
operating dollars in capital funding "need to go hand and hand"
"when we graduate students locally with the right skills to be employed in the community...digging those roots even deeper in the community stabilizes the community"
"more employers who can serve as host employers for STEM internships"
"on the 'doing more' front": file legislation today to allow for establishment of empowerment zones
empowerment zone "doing great" for Springfield
want to make "that model available for more school districts"
"to establish local governance over their schools..new authority, flexiblity, and accountability"

Peyser: only set the table for those who deserve the credit...the teachers
"Massachusetts schools are the best in the country, because our educators are the best in the country"
pivot to "available to all of them"
special ed, health care "and to address persist achievement and opportunity gaps"
"bulk of new funding goes to those who need it the most"
and he's now running through the recommendations of the foundation budget shifts
additional funding beyond what is included in the Foundation Budget Review Commission
high need of $180/pupil (what is he talking about? It's $25/pupil)
future boost in psychology line
early college high school
$16M increase in charter school reimbursement; 100/25/25; plus "concentrate on tuition increases" in districts
minimum level of support for those spending over 9% on charter schools
trust funds
"continuing to invest $15M" in high-impact vocational programs
"a human capital pipeline for employers"
"keep the promises made to our children and families back in 1993"

Early Ed: increase for salaries and benefits; annualizes rate increases in October
h/t to Commissioner Tom Weber who is stepping down (I'll miss him, too!)
Higher Ed: closing gap with financial aid
"will fully fund out contract costs" (hm)

Commissioners coming to the table to join him as the Lt. Gov. leaves 
Commissioner Santiago (higher ed): "equity as the top statewide policy imperative in statewide higher education"
"with declining enrollment projected into the next decade"...must serve underserved students
rograms that have had "disproportionate student success"
9 out of 10 public college students remain here a year after they graduate
trust fund for programs that show promise in navigating from high school to college completion
"graduate on time and at much lower cost"
"these partnerships are instrument in helping thousands of our students" to college, completion, and career success
"ladders of opportunity" for students in state care
incentives colleges to meet statewide goals
100 Males to College cohort model
Brockton, Salem, Framingham, and Worcester expansions
tailored online learning to early childhood educators needs
redesign remedial programs
overturned 1998 common assessment policy; student performance in high school rather than a single exam to assess their readiness for college work
cross-collaboration across the system
cost for collective bargaining, plus funding to linking to goals of state
"delivering optimal value to our students and to all of our stakeholders"
"can accomplish much more by working together, rather than competing for the last student"

Early Ed: 25,000 students in those programs daily; early educators; plus parenting resources
broad purview: birth through 16 years old; residency to 21
can serve a quarter of a million students a day
support for, compensated of early ed educators
federal childcare development block grant
foster healthy development and school readiness
enhanced background checks in these programs: meet national requirements
expands services for children in the custody of Department of Children and Families
85% of budget supports services for low income and high need families
can reduce need for (and cost of) interventions for children in the future
family and community engagement networks across the state
Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) updated better supports programs
continue partnerships with community colleges for recruitment, competency development, and career pathways
increase access to higher education among early educators

K-12 (Commissioner Riley): will not read is written testimony, but instead will speak broadly about "where we intent to go"
"those dollars enabled us to become number one" by many measures of success
"while we are number one, we are stalled" and have been for several years..."others are catching up"
"return to focus on teaching and celebrating and supporting our teachers"
critical piece on (removing funding) "to serve as a second set of eyes"
cites his twenty years in education and says "more interested in working with people than doing something to people...and we think there are talented people in the Department" who can get
Fiona: extended day, combined with others, and $1M less
Peyser says need for such allocated resources would go away with expanded foundation budget increase
"would go away over time"
Fiola: so you see districts absorbing those costs over time: Peyser agrees
Lewis: big picture: haven't closed gaps over past years; can you speak to that?
Riley: have seen progress in the state, but it's been progress for some and not for all
"give teachers the time and place to go deeper"
"believing our teachers can do more, but trust them to do more"
became so focused on testing that we moved from engaging learning
Peyser: still have significant challenges in the K-12
engagement of high school students; in particular a sense of purpose and direction
"have struggled around early literacy and reading proficiency at the early grade levels"
Weber: 1993 was 26 years ago
fun fact: early ed was actually mentioned as a need at the time; we just didn't do anything about it
"a very telltale moment in third grade"
"real opportunity in those early years"
economics of our programs are very very fragile
Lewis: increasing diversity in our leadership and in our workforce; what are we doing and can we do?
Santiago: had to change the mindset: anybody who walks through our door will have the tools to succeed
"used to be that we'd say the responsibility is theirs" now it is up to us
"from our perspective, we have to work more closely with K-12 and early ed to get those students into our institutions"
Riley: 40% of our children are children of color and only 6% of our students are students of color
cites research on students of colors who have teachers of colors
very intentional at increasing teachers of colors
Weber: extraordinarily diverse workforce in early ed (a rep says "because it pays so little")
"an asset...have to continue to emphasize as an asset"
provide 12 trainings
Rep. Vargas says the FBRC said between 50-100 for low income students; can you speak to yours coming in under that?
Peyser says that isn't what it said (it "offered guidance")
AND if you add to the base AND add the low income, Peyser says they make it
approach to data collection?
Rep Kane: transportation: regional transporation has typically been funded around the 70's
"there's another line which is non-resident pupil transportation"
only funded at around 6%
troublesome to overall budget of districts
Riley: have heard from superintendents, is being looked at
Q on discontinued expanded learning time: why and what have you learned?
Riley: time is an important element in moving the needle for kids
pushing money into a more general account
Peyser: was only intended as a jump start (not sure this is true)
hope to see more of it happening as funding overall increases
Jehlen: tracing implementation
numbers of money per decile; can't tell what the increment is per decile ten
Peyser: relative to the base aid who is not a low income student
if you add it all up, you'd probably get to 60% or so
"and I thought, being on the FBRC, that the top level would be higher than the others"
Rep. Keefe: $30M allocation for school safety
for what?
Peyser: $20M for upgrades in capital infrastructure and upgrades; K-12 and higher ed
close connection between schools and first responders
training of first responders, planning and sharing best practices
Keefe: not for school resources officers?
Peyser: no

Sorry missed an back and forth with some bits on teacher diversity and equity

Weber: average salary is $27-28,000 per year
minimum wage increase is felt in early education
leverage is in subsidy rate
Q is the $1.1B funding all from the state, or is some local?
some of it is local in the Gov's bill
Peyser "it's the foundation budget"
"it's not Chapter 70, it's in foundation dollars"

Kelcourse: suburban district with such needs; foundation budget doesn't help us
Peyser: inflation rate "presents a challenging fiscal picture for FY20"
"hope it goes down" allowing for other state funding means
note that increases of 3% are fairly typical in actual costs of districts, so this represents a lack of any expansion of resources 

Garballey: shift conversation to improve quality of life in higher ed
question around closure of Mt. Ida College
Santiago: more expansive, less reactive
"do have authority to intervene"
"have to protect it, have to support, in particular the students who...otherwise will not have ability to continue"

Rep. Higgins on Mass grant on covering actual costs; erosion of what it covers over time

Rep. Silvia number of kids attending preschool; how are we number one in education?
Weber talks about treating access as an entitlement and meeting needs

Sen Anne Gobi: number of students in charter schools that have gone up without reimbursement
budget goes up hundreds of dollars per student in Worcester and not in her district isn't fair
notes that the FBRC recommended increase in vocational special education number; Gov's budget does not
technology cost less on the face of it
how is it going to work to remove funds?
Peyser: the way charter school funding works are counted in that hometown funding foundation budget
state pays its share of the foundation budget "that's the state's contribution"
"the net affect of that is to free up local district resources" what? how?
didn't feel raising vocational number of sped was justified
vocational study on cost; plus $15M in capital funding
innovation zone allow for local authority or could be an authority of the Commissioner
alternative to receivership

Rep. Smola: need for manufacturing
soft skills
"if it were easy to fix the foundation formula, we would have done it already"
asked superintendents if they care what the formula looks like or if they want more money, they said they wanted more money
uh, maybe
districts don't find out that their kids are gone until they're gone
wants there to be some way for districts to know something about why their kids are leaving before they go

Sen. Lovely: hearing of growing mental health needs
"just so concerned about what I'm hearing"
what are we doing to relieve some of the stress in our school systems?
Riley: need to make sure we have the right services in place so students can receive instruction
"not just poor communities, in some cases, worse in more affluent communities"
Weber: arriving at a very very early age in young children
those on front lines don't yet have the support needed for supporting such students

Rep Tyler: why not responding to issues in Massachusetts, not responding to issues like Parkland?
Peyser: putting resources
Tyler: "would like to see more of those resources redirected to more trauma informed schools"
why seven years?
Peyser: "achievable and actionable"
Tyler: will diversity plan include METCO?
Riley: going to be doing a thorough review of the program, stay tuned
Tyler: Madison Park plan?
Riley: not treated "like a traditional technical school"
"that should be the shining star of the Boston schools"
"We need to think about where we're going with Madison Park, and I look forward to hearing from the leaders of Boston about their plans for Madison Park"
Peyser: not question that it leads to differences from community to community, differences between suburban and urban schools...a lot of differences across the state

Hinds: work on transportation reimbursement
very aware that there's a need to look at all transportation reimbursement
also addition of rural schools last year
"the table seems to be set"
views on where there might be revenue available? Where?
Peyser: I don't have the answer for you
ch. 70 is the major part of the school finance funding but it is not the whole package
"I think we have to take those trade-offs into account as well"

That is it for administrative testimony; as they switch to UMass speaking, I have to duck out.