FY23 House Ways and Means budget

 Lately, I feel as if all of my posts begin with an apology for being late: no different here, as the House Ways and Means budget was released Wednesday, and here it is Sunday before I get to a post on it. Apologies.

The House Ways and Means budget was released Wednesday, April 13. The account by account detail can be found in sections 2 & 3, at the end of which you can find town by town and district by district allocations for local aid, including Chapter 70. The Department of Revenue Division of Local Services have likewise updated their preliminary cherry sheets; the municipal cherry sheets are here; the regional cherry sheets are here.
I have now updated my FY23 account by account spreadsheet, as well. 

Let me start by highlighting a couple of things that are different than the budget proposed by Governor Baker in January, and then I'll run through the accounts.

• I'm still puzzled by the Governor doubling the Executive Office of Education (that's the Secretary, not DESE) up over $4M. The House Ways and Means budget bumps it back down. Any chance someone could ask what the Governor's intent was? I mistrust that.
  
  
• The House Ways and Means Committee is proposing a $15M scholarship fund for educators, half for scholarships and half for loan repayment. It would be for those pursuing public education certification in the Commonwealth in a BA or post-BA program in the state at "not more than $7500 per individual." It requires four years post graduation of working in public education in the state. It does include language prioritizing "the recruitment and retention of racial, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse educators."
  Pros: they're paying attention the pipeline issue. They're noting that part of that is a money problem. They're paying attention to the lack of diversity in the teaching force.
  Cons: $7500? I say this as someone with two kids in college: $7500 isn't enough to sign up for four years of teaching. If this is going to be successful, we're going to need to do more.
  
  
• Next, the Student Opportunity Act required full funding of charter reimbursement for FY23. While the Governor followed the off-by-a-year phase in of last year, putting the House 2 budget at 90% of reimbursement, the House Ways and Means budget bumps this line $24M, getting to 100% (projected) reimbursement, thus getting this piece of SOA done on schedule! This is a BIG DEAL! Good news!
  
  
• You may have seen some reporting on this one: the House Ways and Means budget includes funding that is intended to fund free universal lunch for all kids for all of next year! That's amazing!
  
  
• The House Ways and Means budget creates a new line item (7061-0009) of $9.6M to boost minimum per pupil increase from the SOA $30/pupil (as it was in House 2) to $60/pupil ($30 in the actual Chapter 70 line and $30 in this line). 
  As I have noted in the past, minimum per pupil increases are not part of the foundation budget. As I have also noted in the past, they have no association with district or municipal need, as measured in the standard measurement of both in MGL Ch. 70, sec. 1. These increases bump some districts well over foundation through state funding. They also move districts JUST AS WE ARE GETTING INTO SOA farther away from making the jump out of their hold harmless into real foundation aid increases, which many districts are in the process of doing.
  (Here is the opinion section): I absolutely understand the difficulties and complications of minimum funding increases and limited resources; remember, I've voted eight Worcester Public Schools budgets. I balk, though, at using state resources to fund some districts over foundation without any regard to need. That is absolutely contrary to what our funding system is based on, and it's fundamentally inequitable.
  And you don't have to take my word for it: read the fourth item here.

On to the rest of the accounts! I'm going to take the big ones first:

• Ch. 70 (7061-0008) is exactly the same as House 2...and that's fine, really, as that implemented year 2 of 6 in the Student Opportunity Act.
• House Ways & Means bumps the circuit breaker account by $35M over H2 to $440M. $10.5M of that is the Department of Developmental Services for "voluntary residential placement prevention" (which I think I would need more about to understand), but that still leaves a pretty significant boost, which I assume means that there's some question as to if H2 would fund circuit breaker as it should, including the second step phase in of transportation as required by the Student Opportunity Act.
• As I mentioned above, the charter school reimbursement account (7061-9010) is up $24M to $243M to cover the jump to 100% (projected) reimbursement, which would complete this piece of SOA on schedule. The House W&M budget does adopt the H2 recommended $1088 per pupil amount for facilities for charter schools.
• As noted above, what is usually the breakfast account gets MAJORLY bumped by $110M to cover the cost of universal free lunch.
• DESE, by the by, is actually down from last year (it's account 7010-0005) by about half a million dollars in both H2 and HW&M. I mention this because I have the radical idea that they might actually be somewhat understaffed, and there's sure as heck no way that they're going to take on running the Boston Public Schools on that same $12.5M!
• Early college, which the Governor already substantially bumped from last year ($5M to $9.5M) receives a further bump to a nice round $10M.
• METCO, which I think maybe the Governor's budget was doing based on reimbursement at $27.9M, gets a small bump to $28.5M.
• The EL and literacy combined line, which last year was passed at $5M and the Governor has proposed for $4.6M, comes through in HW&M at $5.6M, with $600K to Reading Recovery and $440K for Bay State Reading Institute.
• The Ways and Means Committee puts a marker in for the earmark line of $100K. Expect to see amendments (sigh...Have I said lately that I loathe earmarks?)
• The civics education line, zeroed out by the Governor, is in for $1M, split evenly between the JEF library and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute (which I guess makes it a Kennedy institution line?).
• The $250K for a financial literacy competitive grant program, zeroed out in the Governor's budget, is back.
• School to career, effectively level funded at $7.5M in the Governor's budget, is boosted to $8M.
• No change in the $4.8M for innovation pathways.
• The English Acquisition line, at $3.5M in House 2, back up to $4.5M in House Ways and Means.
• School-aged institutional education is level funded at $8.6M (that's level funded from last budget).
• Career and tech ed gets a $1M boost to $3.5M.
• Adult ed gets a (much needed!) $10M boost, from $50M to $60M.
• Regional transportation comes through at the same $77.8M as in House 2. Remember, this is a reimbursement account, and it's on actual payments, and this is now reimbursing the year with less transportation.
• Non-resident transportation isn't funded, while House 2 had $250K.
• Homeless student is the same $22.9M.
• AP math and science is the same $3.2M.
• The school lunch line (that is just that) is the same $5.3M; the line that usually includes breakfast and summer school is the one that's boosted $110M to $115M for universal (!!).
• School and district accountability is the same $1M.
• Military mitigation drops $300K from House 2 (this is odd to me).
• Educational data is the same, as is MCAS, and the assessment consortium isn't funded in House Ways and Means, either.
• JFYNetWorks gets their line item back for $875K (and perhaps some day, someone will tell me what the pull is that they have in the Legislature, as well as what they do!).
• Targeted intervention, budgeted at $17.M last year, in H2 at $10.3M, is in this budget at $15.1M.
• Extended learning, now a sort of residual account for the small number of districts still getting it, was at $9.9M last year; the Governor zeroed it out in H2, and the House Ways & Means Committee puts it in here at $5.9M, specifically to districts and schools that were approved in FY22.
• Recovery high schools get a $8972 increase (from $2.7M). Huh?
• After and out of school stays at $10.5M.
• Safe and supportive schools goes from $519K to $600K.
• MassAcademy gets their $1.5M, as they did in H2.
• YouthBuild goes back to the $3M it passed at last year; H2 had it at $2.4M.
• Mentoring still at $1.2M
• Wellness supports still at $2M
• Regionalization grants are not funded here, either (which is interesting, as there are several places in the state where regionalization discussions are happening).
• Sex abuse prevention still at $1.1M
• RURAL AID STAYS AT $4M!
• summer learning still at $1M
• Hate crime/bias prevention still at $400K
• The trust funds--21st century, civics project, and STEM pipeline--are all funded as in H2 ($5M, $1.5M, $1.5M, respectively).

Amendments are already rolling in. The House will take up budget deliberation on Monday, April 25. 
As always, if you have questions, send them along!