looks like they've just run through the findings
Francomano: Commission is "officially done"
"we no longer exist as an entity" (this in response to a question on advocacy)
Q: did you only talk about inflationary rate of health insurance or did you talk about proportion of what district pays v individual pays?
"you're talking about issues involving collective bargaining"
Schuster: sets cost assumption at average employer rate of insurance across the state
Verdolino: easier to get to a number with the split already baked in
Tobin: you're in charge of negotiating the split at the community level
Allen: (examples from Worcester)
spending $60M more on special education and health insurance than called for in the foundation budget, thus $60M less on other areas
72% of non-special education case: 660 fewer teachers
42% less on staff development
67% supplies and technology
recommendations in foundation budget report for Worcester would mean:
low income: $20M
ELL: $4.4M
inflation additional $10M
Tobin: some aspects have been kicked down the road to the Legislature
Where do we go from here?
Francomano: wraparound services, essential services that children need that we can't provide
sit down the legislators and bring your story
two main questions: how do we fund this? may hurt/help districts variously
"essential for you to compile the data" in your district
Verdolino: data advisory committee "sleeper in the report"
"could end up being my organization's (MASBO) biggest nightmare" but useful to state/districts
Tobin: each district should crunch the numbers of how the proposed changes would impact the budget of your individual district, and how much of it is local contribution versus state budget
impact on sped and health insurance: DESE ran the spreadsheet on every district
spreadsheet in report IS NOT EVERYTHING IN THE REPORT in terms of costs; those don't exist yet
Figure out your numbers and go talk to your legislators!
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Questions to ask your school business officer (Mass Association of School Committees conference)
posting (as I can) as we go...I'm on this one! For those asking, the Worcester Public Schools FY16 budget is online here.
How does the budget work?
Himmelberger: school budgets serve key purposes: let everyone know where money is being allocated, to manage the spending through the year to keep track of where we have room to move
"so many things that impact the school budget throughout the year"
factors that increase or decrease the budget over the year
"at least take that 'must be stealing' line off the table"
Allen: your budget isn't an administrative playbook
"a community sharing of information about your school budget"
it's MORE than printout of MUNIS and a PowerPoint presentation
explains enrollment, explains trends, explains how resources are tied into the decisions that are being made
more narrative than numbers
intent is to inform the school committee of the decisions they need to make
Novick: pie chart of where the money comes from and where the money goes
how is the money spent
And then how are money changes made over the course of the year?
Q: are there leading questions we can use to create the narrative?
ASBO: Meritorious Budget...does provide what information should be included in a budget document?
Q: highest per capita tax rates on a regional school committee: don't believe we have any kind of a book whatsoever...budget in an Excel spreadsheet online...trying to create something like a budget book? Go to MASBO?
Yes
what sort of time does it take?
Years...adding over time, does seem some progress
School Committee lays out what they're looking for, administration then pulls together within those parameters
Start with executive summary, changes from last year, projections of what will change, what that looks like moving ahead
how the foundation budget works (if that impacts your district), or whatever other calculations feed into your budget, particularly if any are outstanding when your budget is voted
what level of budgetary control goes to school committee?
budgetary categories, transfer between and among categories
grants spelled out clearly
when do school committees join in planning? happening during quarterly reports
most districts have a subcommittee for budget or finance
projections: can you plug these into software? what are assumptions? much that's complicated
should be included in budget, changes over time
what's the advantage of a budget book?
budget book really needs to be the record for the school district of the budget recommendations that are being evaluated for the school district
(PowerPoint is a tool, but not enough)
structure of finance office? how to work with municipal side?
takes a lot of cooperation and planning: handling workers comp and health insurance
still have interaction with town office
"depending upon the municipality it can work"
...but would question motivation, and make sure that everyone is actually on board
when does school committee come in on budgeting?
setting priorities as part of the early process
does school committee meet with each individual section? not in Worcester...available for questions or presentations, meetings internally in admin
should you have combinations of school business officials and other things?
"$53M is no small chunk of chain...hiring the custodian of those funds"
heard a lot about zero based budgeting?
start from zero and build that budget back up from ground floor (not starting with this year)
teacher assignment based on elementary enrollment guidelines and secondary course selections
revolving accounts? School Committees statutorially approve all grants
"we're showing all funding sources within the budget document...and then how those dollars are being spent"
different revolving funds have different legal processes: DESE puts out a revolving fund chart (which I'll see if I can find)
learn from other communities (and what might be going wrong)
auditors: are you seeing the audits, are you seeing the auditor?
you should be!
School choice: should be space available, cost neutral
some communities supplementing additional staff: how does school committee figure that out?
"if you were to lose all your school choice students, what would the impact be?"
cost dropping and how much is this really affecting us?
advocacy: school committees due to sheer number are successful in advocacy at state level
Worcester cited by name in foundation budget report because we provided numbers
"don't underestimate the value of having a number when you're proposing something"
How does the budget work?
Himmelberger: school budgets serve key purposes: let everyone know where money is being allocated, to manage the spending through the year to keep track of where we have room to move
"so many things that impact the school budget throughout the year"
factors that increase or decrease the budget over the year
"at least take that 'must be stealing' line off the table"
Allen: your budget isn't an administrative playbook
"a community sharing of information about your school budget"
it's MORE than printout of MUNIS and a PowerPoint presentation
explains enrollment, explains trends, explains how resources are tied into the decisions that are being made
more narrative than numbers
intent is to inform the school committee of the decisions they need to make
Novick: pie chart of where the money comes from and where the money goes
how is the money spent
And then how are money changes made over the course of the year?
Q: are there leading questions we can use to create the narrative?
ASBO: Meritorious Budget...does provide what information should be included in a budget document?
Q: highest per capita tax rates on a regional school committee: don't believe we have any kind of a book whatsoever...budget in an Excel spreadsheet online...trying to create something like a budget book? Go to MASBO?
Yes
what sort of time does it take?
Years...adding over time, does seem some progress
School Committee lays out what they're looking for, administration then pulls together within those parameters
Start with executive summary, changes from last year, projections of what will change, what that looks like moving ahead
how the foundation budget works (if that impacts your district), or whatever other calculations feed into your budget, particularly if any are outstanding when your budget is voted
what level of budgetary control goes to school committee?
budgetary categories, transfer between and among categories
grants spelled out clearly
when do school committees join in planning? happening during quarterly reports
most districts have a subcommittee for budget or finance
projections: can you plug these into software? what are assumptions? much that's complicated
should be included in budget, changes over time
what's the advantage of a budget book?
budget book really needs to be the record for the school district of the budget recommendations that are being evaluated for the school district
(PowerPoint is a tool, but not enough)
structure of finance office? how to work with municipal side?
takes a lot of cooperation and planning: handling workers comp and health insurance
still have interaction with town office
"depending upon the municipality it can work"
...but would question motivation, and make sure that everyone is actually on board
when does school committee come in on budgeting?
setting priorities as part of the early process
does school committee meet with each individual section? not in Worcester...available for questions or presentations, meetings internally in admin
should you have combinations of school business officials and other things?
"$53M is no small chunk of chain...hiring the custodian of those funds"
heard a lot about zero based budgeting?
start from zero and build that budget back up from ground floor (not starting with this year)
teacher assignment based on elementary enrollment guidelines and secondary course selections
revolving accounts? School Committees statutorially approve all grants
"we're showing all funding sources within the budget document...and then how those dollars are being spent"
different revolving funds have different legal processes: DESE puts out a revolving fund chart (which I'll see if I can find)
learn from other communities (and what might be going wrong)
auditors: are you seeing the audits, are you seeing the auditor?
you should be!
School choice: should be space available, cost neutral
some communities supplementing additional staff: how does school committee figure that out?
"if you were to lose all your school choice students, what would the impact be?"
cost dropping and how much is this really affecting us?
advocacy: school committees due to sheer number are successful in advocacy at state level
Worcester cited by name in foundation budget report because we provided numbers
"don't underestimate the value of having a number when you're proposing something"
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
My thanks
There will over the next few weeks be time enough for summings up and such, but tonight, I just want to say thank you for the past six years. I've immensely enjoyed serving on the Worcester School Committee. I've learned an enormous amount; I've gotten to work with great people, and we have a better school system than we did six years ago.
Note, incidently, that the Mass Association of School Committees meets this week; the blogging will pick up there tomorrow.
I was asked tonight if I'd change anything about it: no, I wouldn't. At the end of the day, the final person I have to live with is me. My comments, my votes, my speeches, have all been what I truly think and know and have researched. As Vice-President Biden said earlier this year:
What always confuses me about some folks I’ve worked with is why in God’s name would you want the job if you couldn’t say what you believed? I’m not—there’s nothing noble about this, but ask yourselves the question: Would you want a job that, in fact, every day you had to get up and you had to modulate what you said and believed?Thank you, Worcester. It's been a great run, and I'm so very proud to have had this chance.
Note, incidently, that the Mass Association of School Committees meets this week; the blogging will pick up there tomorrow.
Go vote today, Worcester!
I love what I do.
I'd be honored to keep doing it.
The polls open at 7 am and are open all day til 8 pm. You can vote for up to six School Committee members. You can find my name at number 7.
Today, the world really is run by those who show up. Please do!
I'd be honored to keep doing it.
The polls open at 7 am and are open all day til 8 pm. You can vote for up to six School Committee members. You can find my name at number 7.
Today, the world really is run by those who show up. Please do!
Monday, November 2, 2015
Final Report of the Foundation Budget Review Commission
I've posted the full report here.
If you're looking for a summary, take this from the conclusion of the report:
And that's about where we ended up.
After reviewing Commission members, the charge, and the Mass General Law, the report reminds us first of the preliminary report, which covered only health insurance and special education. These are, of course, the biggest budget busters out there, as was clear from repeated testimony. Briefly, these recommendations:
If you're looking for a summary, take this from the conclusion of the report:
the good work begun by the education reform act of 1993, and the educational progress made since, will be at risk so long as our school systems are fiscally strained by the ongoing failure to substantively reconsider the adequacy of the foundation budget.When we last left the FRBC, they were hammering out what would and would not make the final report, parsing out what was a "recommendation" and what would be "recognized," still talking through levels of tying up new money, and putting forward some proposals around new data collection.
And that's about where we ended up.
After reviewing Commission members, the charge, and the Mass General Law, the report reminds us first of the preliminary report, which covered only health insurance and special education. These are, of course, the biggest budget busters out there, as was clear from repeated testimony. Briefly, these recommendations:
- adjust health insurance to be in line with average GIC rates
- add retired health insurance to the foundation budget
- calculate health insurance inflation separately
- change the assumed in-district sped cost (from an assumed 15% of students to an assumed 16% of students
- increase the out-of-district special ed cost rate to capture full cost before the circuit breaker is triggered.
As I believe I said already, the short reaction on this is...it's better, but it doesn't go far enough, particularly on special ed.
But on to the new material!
Given the changes and additions to what we know of English Language Learners, the recommendations are:
- to make ELL an increment (which gets added to the base rate per pupil)
- include it for vocational students (it isn't now)
- make it the same rate at all levels, choosing the middle school level (currently $2361); this is to make up for the previous assumption that older kids required fewer services (or less funding), which has been found not to be the case.
Does that cover it all? Possibly.
The low income category has the most urgency right now, as we are no longer counting free and reduced lunch students, due to the large number of districts using Community Eligibility, thus we have no way of calculating low income students, per chapter 70 of Mass General Law. The Legislature has to do something before FY17. This recommendation is does not spell out numbers or calculations, but cites the large number of programs (including Worcester's)--extended learning time, wraparound services, instructional improvement, class size reduction, early ed--that have been found to be successful with low income students, and laying out some parameters on costs. Watch this one.
Note further that this includes posting a plan of what the district will do with additional dollars, BUT includes district flexibility to best meet student needs.
(whew)
Part B is a whole section on data collection; in sum, there's a frustration that more and better information wasn't available to the Commission to inform their deliberations, and there's a charge to track, in particular, low income and ELL funding to be sure it reaches kids. Editorial? This is basically the charge that districts are somehow skimming these funds to...what? Heat buildings? Hire more teachers? Anyway...it recommends establishment of a committee to improve data reporting.
This is also where we get a recognition (not a recommendation) for early childhood. The data on the huge positive effects of early childhood education is overwhelming and clear, which the Commission recognized. No, no numbers attached.
Part C is "other" and it's where we come BACK to special education (hurray!), recognizing "the growing use of inclusion as the preferred pedagogical model in the Commonwealth" which is more expensive than earlier calcuations. This ALSO recognizes that having this appropriately recognized would mean money going to OTHER programs, as the funds currently diverted from them to special education could flow back.
This is also where inflation (also, hurray!) is recognized:
Echoing the "keen sense of urgency," Legislature, it's over to you. Don't let us down, as "the preservation of (our) rights and liberties" depends on it.
Note further that this includes posting a plan of what the district will do with additional dollars, BUT includes district flexibility to best meet student needs.
(whew)
Part B is a whole section on data collection; in sum, there's a frustration that more and better information wasn't available to the Commission to inform their deliberations, and there's a charge to track, in particular, low income and ELL funding to be sure it reaches kids. Editorial? This is basically the charge that districts are somehow skimming these funds to...what? Heat buildings? Hire more teachers? Anyway...it recommends establishment of a committee to improve data reporting.
This is also where we get a recognition (not a recommendation) for early childhood. The data on the huge positive effects of early childhood education is overwhelming and clear, which the Commission recognized. No, no numbers attached.
Part C is "other" and it's where we come BACK to special education (hurray!), recognizing "the growing use of inclusion as the preferred pedagogical model in the Commonwealth" which is more expensive than earlier calcuations. This ALSO recognizes that having this appropriately recognized would mean money going to OTHER programs, as the funds currently diverted from them to special education could flow back.
This is also where inflation (also, hurray!) is recognized:
- an adjustment for the missed quarter in 2010=$55 million statewide
- an adjustment for the statutory cap=$158 million statewide
The report notes that those numbers are not included in other calculations, so some would balance out (some).
If you're going to fully read any section, I would highly recommend Part D, which is the conclusion and, essentially, the charge to the Legislature. It reads, in part:
As the Commission’s work draws to a close,the legislature’s work begins. We submit this report to the legislature with full recognition of the continued fiscal challenges of the Commonwealth, and the many competing priorities, and worthwhile goals, that the legislature must balance in crafting the annual state budget. We recognize that recommendations of this scope and size will need to be phased in to be affordable. However, we also note again what was stated at the beginning of this document: that the good work begun by the education reform act of 1993, and the educational progress made since, will be at risk so long as our school systems are fiscally strained by the ongoing failure to substantively reconsider the adequacy of the foundation budget. We therefore urge that the legislature act on these recommendations with a profound sense of the risks and opportunities at stake for our shared prosperity as a state and, as our constitution acknowledges, the critical nature of education to the health of our democracy. We advise a keen sense of the urgency when it comes to addressing the identified funding gaps, and the moral imperative of reducing the remaining achievement gaps.(emphasis added)
Echoing the "keen sense of urgency," Legislature, it's over to you. Don't let us down, as "the preservation of (our) rights and liberties" depends on it.
Foundation Budget Review Commission report is coming out today...
...press conference is going on now...
Blog post on it coming up!
Bipartisan commission recommends significant improvements to how we fund #maedu. #mapoli #fbrc #allmeansall pic.twitter.com/I5tbj9OZ96
— Nathanael Shea (@NathanaelShea) November 2, 2015
Blog post on it coming up!
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