Learn what federal relief though the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Relief Fund, and other recently passed legislation means for the Commonwealth during the public health crisis.
Read the full testimony from our President, Marie-Frances Rivera, for the Massachusetts Legislature’s April Virtual Economic Roundtable, originally scheduled for April 7, 2020.
With statewide school closures, we must ensure that children are safe, fed, and do not fall behind. Learn how COVID-19 is impacting the Student Opportunity Act, and what can be done to ensure that all schools have enough resources to fully support each and every child when they reopen their doors.
We Must Provide Robust Economic Relief and Recovery for Vulnerable Populations and Children in Massachusetts Policy is the lever that we can pull to bring collective well-being and economic security to the Commonwealth. We are in an unprecedented moment, one which is bringing our interconnectedness into stark focus. A moment in which our public goods are being put to …
How Should Mass. Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis? Read More »
As part of implementing the Commonwealth’s new school funding law, the Student Opportunity Act (SOA), the Governor proposed increasing Chapter 70 aid by $303.5 million over current levels in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget. In this first year, the Governor delivers on one-seventh (14 percent) of the SOA reforms in most areas—special education, health care for educators, social-emotional support, and increments for English Language Learners—keeping those reforms on track for full implementation in seven years. However, not all of the SOA reforms are consistently or equitably phased in by the Governor’s proposal despite this goal being outlined in the law. One critical area that is not on track—increased support for students from low-income families through Low-Income Rates.
Without sufficient funding, communities across the Commonwealth face challenges in helping all students, particularly those most in need of additional support, gain access to affordable, quality after-school opportunities. This report aims to provide tailored guidance to one community, Salem, Massachusetts, on how to provide services to more youth. This includes evaluating its current after-school landscape, compiling data from local providers, applying lessons learned from after-school efforts across the country, and providing recommendations on how Salem can expand access to quality after-school.
Now that the state has revamped its education funding formula, how will lawmakers fund these changes in this first year of implementation?
Accurately counting low-income and English Language Learner students, who are more likely to require a diverse array of academic and social resources to succeed in school, is important to ensure that school districts receive the funding necessary to support all of their students. Communities with large numbers of immigrants are often disproportionately affected by the challenges of obtaining an accurate count of low-income students.