"Massachusetts will invest an additional $1.5 billion in K-12 public education over the next seven years after Gov. Charlie Baker signed a funding reform bill, touted by supporters as a generational change, into law Tuesday.
The legislation directs the bulk of new funding toward districts weighed down by cost drivers, aiming to close opportunity gaps that for years have led to disparate educational outcomes across the state.
“We want all of our children to have the same opportunities to achieve,” Senate President Karen Spilka said in an interview later Tuesday during a visit to the Daily News, noting a “persistent” achievement gap in many school districts. “The talent is the same across the state. The opportunities, unfortunately, have not been the same.”
The law comes four years after a commission warned that Massachusetts was underestimating the actual cost of education by $1 billion annually and more than a year after the last attempt to update the system fell short. Now the focus shifts to a different challenge: following through on the commitment to ramp up funding for schools starting next year."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191126/baker-signs-15b-ed-funding-bill
Recent posting on Student Opportunity Act
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/massachusetts-legislature-votes-to.html
Governor Baker's press release can be found
https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-baker-signs-education-funding-bill-providing-investments-in-public-schools-across-the
The text of the legislation S 2412 can be found
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S2412
