House
Ways and Means Recommends Additional Chapter 70 Monies
On April 13, 2005 The House Ways and Means Committee released its
version of the state budget for F. Y. 06. Amendments to the budget
are due on April 15 by 5 P.M., and debate on the budget is scheduled
to begin on April 25 and is expected to last, at least, through the
week.
The House Ways and Means Budget followed the Governor’s Budget
in recommending an increase of $77 million in Chapter 70 funding.
It is anticipated that the proposed increase in Chapter 70 will meet
the foundation budget obligation of the Commonwealth, and also ensure
that no school district receives less than it received in F.Y. 05.
H. 4000 also proposed an increase of $2 million for kindergarten grants,
including $1 million to expand the number of full day classrooms.
House Ways and Means provides $1.1 million to establish a certificate
of occupational proficiency for vocational school programs, as was
recommended in the Governor’s Budget. H. 4000 increased by $1.5
million the funding for Adult Basic Education programs over the F.Y.
05 appropriation; however, the Governor had proposed an $8 million
increase to this line item. H. 4000 also provides an increase of $1
million for school intervention and targeted assistance, an increase
of $250,000 for classroom behavior and alternative education grants,
and an increase of $150,000 for gifted and talented programs.
School Building Authority
One of the major successes of the prior legislative session was the
establishment of a School Building Authority with revenue to reduce
the backlog of over 400 projects, which are awaiting funding. Last
year the legislature provided a bond authorization and other monies
to establish the Authority. MASC was pleased with the appointment
of the new Executive Director of the Authority Katherine Craven, who
had previously served as the Counsel to the House Ways and Means and
the Speaker of the House. In order to facilitate the clearing of the
project backlog the House Ways and Means Budget proposed transferring
an additional $93 million, which will help the Authority to meet its
stated goal of providing funding to all projects on the approved list
within three and a half years. |
Special
Education Circuit Breaker
Current law requires that the cost for special education instruction
shall be reimbursed at 75% of all the approved costs that exceed 4
times the state average per pupil foundation budget. Reimbursements
for eligible costs for certain special education placements rose from
approximately 35% in fiscal year 2004 to approximately 70% in the
current fiscal year. This account and its predecessor, the so called
50%/50% account, have traditionally run deficits during the year that
require a supplemental appropriation. The Governor had proposed level
funding the circuit breaker line item at $201.6 million, and House
Ways and Means has also proposed level funding of that account. MASC
will work towards fully funding this account during the F.Y. 06 budgetary
process. |
Charter
School Reimbursements
The House Ways and Means Budget reimburses sending school districts
for charter school tuition in the amount of $50 million pursuant to
chapter 71, § 89. For F.Y. 05 this line item was funded at $37.7
million. The Governor had proposed the same funding as H. 4000, but
had made $12.4 million contingent upon the removal of the charter
school tuition cap for school districts that place in the lowest 10%
of all districts statewide for two consecutive years, a contingency
that was eliminated by the House.
The House Budget also includes $14.7 million to ensure that no charter
school receives less funding in tuition payments in F.Y. 2006 than
it received in F.Y. 2005. |
MCAS
Remediation and Test Expansion
In the F.Y. 05 budget MCAS Remediation Grants were funded at about
$15 million. House 1 had proposed increasing the funding to $20 million.
The House Ways and Means Budget recommends a reduction in this account
to $10 million.
Funding for student and school assessments including the administration
of MCAS has been increased from the $20 million recommended by the
Governor to $23.3 million contained in House 4000. The increase in
this account appears, in part, to allow for grants to districts to
develop portfolio assessments for certain special education students. |
Regional
School Transportation and Out of District Vocational Transportation
Regional School Transportation has been level funded by House Ways
and Means at the F.Y. 05 level of $38 million, which is below the
statutorily required level of funding. It is anticipated that amendments
will be offered to the budget to increase this line item.
The statute governing out of district vocational transportation was
amended twice during F.Y. 05. Currently the statute (G. L. c. 74 §
8A) allows, subject to appropriation, for reimbursement to the full
extent of the amount expanded for out of district transportation.
House Ways and Means funded this account at $1.6 million. |
Pothole
Money
The so called Pothole account was funded in F.Y. 05 in the amount
of $16.8 million. This account provides funding for school districts
that experience extraordinary increases in enrollment and significant
prior reductions in chapter 70, among other criteria. Neither the
Governor’s Budget nor the House Ways and Means Budget has recommended
funding for this account.
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