Dear MASC Members & Friends,
The FY27 Budget Conference Committee recently released its final report, and just days later both the House and Senate approved the compromise budget without amendment. Governor Healey has now signed the FY27 Budget into law.
The Budget includes a significant long-term policy win: the creation of a new Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) on which MASC will have a seat. For years, MASC has advocated for a comprehensive review of the state’s K-12 school funding formula to address gaps that have emerged since the implementation of the Student Opportunity Act.
The final budget totals $63.42 billion and represents:
- A 3.9% increase over the FY26 General Appropriations Act.
- $54 million more than Governor Healey’s FY27 proposal.
- $50 million more than the Senate’s FY27 proposal.
- $500,000 more than the House’s FY27 proposal.
The summary below highlights the major education-related investments included in the FY27 budget, along with key updates from the accompanying supplemental budget that affect FY27 funding. For a more detailed breakdown of the supplemental budget bill, click here.
If you have any questions about the FY27 budget or other legislative matters, please don’t hesitate to reach out. As a reminder, the Legislature will be especially busy as the end of formal sessions approaches later this month, and MASC will continue to keep members informed of significant developments.
Best,
Anthony Andronico
Operations Director & Lobbyist
MASC
Chapter 70: $7.66B in K-12 public education aid, completing the final year of the Student Opportunity Act’s scheduled funding phase-in and representing a nearly 4% increase over FY26. The budget also increases minimum aid for school districts to $160 per student, an increase of $10 per student over FY26. Approximately 84% of Massachusetts school districts are projected to qualify as minimum aid districts in FY27.
Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA): Funded at $1.36B representing a $40M increase over FY26.
- Three-quarters of the increase ($30M) would be distributed to municipalities based on their proportional share of the statewide population, with no municipality receiving more than 4% of the $30M, while the remaining $10M of the increase would be distributed as it has been in past years. This policy shift was initially pitched by the Senate.
Circuit Breaker Reimbursement: $654.6M in non-surtax resources in the operating budget and $152M in surplus surtax resources in the supplemental budget, bringing total funding for the program in FY27 to $806.6M. This is up from $733M in FY26.
Charter School Reimbursement: Funded at $200.4M and is expected to fully fund the state’s statutory obligation to mitigate Chapter 70 losses to charter schools. This is up $1.4M over FY26.
Transportation: $153.8M total in transportation reimbursements (up roughly $13M total over FY26). Of that, the funding is broken down into the following buckets:
- $58.4 for School Transportation Reimbursements
- $57.2M for regional school transportation reimbursements
- $35.2M for homeless student transportation under McKinney-Vento
- $3M in a recent supplemental budget earmarked for use in FY27 exclusively for reimbursements for out-of-district vocational school transportation.
School Meals Reimbursement: $180M for universal free school meals (equal to FY26 totals)
Rural School Aid: Funded at $20M for FY27 ($16M in the FY27 Budget and $4M in the Supplemental budget earmarked for FY27). This represents an additional $4M over last year. Rural school aid provides targeted funding to low-density, lower-income school districts (prioritized by student density) to support small and geographically dispersed communities, while requiring planning for regional collaboration and efficiency. The 2022 Special Commission on Rural Schools recognized a need for $60M annually.
Universal Pre-K Initiative: $15.5M for universal access to high-quality pre-K through the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI). CPPI provides competitive grants to districts and collaboratives to plan and expand access to high-quality, voluntary preschool – prioritizing communities with higher needs and supporting both program growth and implementation. This is $5M less than FY26 totals.
METCO: Funded at $30.9M for the METCO program which permits students from Boston to attend public schools in other communities that have agreed to participate. This represents an increase of $1M over FY26.
ESOL Reserve: Funded at $4M, this line-item provides funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages. This is a net new initiative and was originally proposed by the House at $10M.
Early Literacy & High-Dosage Tutoring: Funded at a collective $40M (split evenly between the two line-items). The $40M investment represents level funding year over year and is part of the supplemental budget. The funding was similar in FY26 although the allocation has been adjusted to be an even split in FY27.
Cell Phone-Free Public Schools Grant Program: Funded at $1M through the supplemental budget, matching the Senate supplemental budget proposal. This is a net new initiative.
School District Regionalization and Shared Services Grant Program: Funded at $16.5M. The Senate proposed $25M, while neither the Governor nor the House funded the program. This is a net new initiative.
Outside Sections:
- Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) -The budget establishes a new 29-member FBRC to review the state’s K-12 school funding formula and make recommendations for future improvements. The last commission was convened in FY2015. DESE will provide staff support for the Commission, and MASC will have an appointment to the body. While the Senate’s proposal included an appointment for the Massachusetts Teachers Association, that provision was not included in the final budget. The Commission is required to hold at least four public hearings across the Commonwealth and may also review other education finance programs. Any recommendations that would increase state costs must identify the resources needed to support those changes. The Commission’s final report is due in October 2028.
- Special Education Transportation (Sections 66-68, 110, 133) – Collectively, these sections require school districts to provide detailed cost information related to out-of district special education transportation contracts, require DESE to create a centralized database for all out-of-district transportation providers, and study the special education transportation marketplace further.