The House Ways & Means (HWM) Committee has released its $63.33B budget proposal. This represents a $2.3B (3.7%) increase over the FY26 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and is $29M (0.05%) below Governor Healey’s proposal. There are several key differences between the HWM budget and the Governor’s budget when it comes to public education. The summary below highlights major education-related investments, including updates from the accompanying supplemental budget that impact FY27 allocations.
As always, there are opportunities to build upon this proposal. MASC is encouraging members to contact their representatives to support targeted amendments to the House budget. These amendments address priorities including Chapter 70 funding, transportation, special education, rural school aid, and more. Please visit our website to review the amendments we are supporting and to access a template call-to-action email.
We will continue to closely monitor budget activity and any adjustments throughout the fiscal year. We will share updates and key action items ahead of the Senate budget in May and keep members informed as the process moves forward. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Best,
Anthony Andronico
Operations Director & Lobbyist
MASC
Chapter 70: The HWM budget fully funds the sixth year of Student Opportunity Act (SOA) implementation and increases minimum aid to $160 per pupil (up from the Governor’s $75 proposal). In total, Chapter 70 aid funding reaches $7.66B; which represents a $296.5M (4%) increase over the FY 2026 GAA and a $54.8M increase over the Governor’s proposal.
The HWM budget utilizes $603M in surtax revenue to support the costs of Chapter 70 aid in FY 2027, including $551M for the continued implementation of the SOA and an additional $52.5M to support the incremental increase to minimum aid.
This budget continues the trend on Beacon Hill that the funding from the surtax – initially pitched as a mechanism to make investments in education and transportation above and beyond what the state already invests – is becoming an integral part of the state’s operating budget.
Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA): Increases Unrestricted General Government Aid by $10M, a .76% increase over FY2026. This brings the total UGGA investment to $1.333B. The Governor’s proposed budget increased this line item by $33M.
Circuit Breaker Reimbursement: Funded at $805.4M between the HWM budget and the supplemental bill. This proposal is slightly above the Governor’s proposal, is anticipated to fully fund this requirement, and represents a 20% increase YoY.
Charter School Reimbursement: HWM kept the Governor’s recommendation of $200.4M and is expected to fully fund the state’s statutory obligation to mitigate Chapter 70 losses to charter schools.
Transportation: $154.3M total in transportation reimbursements. Of that, the funding is broken down into the following buckets:
- $119.1M for regional school transportation reimbursements; Estimated 92% of reimbursement for school districts. (Governor proposed 112.3M)
- The HWM budget does not include funding for Non-Resident Vocational School Transportation, fully funded by the administration at $6.8 million
- $35.2M for homeless student transportation under McKinney-Vento (up from $28.6M last year and level with the Governor’s Budget)
School Meals Reimbursement: $198M for universal free school meals, up $18M from last year. This is level with the Governor’s budget.
Rural School Aid: $12M which would be level funded YoY. This proposal (split between HWM budget and their supplemental) is an $8M decrease over the Governor’s proposal. 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.
Chapter 70 ELL Reduction Offset: HWM created a net new line-item of $10M for a reserve to offset reductions in state aid distributed to cities and towns under chapters 70 of the General Laws due to unexpected reductions in English language learners
Early Literacy Tutoring: The HWM budget does not fund Early Literacy Tutoring. The Governor proposed $25M for the second year of a high-dosage early literacy tutoring initiative. The program supports public schools and districts in partnering with approved providers to address pandemic-related learning loss and accelerate literacy growth for students in grades K–3.
Universal Pre-K Initiative:$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 $5M figure is a decrease of $15.5M compared to the FY 2026 GAA and $32M less than the total funding proposed by the Governor. The Governor has stated her goal of delivering universal, high-quality preschool funding for four-year-olds in all Gateway Cities by the end of 2026.
Outside Sections: The House’s outside sections focus in part on reforms to special education transportation. These provisions draw from recommendations made in a recent report by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General, which examined cost drivers and opportunities for improved oversight.
Special Education Transportation Database (Sections 31 – 33): The HWM budget requires providers of special education transportation services to submit detailed cost component information to districts bidding for those services. Districts would also be required to submit that information to DESE. The department would use that, and other information, to create a database of documents related to transportation procurements and contracts. DESE would also be required to provide an annual set of transportation procurement best practices for districts to follow to manage costs and improve service.
Special Education Transportation Study (Section 51): This section requires DESE, along with other relevant state agencies, to study and make recommendation for improving competition among bidders for special education transportation services. The study will examine pricing information, models in other states and the feasibility of setting rates for services. The study is due to the legislature by July 1, 2027.
Special Education Transportation Model Procurement & Modeling (Section 73): HWM requires DESE and the Operational Services Division to create model procurement templates and contracting models for SPED transportation. Districts would be able to use these resources to procure SPED transportation services goingforward. The Inspector General made this recommendation in a recent report.
Additional Items of Note:
HWM funded the following that were not included in the Governor’s budget:
- Green School Works at $25M
- Civics Education Grants at $2.05M
- Advanced Placement Math and Science Programs at $2.25M
HWM adjusted the following items that were in the Governor’s budget:
- Funds the METCO program at $35M (up from Governor’s $29.9M)
- Increases ELL Programs at $5.7M (up from Governor’s $5.26M)
- Funds Hate Crimes prevention programs at $400K (down from Governor’s $1M)
HWM did not fund the following items that were included in the Governor’s budget:
- Genocide Education Trust Fund (Governor funded at $3M)
- Mental Health Supports and Wraparounds (Governor funded at $6M)
- Social Emotional Learning Grants (Governor funded at $2.9M)