The Healey-Driscoll Administration released their $62.8B proposal for the FY27 Budget, which includes several key investments in public education across the Commonwealth. The information below highlights major education-related funding items, including updates from the accompanying supplemental budget that impact FY27 allocations.
As always, 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 House budget in April and the Senate budget in May, and continue to keep members informed as the budget process moves forward. We’re also looking ahead to our annual Advocacy Day (Day on the Hill) on Monday, March 30 — we hope you’ll register and join us. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Chapter 70: Increases Chapter 70 education aid by $241.8M (3.3%), to $7.6B total, meeting the final year of the funding schedule established in the 2019 Student Opportunity Act. The budget proposes a $75 per pupil minimum aid increase this year – this is down from the historic high of $150 per pupil aid in FY26 but is ticked up significantly from the baseline in years past ($30 per pupil in FY25). The foundation budget calculation is based on a 2.67% inflation rate for all categories except benefits, which is increased by 8.29%.
Surtax Money Allocation: $2.7B of the money from the “Fair Share” revenue is embedded directly into the FY27 budget proposal. An additional $1.15B was filed as a companion supplemental budget bill which includes allocations for FY27.
- K-12 Spending from the Surtax Embedded in FY27 Budget:
- Student Opportunity Act (Ch. 70) $550.6M
- Universal Free School Meals $198M
- Literacy Launch $25M
- Reimagining High School $11.2M
- Mental Health Systems and Wraparounds $6M
- K-12 Spending from the Surtax in Supplemental Budget:
- Special Education Circuit Breaker Reserve $150M
- High Dosage Tutoring $25M
- K-12 Accelerating Achievement $10M
- Adult Basic Ed/ESOL $5M
There appears to be a growing 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 $33M, a 2.5% increase over FY2026. This brings the total UGGA investment to $1.356B.
Circuit Breaker Reimbursement: Funded at $652.6M in the FY27 budget, while the supplemental bill makes an additional $150M available via a reserve fund for the same purpose. Overall, the $802.7M investment represents a 19% increase YoY.
Charter School Reimbursement: Funded $200.4M and is expected to fully fund the state’s statutory obligation to mitigate Chapter 70 losses to charter schools.
Transportation: $154.4M total in transportation reimbursements. Of that, the funding is broken down into the following buckets:
- $112.3M for regional school transportation reimbursements
- $6.8M for non-resident vocation transportation reimbursements (would be fully funded according to current estimates)
- $35.2M for homeless student transportation under McKinney-Vento (up from $28.6M last year)
School Meals Reimbursement: $198M for universal free school meals, up $18M from last year.
Rural School Aid: $20M, up $8M YoY, for the grant program that helps districts facing the challenge of declining enrollment to identify ways to form regional school districts or regionalize certain school services to create efficiencies. The 2022 Special Commission on Rural Schools recognized a need for $60M annually.
Early Literacy Tutoring: $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: $36.95M for universal access to high-quality pre-K through the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) to meet Governor Healey’s goal of delivering universal, high-quality preschool funding for four-year-olds in all Gateway Cities by the end of 2026