Dear MASC Members & Friends,
The Senate Ways & Means (SWM) Committee has released its $63.29B budget proposal. This represents a $2.25B (3.7%) increase over the FY26 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and is $66.3M (0.1%) below Governor Healey’s proposal. There are several key differences between the SWM budget, the House budget (finalized last week), and the Governor’s proposal 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.
We will continue to closely monitor budget activity and any adjustments throughout the fiscal year. We will share updates and key action items 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 SWM budget fully funds the sixth year of Student Opportunity Act (SOA) implementation and increases minimum aid to $160 per pupil (even with the House budget and 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 SWM budget relies on $1.14B in trust fund and surtax revenues to support the costs of Chapter 70 aid in FY 2027, including $568.1 million from the SOA Implementation Fund. The SOA Implementation Fund was created in FY 2022 and over the last four fiscal years has been capitalized with surplus budget resources and surtax revenues. The Governor, House, and Senate have each proposed using the remaining resources in the fund to support education costs in FY 2027, aligning the depletion of the fund with the completion of the SOA funding schedule.
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): Funds UGGA at $1.376B, a $53M (4%) increase over FY 2026. This increase is $20M more than the Governor’s budget and $43 million more than the House budget.
The Senate also included new line-item language stating that the $53M increase shall be distributed to municipalities based on each city or town’s proportional share of the statewide population. This is a departure from the historic formula for UGGA, which typically provides all municipalities with the same percent increase to their local aid amount. For example, if the total appropriation increases by three percent, each community sees a three percent increase in their UGGA allotment.
Circuit Breaker Reimbursement: Funded at $852.7M between the SWM proposal and the supplemental bill. This funding level is intended to fully fund the state’s reimbursement requirements for instructional and transportation costs. This number is nearly $50M more than the House budget and represents a more than 25% increase YoY.
Charter School Reimbursement: SWM stayed level with the House budget and Governor’s budget at $200.4M and is expected to fully fund the state’s statutory obligation to mitigate Chapter 70 losses to charter schools. SWM also included an increase to the per-pupil facilities aid component of the reimbursement formula to $1,288 (this was also in the Governor’s and House budget).
Transportation: $150.7M total in transportation reimbursements. Of that, the funding is broken down into the following buckets:
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$114.7M for regional school transportation reimbursements (Governor $112.3M, House $119.1M)
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$1.4M for Non-Resident Vocational School Transportation. The Governor fully funded this at $6.8M and the House did not fund this)
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$35.2M for homeless student transportation under McKinney-Vento (up from $28.6M last year and level with the Governor and House budget)
School Meals Reimbursement: $180M for universal free school meals, down $18M from the Governor’s budget and House budget, and level funded with last year.
Rural School Aid: $24M total potentially available for FY27. The SWM FY27 budget funds Rural School Aid at $16M. In addition, the Senate Supplemental Budget includes two additional funding buckets: $4M specifically designated for FY27 and another $4M that may be expended in either FY26 or FY27. Given the anticipated timing of the supplemental budget’s passage, it is likely that the flexible $4M allocation will ultimately be expended in FY27 rather than FY26. However, for accounting purposes, the Legislature will count that $4M as part of the FY26 GAA, which would bring total FY26 Rural School Aid funding to $16M — consistent with the amount funded in the FY25 GAA. This would also mean that the minimum SWM FY27 specific funding for Rural School aid is $20M.
Early Literacy Tutoring: The Senate Supplementary budget funds Early Literacy Tutoring at $15M. The House did not include any funding for this, while the Governor proposed $25M. This would be 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: $28.5M 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. The House funded this at $5M and the Governor at $37M (FY26 was $20.5M). 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: SWM included two education-related outside sections:
Foundation Budget Review Commission (Sections 27 & 38) – The SWM budget proposes a new Foundation Budget Review Commission to review and make recommendations on the state’s K-12 school funding formula. The last FBRC was convened in FY 2015. The section defines the 29-person membership of the Commission and requires DESE to provide staff necessary for the Commission’s work. Under the section, the Commission is required to hold at least four hearings around the state. The FBRC is empowered to review other education finance programs as well and is required to identify and recommend resources necessary to support recommendations that would increase costs to the state. The Commission’s report is due in October of 2028.
School Building Authority Commission (Section 39) – The SWM budget proposes a commission to look at the state’s School Building Authority program. The 21-member commission is directed to examine school facility needs in the Commonwealth as well as the current financing model used by the SBA. The commission’s recommendations are due in June of 2027.
Additional Items of Note:
SWM Net New Funding Proposals (in the Supplemental)
- Proposed $25M for School District Regionalization and Shared Services Grant Program
- Proposed a $1M Cell Phone-Free Public Schools Grant Program
SWM Increased Funding over either House or Governor’s Budget
- Funded High Dosage Tutoring at $25M (Governor funded at $25M; House did not fund)
- Funded Career Technical Partnership Grants at $7.7M (Governor and House each funded at $4.7M)
- Funded Mental Health Supports and Wraparounds at $4.5M (Governor funded at $6M; House did not fund)
- Funded Social Emotional Learning Grants at $3.5M (Governor funded at $3M; House did not fund)
- Funded the Genocide Education Trust fund at $3M (Governor funded at $3M; House funded at $500K)
- Funded Hate Crimes line item at $1M (Governor funded at $1M; House funded at $425K)
SWM Did not fund these items that were found in either the House or Governor’s Budget
- Did not fund Green School Works (Governor did not fund; House funded at $25M)
- Declined to fund DESE Targeted Assistance for School Districts (A new proposal from the Governor at $10M; the House also declined to fund this)
- Did not fund Chapter 70 ELL Reduction Offset (This was a new proposal from the House at $10M)
- Did not fund Civics Education Grants (Governor also did not fund; House funded at $2M)
SWM funded these items at either the same level or below the House or Governor’s Budget
- Funded METCO at $29.9M (Governor funded at $29.9M; House funded at $35M)
- Funded ELL Programs at $5.2M (Governor funded at t$5.2M; House funded at $5.7M)