Opinion: It's time to change school funding, through the Legislature

Last week’s MCAS results dramatically underscore what thousands of parents, teachers, administrators and students have known for years: Massachusetts has the very best public schools in the country – but the quality of education and the value of a high school diploma vary widely depending the zip code in which one resides.

In Fall River, the MCAS results determined that 67 percent of third graders are not meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA. This is a brutal truth that Fall River Public Schools is confronting, and our educators are currently giving all that they have - working strategically and skillfully - to close these pervasive achievement gaps.

In district after district across the state, especially in our Gateway Cities, the lowest achievement scores primarily occur where there are the highest percentage of low income students, and the lowest per-pupil spending. Dollars alone don’t make great schools. But the Commonwealth's failure to adequately fund the true cost of education in places such as Fall River, Brockton, Worcester and New Bedford dramatically limits our ability to close achievement gaps for students of color, second language learners, those with disabilities, and those impacted by poverty. The state's foundation budget (known as Chapter 70) exists to create a sense of equity across the Commonwealth. However, the communities funded at or below 100 percent - those being asked to do more with less - struggle to provide the key components of a strong education as compared to the wealthier communities in Massachusetts who have the ability and means to fund their schools at a much higher percentage.

There is an extra burden placed on Gateway City schools. The inability to match the spending of high-income communities is compounded by the fact that they must also manage the cost for far more expensive hurdles within the schools themselves. Schools in low-income communities have more English language learners, and more students with special needs, and confront an increased incidence of homelessness more often – yet they have fewer guidance counselors, tutors, and psychologists working alongside with lower-paid teachers, in older facilities with larger class sizes. It is simply wrong that under the outdated funding formula, Brockton, for instance, can only spend $14,000 per student – about $8,000 to $10,000 less than wealthier communities that simply do not have the same challenges. With the release of the state's new accountability ratings one can easily see how achievement results are correlated with the relative wealth of the local community and its ability to fund its public schools.

What is needed is a dramatic re-boot of the education funding formula approved 25 years ago during Education Reform. That reform took direct aim at inequities in the way we fund schools, and it used the state’s Foundation Budget to make up for the terrible unfairness of primarily funding schools with property taxes. It isn’t fair, and it shouldn't be legal. The state’s constitution makes it very clear that a quality public education must be available to all. That’s one reason why a number of urban school districts are considering legal action – just as Brockton did to spur education reform 25 years ago. Right now, leveling this unfair playing field should be the number one education priority in the state, and that urgency needs to be felt at the Statehouse. Stand for Children Massachusetts is currently working to organize parents in more than 100 school districts across the Commonwealth to help drive change that benefits their children’s schools and their education. Addressing the achievement gap and helping low-income districts may be the single most pressing equity issue facing the Commonwealth. This is the civil rights issue of our generation.

This past spring, there was significant momentum in both the House and Senate to attack the problem by dramatically increasing the state’s Foundation Budget for schools – Chapter 70. The good news is that both branches saw this as a priority but ran out of time to find compromises on their bills. Now is the time for all of us to start working in collaboration, to let legislators know in every corner of Massachusetts that this needs to be the number one priority of the new legislative session. Working together – each of us – teachers, principals, superintendents, parents, school committees, advocates, and policy makers – will be essential in making the argument for increased funding heard on Beacon Hill. We acknowledge that we are not afraid of greater accountability for additional resources and we welcome the opportunity to work with legislators to identify, target, and direct said new resources to address gaps in our schools with proven research-based practices that will accelerate student achievement.

There is no better option: Lawsuits take years. Ballot questions are expensive, uncertain, and still require legislative approval. The best path is through the Legislature – just as it was 25 years ago under a progressive Republican governor and with committed Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Our Commonwealth's greatest resource is its young people, the current and future drivers of our brain economy. Investing in our public schools is not only sound economic policy but it is also our moral obligation under the law, our duty to "cherish public schools" (McDuffy v. Secretary of Educ., 1993)

The future of Fall River, Brockton and many other Massachusetts cities is at stake. Our gateway communities cannot continue to succeed if they don’t have the workforce with the skills needed to grow the economy where it matters – in tech, green energy, higher education, biotech and healthcare. We can address these challenges and help our most vulnerable students by investing in more equitable school funding now.

Ranjini Govender, of Sherborn, a former teacher and education law attorney, is the executive director of Stand for Children Massachusetts, a nonprofit advocacy group pushing for a quality public education as a basic human right. Matthew Malone, of Roslindale, is an urban educator having served as teacher, principal, area superintendent and superintendent in cities such as Boston, San Diego and Brockton, and is the superintendent of Fall River Public Schools.