As a school committee member in a Gateway City, I have two reactions to the disappointment that’s been expressed over recent MCAS results (“Big hike in funds, modest returns: State boosted aid to needy schools but gaps persist,” Page A1, Sept. 29).
First, Massachusetts public schools are not yet seeing the full effect of the 2019 Student Opportunity Act as designed. This is the first year schools have reached the final targeted funding, and the effects of added funding are still working their way through low-income districts.
Moreover, under current law, school districts will never see the level of “foundation budgets” and state aid intended when the act was passed. That’s because annual inflation adjustments are capped at 4.5 percent. To date this cap has cumulatively reduced foundation budgets — which establish a minimum foundational level of funding for each school district — by 6 percent. School purchasing power will further erode this year and every year when inflation, as measured for the state’s Foundation Inflation Index, exceeds 4.5 percent.
Second, changes are needed in the way the state implements its tiered system for matching educational resources with individual student needs. We will never get the majority of our students meeting expectations on MCAS if we focus too narrowly on the smallest tiers with the highest-need students. Improving district-level MCAS results requires effectively engaging mainstream students.
All of our students can receive the level of education Massachusetts defines as “foundational” if we stay the course on reforms that work, such as early literacy instruction; focus on instructional strategies that engage every student; and remove the cap and restore funding levels to fully reflect recent and future inflation.
Thomas Grannemann
Vice chair
Haverhill School Committee
The views expressed here are the writer’s own.