Fixing a Local Aid Glitch Discretionary Decisions in the Implementation of 2006 Education Aid Reforms

Pre-2006 2006 Reform Foundation Budget Less: Required Local Contribution based on historical growth model Less: Required Local Contribution based on Aggregate Wealth model Equals: Education Aid Equals: Education Aid (grandfathering and transition) Formula tweaked annually since 2002 Formula tweaked annually – bigger tweaks since 2010 February 28, 2012 Sen. Will Brownsberger

Required Local Contributions have converged, but there are still outliers. February 28, 2012 Sen. Will Brownsberger

Grandfathering both preserves and mitigates effects of old model. February 28, 2012 Sen. Will Brownsberger

An example of problematic results continuing in FY14. Waltham Wellesley Combined Effort Capacity as % Foundation Budget 103.0% 200.7% FY14 Aid as % of Foundation Budget 14.4% 16.3% Aid Increase – FY06 to FY13 27.8% 131.0% Note, other similar contrasts can be found – e.g., Belmont vs. Watertown. February 28, 2012 Sen. Will Brownsberger

We dropped Down Payment aid in the financial crunch. FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 Aid Categories F D G M F F M Down Payment % 20% 30% 33% n/a Effort Reduction % 25% 15% Low RLC Increase None 1-2% Floor Min. Increase PP $50 $25 Base Reduction +SF + Job $ - Job $ Cap on RLC % of FB 150% 100% FB Inflation 5.9% 4.7% 5.2% 3.0% -2.2% 1.8% 3.7% February 28, 2012 Sen. Will Brownsberger

FY 2014 partial solution Targets districts with aid below target who have a combined effort yield as a percentage of foundation budget of not more than 140 per cent. (This is reasonable, although complex – the wealthiest out-of-line communities don’t need help.) Awards percentage additional aid equal to “25 per cent of the difference between the district’s target aid amount and the sum of prior year aid and the district’s foundation aid increment;” (This helps all under target proportionally instead of addressing the most out of line.) December 5, 2013 Sen. Will Brownsberger