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

2. 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

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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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