The issues of the budgeting process and allocation of funds to K-12 public schools in the state of Massachusetts are based on a 25-year old formula created by the 1993 Foundation Budget that has contributed to inequities in the educational experiences of a generation of youth in the state, with the quality of education for working-class and low-income students falling in decline in the 25 years following the 1993-1994 school year. These issues can be summed up into four major categories:
1. The Massachusetts state government currently underestimates the amount of funding that schools need for the 16% of students that require special education programs by 59%.
2. Health insurance & costs for teachers and school staff are not well accounted for by the state, especially in the wake of rising premiums & stagnated wages.
3. School districts with neighborhoods that have relatively high amounts of low-income families have been underfunded by $1 billion to $2 billion annually since 1993.
4. The state government currently uses ineffective data collection methods to adequately measure, understand, & address the needs of school districts with high amounts of low-income & ESL students.


Massachusetts State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz has proposed the bill S.238, the PROMISE Act, as a comprehensive solution to the inequities that have arisen and persisted within the Massachusetts public education system over the past 25 years. The methods through which this piece of legislation would address the aforementioned problems if passed is described in four main points provided below:
1. Establish a Data Advisory Force that annually researches the issues faced by and needs of low-income & ESL student populations in an effort to more effectively inform policy.
2. Increase the base funding of school districts with low-income & ELL populations by 50 to 100 percent, depending on each district’s wealth and specific demographics.
3. Attach estimates of employee health care costs to the actual average costs that have been determined by the Group Insurance Commission – the agency that handles the health insurance of teachers and other school staff.
4. Increase the assumed enrollment of special education courses from 3.75% to 4% to more adequately serve the 16% of students that require special education programs.

Here are some additional articles that not only provide more information about the PROMISE Act but also go more in-depth on the context that led to the development of this bill:
- Article Reporting of the Bill & the Conditions That Led to the Creation of This Bill: https://www.boston.com/news/education/2019/01/09/massachusetts-education-bill-promise-act
- Reports, Findings, and Recommendations Made By the Foundation Budget Review Commission in 2015 on Which the PROMISE Act's Proposals are Based: http://maaps.informz.net/MAAPS/data/images/Foundation%20Budget%20Review%20Commission%20Final%20Report%20(October%2030%202015).pdf
- The Official Text of the Bill and the Status of the Bill in the State House: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/SD101

I started this petition because...
I am deeply passionate about the health, well-being, and access to opportunities to fully participate in our nation's expanding economy for our youth. There are numerous studies that report on the relationship between educational attainment and future life outcomes – including lifespan, wealth, employment, and long-term health – that display how obtaining a high-quality educational experience from childhood tends to yield future success and security for an individual and their potential offspring. However, for families that are classified as low-income and reside in areas that have seen an overall decline in the funding of public services such as education over the past quarter-century, the quality of education that their children receive could mean the difference between a higher chance of upward social mobility and achieving at least middle-class status, or remaining in a cycle of poverty that breeds increased difficulties for future generations of the family to escape from. The proverbial argument that "People could move away from these communities," is a difficult solution for these families to achieve due to the fact that most of them do not possess the capital to move elsewhere and may end up breeding more instability and financial burden for them as they attempt to adjust to their new homes.

In order to ensure that our nation can benefit from the long-term benefits of having an innovative, versatile, and self-sufficient populace, we must make the upfront investments in our nation's youth by making sure that they all have access to a high-quality education. This bill aims to provide for the necessary reallocation of funds from some parts of the Massachusetts state budget to portions of the state's education budget that have been underfunded over the past 25 years. The PROMISE Act proposes that this will be accomplished by actively researching the conditions in which students across the state are being schooled and taking into consideration the overarching context as to why certain districts may have more stability than others. Once that is accomplished, the state will use the funds that it already has, strategically redirect funding to these struggling portions of the Massachusetts K-12 public education system, and adequately provide the necessary resources to districts based on the findings of the newly formed task force's research. In order to get to this point, a bill as comprehensive as the PROMISE Act needs to be passed by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Education and signed by Governor Charlie Baker. Please sign this petition to express your support of this bill to let Governor Baker and the Joint Committee know that their constituents want to see a bill with as much potential and wide-reaching proposals as the PROMISE Act become law. Regardless of whether you sign this or not, thank you for taking the time to read this!