Public Policy Updates: April 2021 Board of Ed

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education had its regular April meeting on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 1 pm. The agenda is here; the livestream is here. The livestream is here. 

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Day on the Hill

Day on the Hill is MASC's annual legislative advocacy day. Typically, this event brings hundreds of school committee members, superintendents and student leaders to the State House in Boston to meet with the executive and legislative leadership as well as local senators and representatives. This event is an increasingly critical moment for MASC members to advance the message of the value of public education and ensure that legislators and other key decision/policy makers understand the issues and challenges that you confront and that they can support.

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Legislative Bulletin - 2022 House Ways & Means Budget Proposal

On April 14, 2021, the Massachusetts House Ways & Means Committee released its FY2022 Budget recommendations. Among the recommendations from the House Ways and Means Committee is a significant increase in Chapter 70 funding, as well as funding for the Special Education Circuit Breaker and Regional Transportation. MASC General Counsel Stephen Finnegan has released an overview and brief analysis of the proposal as it relates to public schools in a new Legislative Bulletin.

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2021 MASC Legislative Priorities

As noted by MASC President Ellen Holmes in her testimony earlier this month before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, MASC this year will advocate for: 

Full funding for the Student Opportunity Act. Federal COVID stimulus funding has made it possible for the legislature to fulfill its commitment to Chapter 70 and incremental adjustments to charter school mitigation, regional transportation funding, and special education transportation. We urge the legislature to oversee that commitment and to advocate for additional funds as the federal government may provide to cover the extraordinary costs of services to children during the pandemic.

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MASC President to Testify at Ways and Means Committee on MASC Legislative Priorities

MASC President Ellen Holmes will be addressing the Joint Legislative Committee on Ways and Means with MASC’s fiscal and legislative priorities. Her testimony, along with a list of some of our legislative priorities to date, is available below. We will be providing more information and adding legislative goals as the session moves along since there are many bills related to education that are still being studied.

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DESE Guidance on In-Person Learning Requirements

DESE Commissioner Riley has shared updated guidance from DESE on In-Person Learning and Student Learning Time Requirements. The updates are available for download using the following links:

• Guidance on In-Person Learning and Student Learning Time Requirements
• DESE On The Desktop Message on New Guidance