More than 1,000 municipal officials and union leaders signed a letter last year demanding action from Governor Healey and the Legislature to better support public schools. Despite this, the measures in the governor’s proposed budget don’t go far enough to address a fiscal crisis hammering cities and towns across the Commonwealth.
While boosting state funding for rural schools, transportation and special education is essential, the governor should be fighting with us for fully staffed and resourced schools, in part by raising revenue by properly taxing corporations that are avoiding paying their fair share.
We are glad the Student Opportunity Act that MTA members fought for is fully funded in its final year of implementation, and that revenue from the Fair Share Amendment continues to make public higher education affordable for more people. But as the federal government slashes spending on education and cities and towns struggle to balance budgets, the governor needs to be willing to tap the state’s rainy-day fund and use more of the available Fair Share funds to support public education. We join our other public sector unions in insisting the governor fully fund the Group Insurance Commission and avoid devasting hikes in health insurance copays and deductibles for working families devoted to the common good.
