State Sen. Jo Comerford is telling residents across Western Massachusetts that if they want the state's school funding formula fixed, they need to show up and say so. Speaking at a legislative update to the Northampton City Council, Comerford addressed what she described as inequities in how the state distributes school and infrastructure aid, and urged residents and officials alike to participate as a long-dormant commission takes a fresh look at how Massachusetts pays for public education.
The commission in question is the Foundation Budget Review Commission, which the Massachusetts Legislature revived in the fiscal year 2027 budget that Gov. Maura Healey signed in July, according to the Athol Daily News. Per the same report, the commission is expected to meet in October and will examine Chapter 70, the formula that calculates state aid allocations for municipalities and regional school districts. State budget materials describe the commission's purpose more narrowly: to review the way foundation budgets are calculated, according to Massachusetts FY27 budget materials. Those same materials set a deadline of October 31, 2028, for the commission to file its first report.
A Commission Dormant Since 2015
The commission was last active in 2015, when it recommended increasing Chapter 70 funding by $432 million, the Athol Daily News reports. That earlier report also called for better accounting of employee health-insurance and special-education costs. Those recommendations lined up with what the Massachusetts Municipal Association has documented: the 2015 commission pushed to adjust assumed health-insurance costs so they align with average Group Insurance Commission rates, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
The 2015 panel also recommended raising the assumed in-district special-education enrollment rate from 15 percent to 16 percent of students, and increasing the out-of-district special-education cost rate so it captures the full cost before the circuit breaker is triggered, per the same account. It further called for a committee to improve data reporting on how school funding is actually used at the school level, warning that educational progress would remain at risk as long as school systems stayed fiscally strained.
Comerford's Case for Rural Districts
Comerford, a Massachusetts state senator, has said the Chapter 70 formula simply does not work for rural communities, according to the Athol Daily News. Rural school districts, she has argued, often end up paying more than they receive as enrollments shrink — a dynamic she says is playing out with declining enrollment across Franklin and Hampshire counties. She described the cumulative effect on districts in that region as death by a thousand cuts, the paper reports.
She has also pointed to the 2019 Student Opportunity Act, which focused funding allocations on urban school districts facing high poverty rates, as a law that, in her view, often overlooked rural school districts in Western Massachusetts. Beyond Chapter 70, Comerford has raised concerns about the state's Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, which provides payments to cities and towns for qualifying state-owned land using a formula based on land values. Because land values are typically lower in Western Massachusetts than in the eastern part of the state, western cities and towns receive less PILOT funding, she has said — at one point criticizing the formula for comparing Northampton land values with Nantucket beach values.
What Comerford Wants Residents To Do
Comerford has urged residents to attend and fill the commission's hearing rooms once they begin, and per her comments, the commission is expected to hold hearings in Western Massachusetts. She has said residents need to participate directly in these policymaking discussions if they want their concerns considered by state officials, and she has called on residents and officials in the region to advocate continuously for regional equity — not just when hearings are scheduled.
On her own end, Comerford has said she plans to file fewer bills this session in order to focus her energy on organizing around the Foundation Budget Review Commission's work. The commission is expected to study ways to address rising education costs, including special education, student transportation, personnel, and employee healthcare, according to the Athol Daily News. Comerford has also pointed to broader inequities she sees between eastern and western Massachusetts in state grant allocations and in Chapter 90 infrastructure funding, framing the Chapter 70 review as one piece of a larger regional funding fight.
