The process of school funding in Massachusetts: An inquiry into the uncertainty of school funding

This descriptive and interpretive study explores the problem of school funding uncertainty in Massachusetts. Information from three main strands converges on the achievement status of today\u27s Massachusetts students: the history of school funding since the earliest permanent English-speaking settlements, the municipal budget-making process in Massachusetts as it affects school funding, and the state budget-making process in regard to its effect on the funding of public K-12 education. Clearly the history of school funding mirrors social and economic issues in the 400-year period reviewed. Definition of social and economic needs of the citizenry has been a continuous political process. Who has had the power to define the needs has affected the funding of public schools. The municipal school funding process in Massachusetts is reviewed both as an annual procedural cycle and as a product of ongoing politically sensitive relationships at the local level. Its effect on the funding of public K-12 schools is influenced by the credibility and political effectiveness of the school district leadership. Funding of public schools by the state is also reviewed both as an annual procedural cycle and as a product of the political give and take that legislators rely upon to get their own agendas supported. Against this background of the past history and current process of allocating resources for public K-12 schools, student achievement scores are examined relative to money provided for schools. A statewide pattern showing money reflected in student achievement is found--both public money and personal money. This study concludes that in Massachusetts, while the uncertainty of school funding continues from year to year regardless of the 1993 Education Reform Act, a sufficient and stable flow of money to the schools is necessary to prepare students adequately for the future. Suggestions for further study and for local action are detailed