Politics of Boston School funding:

Like the rest of the United States, Massachusetts, Boston more specifically, has seen its fair share of funding disparities among school districts. For decades the Boston education system was dominated by politicians and bureaucrats who had little regard for the environments students were placed in for educational purposes. In the past, the significant disparity between school districts was due to the property tax system implemented. Throughout the term, we have discussed the ways in which state politics have interfered in local educational affairs. To assume that anyone state is exempt from deterring the educational reform process world is inaccurate. For decades Boston politicians have had front row seats to the movements organized by grassroots organizations. However, ever since the initial attempt to reconcile the insufficient funding issue in Massachusetts in 1965 with the Elementary and Secondary education act, the Massachusetts state government has consistently failed to overcome the funding disparities among public school districts. It would be unfair to say that their issues were rooted in a lack of effort. Massachusetts has been one of the most active states when it comes to public school funding. But it would also be unjust to celebrate their flawed attempts to resolve the problem, Overtime Massachusetts did improve its school funding, but it was never substantial. Eventually, the community took it upon themselves to push the government to make that last step. Organizers banned together into one unified representation of the Massachusetts population and they made their voices heard, from state line to state line. 

Massachusetts school funding timeline:

• 1965: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 
  • Meant to provide educationally disadvantaged students with quality educational resources

• 1971: Emergency School aid act
  • A grant aimed to eliminate discrimination and segregation in schools
  • Made up of five areas
  • Encouraged parent involvement

• 1974: Chapter 636
• Grants offered by the Bureau of Equal Educational Opportunity 
• Improve the quality of education and reduce minority isolation

• 1993: Education reform act
  • Enacted the chapter 70 funding formula
    • Financial Compensation for the districts that didn’t receive enough through state funding 

• 2019: The Landmark Student Opportunity act
  • Adds $1.5 billion to the existing Massachusetts public school budget

References:

Chester, Mitchell D. (November 2014). “Building on 20 Years of Massachusetts Education Reform.” www.doe.mass.edu/commissioner/BuildingOnReform.pdf.