Lawmakers, educators and mayors urge fix to Chapter 70 inflation cap as districts face cuts

BOSTON — At a hybrid hearing of the Joint Committee on Education, school leaders, municipal officials, teachers and parents urged the Legislature to correct what they called a technical but consequential flaw in the Chapter 70 school-funding formula that has left hundreds of school districts underfunded after recent high inflation.

Supporters said the cap on the inflation adjustment — set in the statute at 4.5% — prevented districts from receiving the full dollar value of the Student Opportunity Act (SOA) increases during years of unusually high inflation, creating a persistent shortfall that now forces staff layoffs, program cuts and school closures.

"The SOA promised Chelsea the opportunity to build, not to cut," said Sarah Neville, a Chelsea school committee member. "The inflation cap removes, in effect, $7,000,000 from our budget every single year — Chelsea is the most affected district on a per‑student basis at $1,200 per student."

Why it matters: The Student Opportunity Act directed substantial new state aid to districts with higher needs. Witnesses said that when inflation spikes beyond the statutory cap, the aid that districts…