Mass. educators and municipal leaders urge legislature to fix Chapter 70 inflation cap to avoid more school cuts

At a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Education, state and local school leaders, teachers and municipal officials pressed lawmakers to correct the Chapter 70 foundation budget’s inflation adjustment, saying a technical cap on annual increases has left many districts facing layoffs, larger classes and cuts to student services.

Supporters described the proposal variously as removing “an arbitrary cap” and restoring funding that was intended by the Student Opportunity Act. They urged the committee to report bills favorably that would either eliminate the 4.5% cap going forward or require the state to make up the shortfall created when inflation exceeded the cap.

Why it matters: witnesses said the cap erased gains provided by the Student Opportunity Act and created an ongoing, compounded funding shortfall for hundreds of districts. “The inflation cap cut these investments off at the knees,” Chelsea School Committee member Sarah Neville told the committee, saying Chelsea has lost roughly $7 million a year and about $1,200 per pupil because of the gap.

Advocates from large urban districts and small regional and rural districts gave similar testimony about…