Schools, teachers eye millionaires tax as pre-K-12 public ed faces financial crisis

School superintendents, teachers' union leaders, mayors, select board and school committee members, and city councilors — more than 1,000 of them across the state — want surplus money from the "millionaires tax" put into education to head off a financial crisis.

"Really what's happening is school departments across the state are suffering," said Westfield School Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski . "And the funding mechanism is not keeping up with inflation, health insurance costs and salary demands."

Czaporowski was one of the officials who signed, along with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno; West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt; Erik Berg, president of the Boston Teachers Union; Jeri Robinson, School Committee chair of Boston Public Schools; Melissa Verdier, president of the Educational Association of Worcester; and Brian Allen, superintendent of the Worcester Public School District.

Advocates delivered the letter to Gov. Maura T. Healey on Tuesday.

The letter calls for:

• increasing the payments for special education services;

• fixing the Chapter 70 (the state's mechanism for school aid) inflation cap;

• fully reimbursing regional and nonregional school districts for student transportation costs;

• significantly increasing rural school aid;

• further mitigating the financial effects of charter schools on traditional public schools;

• and making targeted investments in the staffing and programs needed to best support student mental health.

The Healey-Driscoll administration said its 2026 budget and Fair Share supplemental budget together invested the highest amount of funding for K-12 public school financing to-date.

"We know that our cities and towns and schools are facing budget challenges, and we remain committed to working closely with them to make sure they have the resources and support they need to deliver a high-quality education for all students," said an Executive Office of Education spokesperson.

The letter also reminds Healey that federal pandemic-era Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER , funding is over.

Czaporowski said Chapter 70 is capped at only a 4.5% annual increase to compensate for inflation.

Likewise, a state fund to reimburse school systems for out-of-district placements of special education students was to have been funded at 75%. Instead, it is only funded at 45%. State money for bus transportation is also lacking.

Costs for building maintenance are also going up. The needed renovation of restrooms at the Westfield Technical Academy, a high school first built in 1931, was estimated at $276,000 five years ago but was put off. Today, that project will cost $600,000.

"Student needs have increased since COVID," he said. "How are districts supposed to keep up with increasing costs?"

Two painful ways, he said: Local taxes or cut budgets.

Czaporowski said he ended a popular preschool program at Westfield High School. Students interested in filling much-needed jobs in child care gained valuable experience in the preschool.

"Now, we are sending them out on internships much less prepared," he said.

Rosemary Sandlin signed the petition as president of the Agawam City Council. A former two-term state representative, she said state school funding will be only more important, with the federal government stepping back from its role in education.

Sarno, in an interview Thursday, said school transportation likely will cost $45 million in the next budget, out of a $1 billion combined city and schools budget.

"My major issue here is the busing," said Sarno, the School Committee chairman. "We haven't seen a dime in decades, and I mean decades. We have to get our kids to school."

Passed by voters in a 2022 referendum, the Fair Share Amendment, or Millionaires Tax, is a 4% surtax on taxable income over $1 million. The money already gets divided into funds for transportation and education. But they are capped.

There is money available. The state collected $43.7 billion in the budget year that ended on June 30 .

A text and signature list is available from the Massachusetts Teachers Association at massteacher.org/current-initiatives/fiscal-crisis .

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