Thread by @TracyNovick

The #StudentOpportunityAct liveblog will be going up over here: who-cester.blogspot.com/2019/10/livebl…
#FBRC #MAEdu

I'll thread livetweeting the #StudentOpportunityAct off of this post, so the two stay together. I'm only promising the use of #FBRC, though.

We have a few more Senators coming in, including Sen. @SoniaChangDiaz.
Believe it or not, there's also still seats in the gallery.

the Senate has been called to order and they're passing resolutions honoring people
#FBRC

Also this could be useful:

https://twitter.com/SenJasonLewis/status/1179777259869220865

#FBRC #MAEdu

Okay, we're picking up staffers...

and we're back to a recess

and the gallery is now full and they are not opening the other one. But you can watch online! malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S2350
#FBRC #MAEdu

Aha! They did open the other gallery! Filling up fast. #MAEdu

Senate back in order
#FBRC

and recess

And here we go!

@SenJasonLewis"rising today with great excitement and enthusiasm"

"recognizes that access to a public education is a fundamental right"

"long and proud history when it comes to public education"

@SenJasonLewis cites John Adams
and Horace Mann: "his framework for a school in every town" became a model for the nation
#MAEdu

@SenJasonLewis "first in the nation funding formula" that all districts would have what they needed to meet the need of their students

"we have not kept up" with the funding part of the bargain
#FBRC

@SenJasonLewis "we have not kept up" with the funding part of the bargain

"our schools and districts have been struggling to keep up"

@SenJasonLewis "among the close to 1 million public school students" there are vast disparities

"significant, persistent, and troubling achievement gaps" along race and socio-economic lines
"these achievement gaps are driven by opportunity gaps"
#FBRC

@SenJasonLewis "a comprehensive reassessment of the funding formula and a recommitment on our part"
#FBRC #MAEdu

@SenJasonLewis recognizes the work of Sen @SoniaChangDiaz both for the Foundation Budget Review Commission and her work on economic and social justice (HEAR HEAR)
#MAEdu #FBRC

@SenJasonLewis @SoniaChangDiaz (A round of applause that is much more than perfunctory)

@SenJasonLewis have begun implementing the recommendation; have to "enshrine in our statutes"

"provide certainity and predictability" to our local districts

@SenJasonLewis has been an honor to visit districts and get feedback "firsthand"

"has been invaluable to helping us to understand all of the challenges"

could not have reached this point without the support of Senate President Spilka and Speaker DeLeo

additional $1.5B in new state aid: "new funding over and above what we would be providing" for inflation and the like

will benefit all districts

"going to be a game changer for our Gateway cities" and other districts with English learners, high rates of poverty

(I'm not going to type up his summary of the bill)

"we recognize that this is not enough"

adding more funding for mental health supports

students leaving to attend a charter school does put financial pressures on a school district

special education costs are a very specific challenge for districts

transportation costs "can be as high or higher than tuition costs"

upgrading school facilities: lifting cap on MSBA

"will allow to accept more schools into the pipeline" for repair and renovation

21st Century Trust Fund: seek funding for creative ways to address to close gaps between and among students AND for districts with declining enrollment or rural to collaborate across districts and potential consolidation

put together a public plan with input "so we know every district has thought through how they will address the unique challenges of each district"
#FBRC #MAEdu

"do NOT include provisions that would hold back any funding" through this process

data on how students do AFTER college

there will be a data advisory commission established
#FBRC #MAEdu

Rural schools commission to report back

"other side of the foundation formula" calculates the local and state shares

directing DESE and DOR to report back on specific issues that need further analysis
#FBRC

recognize organizations and people who have worked "for years"
Fund Our Future
@massupt
@MASCSchoolComm
@massteacher
@AFTMass
(and there were others...)
#MAEdu

He also starts his list of local officials with School Committee members

And thanks @MASchoolsK12

and closes by thanking the Senate staffers (which he is doing by name, which is quite nice!)
@SenJasonLewis

@SenJasonLewis and applause

@SenJasonLewis and Sen @SoniaChangDiaz is up!

@SenJasonLewis @SoniaChangDiaz "it is detailed, thoughtful, durable legislation"

"this is also about our values"

@SenJasonLewis @SoniaChangDiaz "this bill stands as our commitment that in Massachusetts, zip code must not be destiny"
#FBRC

@SenJasonLewis @SoniaChangDiaz in 1978, a student saw that she and her classmates didn't have the same rights

"that case took fifteen years to make its way through the school system"

@SenJasonLewis @SoniaChangDiaz the 1993 SJC decision "clearly laid out the right to a quality education"

@SoniaChangDiaz in 2010, communities organized to achieve the 2014 Foundation Budget Review Commission

@SoniaChangDiaz five clear recommendations in October 2015

they would make no difference on their own
#FBRC
"these stakeholders had to file another lawsuit"

@SoniaChangDiaz "I want to address myself directly to the people who are not in this room" but are the reason why we are here today

@SoniaChangDiaz for those who testified at FBRC hearings

for the students who testified in Mattapan "we see you"

for the Commissioners who quietly pushed for five recommendations, not two

for those School Committee members who passed resolutions

for those who met with legislators

@SoniaChangDiaz "this bill is for you"

@SoniaChangDiaz To the Senators: "There is a difference between charity and justice."

"we are refusing to accept the iron law correlation between" economics and outcomes

"we are anchoring ourselves" to the commitment in the Constitution

@SoniaChangDiaz "in Massachusetts, we have the courage of our convictions"

"it is who I know us to be"

@SoniaChangDiaz everyone in the chamber has been a cosponsor to the Promise Act

"five separate times over the past years" the Senate has passed all of the recommendations

@SoniaChangDiaz and she closes by asking that the vote be taken by roll call
#FBRC #MAEdu

Up now: @SenBruceTarr (minority leader)

collaboration so that our students might have the best possible opportunity to realize there potential

"it must be an exercise of the whole"

@SenBruceTarr reconsideration was to be done regularly

"unfortunately...it took a long time, and in those years, opportunities were lost"

@SenBruceTarr praises @SoniaChangDiaz's work on traveling around the state and understanding the challenge

and to send the message "we are listening"
#MAEdu

@SenBruceTarr @SoniaChangDiaz praises @SenJasonLewis for his "pursuit of that very same concept"

@SenBruceTarr @SoniaChangDiaz @SenJasonLewis asks for applause for Lewis

@SenBruceTarr "we have been persistent in the minority arc...that when we make commitments, we need to maintain those commitments"

@SenBruceTarr commitment to circuit breaker, charter school tuition reimbursement

"there is one area where there is still a gap between what is mandated in statute and what we have been doing" and speaks of regional transporation reimbursement
#MAEdu

@SenBruceTarr (actually all transportation is to be reimbursed, but that doesn't get remembered) #MAEdu

@SenBruceTarr asks Lewis for a full data set of the impact for every community by the time the bill is fully implemented

@SenBruceTarr (the right answer to this, of course, is no, as we don't know how poverty will be measured, we don't know what the rural commission will find, we don't know what the municipal wealth findings will be)

@SenBruceTarr would hope for that information so we can understand the impact on the districts we represent

realize that all such will be projections

cannot believe the committee has been working without numbers

@SenBruceTarr Lewis thanks Tarr for his work
partnered with DESE's team on Chapter 70 formula "to understand how changes we would consider making, what the impact of those changes would be"

looked at dozens and dozens of scenarios and models

able "to say with a fair amount of certainity what the overall impact" will be

"there's a lot of assumptions that go into doing this kind of modeling"

assumptions about inflation, enrollment changes, economic conditions

can make some good assumptions statewide on enrollment, economic conditions, inflation

"what becomes much more challenging is to translate that into a district by district level"

enrollment growing, losing, fairly flat
(this is all Lewis)

"we also know that local economic conditions may change" dramatically over the next seven years

"can't predict with any certainty whatsoever" on an individual school district or municipality
#MAEdu

"we think it would be misleading and even irresponsible to put a bunch of numbers on paper" and let communities think that is what they can expect

notes importance of items outside of Chapter 70

Back to @SenBruceTarr

@SenBruceTarr who argues that you get the state number by adding individual communities

(which misses the point, of course, and I think intentionally)

notes Lewis has met with individual members with information

(and we're going another round of on this...this is going to get tiresome)

And I'll point out again that there is no complete data set, as DESE doesn't have the current year spending for every district

Lewis: point misleading nature of releasing information

Governor includes predicted local contribution

"and the key piece of context that is missing in that spreadsheet is that the vast majority of our school districts spend in excess of" minimum required spending

"the fact that the required local contribution goes up does not have ANY fiscal impact on the vast majority of our communities"

notes that increases come in Gateways which will receive Chapter 70 aid "tenfold or more" over their local increased required spending
#FBRC

Tarr: the very statement of inaccuracy implies that there is a larger set of information

"if there are inaccuracies, we ought to know what they are"

says he doesn't want to belabor this point (to snickers in the gallery)

And Tarr moves for a recess for Republican caucus until 2 pm

(we'll pick this up then)

So we are back in the gallery which is not any warmer...
#MAEdu #FBRC

The attempt is now to take up amendments; @SenBruceTarr is objecting, as he says they want to know more about it first.

argument from @SenRodrigues that
Senate Ways and Means has looked at and passed the bill and feels it can be done from existing resources

@SenRodrigues Tarr asks for funding amounts
Rodrigues says the funding this past year would be reflecting in increases over next several years

"consistent funding stream"
#MAEdu #FBRC

@SenRodrigues Tarr asks for the phase in over the bill for low income; how that element will be implemented

Sen @SalDiDomenico speaks of Everett's loss in changes of low income;
"this is my proudest vote in the nine years I have been a state senator"
#FBRC #MAEdu

Rodrigues: phase in over seven years

circuit breaker over four years; charter reimbursement over three years

estimated to be $300M each year when inflation built in

(I mean, kinda. Low income is supposed to change over that time)

Tarr: how many will receive only minimum increases?

how many communities will have to contribute more?

how many communities will be required to spend more than the increase they'll receive in NSS under the bill?

(he didn't ask the most important one, which is who will have to contribute more THAN THEY DO NOW)

Lewis: no way to know with any certainty of provision of what the foundation budget will be

"that said, what I can say, is every community, every school district, will be getting more aid under the bill than they would get if this bill is not passed into law"

only a few communities where their local contribution will be required to be greater than they otherwise would be spending
#FBRC

Tarr: hoping that we could get information that substantiates the information that supports that

(an understanding of one's local foundation budget calculation alone with do that)

Amendment 3, 4, 5, 6 held

Amendment 7: Tarr "we know that the foundation budget was intended to be reviewed periodically"

"the consequences of that gap is the price tag today"
#MAEdu

"to prevent us from ever again finding ourselves in the situation" we are in today

reduces reconsideration to 5 years rather than 10 years as in the bill

.@SenRodrigues: hopes that it is not adopted

goal "is very clear and is something we can all agree to"

"the frequency of those reviews was something that was discussed at great length as this bill was being developed"

@SenRodrigues "takes that length of time for a formula change to be" considered, drafted, and implemented

Tarr: agree with the facts, but suggests that it supports a different conclusion

suggests it will be even longer between the identification of the problem and the solution to the problem

roll call on the amendments
(Dems largely voting no, but @SoniaChangDiaz and @JamieEldridgeMA vote yes)

@SoniaChangDiaz @JamieEldridgeMA add @AnneGobi to that
(Not all in the chamber)

@SoniaChangDiaz @JamieEldridgeMA @AnneGobi and @SenMikeMoore and @BeccaRauschMA

@SoniaChangDiaz @JamieEldridgeMA @AnneGobi @SenMikeMoore @BeccaRauschMA and @Jo_Comerford

IDK what happened to amendment 8 but Amendment 9: fails

Amendment 10: Tarr to make more students eligible (it lowers the trigger)

fails

you can track amendments here: malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S235…
(they're cruising!)

amendment 19
Pacheco: one of the problems we have had is we don't fund charters appropriately, as well

amendment says cap on the number of charter schools approved for any year in which the mitigation fund isn't fully funded

"if we aren't even funding the charters we already have, why would we fund additional charters at this time?" #MAedu

amendment 19 is put on hold

amendment 20: Tarr on unfunded mandates

"to help school districts save money"

.@SenRodrigues: mandates place burdens on our school districts

school mandates are in place for a reason

"how we keep our schools and districts accountable"

@SenRodrigues and they just put a bunch of amendments...up to 25? maybe? on hold #MAEdu

Sen @Jo_Comerford speaking to her amendment 28 about the vast undercalculation of special education

@Jo_Comerford "it is a drastic underestimation of what it takes to deliver services"

@Jo_Comerford understand the promise of this bill

"however we are missing the boat with special education"

@Jo_Comerford "I implore this body to consider the distinct need that our levels when it comes to special education is far too low"

(she's good!)
#FBRC

@Jo_Comerford amendment fails

@Jo_Comerford Comerford: had conversations and found that the way our Commonwealth manages charter has forced discussion in ways that are unwise

look at the way we fund charter schools, how they are enrolled

@Jo_Comerford would create a commission "so we can bring the conversation out into the light where it belongs"

@Jo_Comerford "I would never tell another mom where her son or daughter should go to school...it is our job" to figure this out so communities would no longer be put against each other
#MAEdu
#FBRC

@Jo_Comerford amendment fails

Comerford makes her cases well, BTW

amendment 30: @SenatorDeanTran

helps make sure that a homeless student can get to school

@SenatorDeanTran roll call
fails

amendment 31, 33, 35, 36 on hold (I think)

amendment 40
Sen @CindyFriedmanMA local option reserve fund for recovery high schools

service students who have substance use disorders #MAEdu

@CindyFriedmanMA "they're expensive; like all special ed, they're expensive"

"this is revenue neutral for the state"

@CindyFriedmanMA amendment passes

41 fails

@CindyFriedmanMA amendment 42: study on average recovery high cost

@CindyFriedmanMA: get a level of funding same as other schools
to determine the real cost of educating students in recovery high schools

@CindyFriedmanMA 43, 44 on hold

amendment 45: school violence prevention

Finegold withdraws the amendment

amendment 19: Comerford on Pacheco's

Senate President @KarenSpilka to create a Senate working group to look at charter schools, their fiscal impact, their enrollment, and so forth

.@SenJasonLewis argues that the working group is the place for this; the amendment is not to detract from the bill

amendment is identical to bill pending in education committee (which hears it next week)

Pacheco back up to argue that this is not an issue in the House or the Senate
"We are well on our way to having a two tiered system"
Notes his service on [Taunton] School Committee

"the people of the Commonwealth spoke on that issue"

"I'm somewhat disappointed that we have to keep talking about this issue; I thought it had been resolved; I guess not"

"I hope that when this bill comes back from a conference, that any of those loopholes that remain are closed"

Jehlen: thinks that Lewis has "done an outstanding and amazing job"

grateful to Comerford and Pacheco "for raising the issue of charter school finance issues"

brought charts on the amount of money sent to charter schools since they started in 1996

.@SenPatJehlen : no elected official decides how many seats and the funding

Board of Education which says it has no responsibility to consider the impact on other children or what the cost will be

@SenPatJehlen appreciate the bill's commitment to 100% of our responsibility, "but it's been 100% of our responsibility"

"as we underfund charter reimbursement, the first place it goes to charter schools"

@SenPatJehlen hopes the working group can take leadership

Sen. @Brady_Works now up, recalls his time on the Brockton School Committee

@Brady_Works "we have to speak loud and clear to protect our constituents, and protect our public schools"

Pacheco: "I want you to know that you all need to hold all of us in the Legislature...accountable"

amendment fails

.@SenEdKennedy now speaking...of the amendment that failed?

We are actually getting an argument on the amendment that Easton should be in the Cambridge labor market.

I genuinely did not think the...erm...bold nature of this would extend so far as a speech.

And we also just got a misrepresentation on why two towns got the amount of funding they did.

mercifully amendment 50 fails
amendment 51 fails

52 and 53 are on hold

amendment 54 fails

amendment 55 requires high school students to meet with a guidance counselor each year

Sen @PatrickMOConnor: includes guidelines for a plans

@PatrickMOConnor benefits of creation relationships between students and guidance counselors

@PatrickMOConnor .@SenRodrigues urges members to vote no

while the goal of this amendment is supported, would create an unfunded mandate in the meantime

@PatrickMOConnor @SenRodrigues amendment 55
Sen @adamghinds refers to himself as "the gentleman from the far west"

fails

@PatrickMOConnor amendment 57 from O'Connor requires full day K grant

We went from full day K in 26% of districts to 96% "and then we stopped the program"

(and he's got the stats on this)

@PatrickMOConnor fails
as does 60
O'Connor up on 61
(which is good thinking, BTW)
would have deducted the non-reimbursed amount from the charter school tuition

@PatrickMOConnor "this is a vehicle" to fix this specific problem

the districts that we need the most are the ones being most hurt by the lack of resources

has hope of working group

amendment 63: Senator Moore

"I'm not sure if I support free college; but to do that, we need to study it"

and @SenMikeMoore asked for a roll call and now we have a recess again

@SenMikeMoore 64 on hold

amendment 65 fails

amendment 66 fails

amendment 67, 68, 69 hold

have been through the amendments once, planning on reconvening "five-ish" in hopes that some amendments will have been withdrawn

RECESS

amendments 1, 3, 6 still on hold.
That's regional transportation to 85%; and two minimum per pupils ($35 and $100), all from Senator Tarr. #MAEdu #FBRC

Sen @PaulFeeneyMA up on amendment 14, adding MTA and AFT to Commissions #MAEdu

@PaulFeeneyMA "ultimately it is our teachers, our union teachers, who bring things to fruition"

"to elevate the voices of our children through our educators"

@PaulFeeneyMA amendment fails

.@SenPatJehlen on amendment 17
reports on progress towards targets in school and district report cards

@SenPatJehlen "the missing piece on accountability has been local accountability"

amendment strengthens local accountability

requires school committee approval plans

requires plans to reduce gaps; to consider recommendations from school council
#MAEdu

@SenPatJehlen "it would, I hope, be more transparent than the state reports are"

"unless you're on a school council and ask that question, you won't know what your targets are and what's been done"
#MAedu

@SenPatJehlen Now Sen @BeccaRauschMA speaking as her amendment has been added to this one on importance of parental engagement

@SenPatJehlen @BeccaRauschMA systemic barriers make it more difficult for some parents to get involved

@BeccaRauschMA "if we want to create equity...then we have to break down the barriers precluding that equity"
#MAedu #FBRC

Lewis: has been a lot of discussion about this area of the bill since it was released

"we've been able to really strengthen this part of the bill"
"make sure that voices of parents are front and center"

make it clear that the Commissioner and the Department has NO authority to withhold any money from districts
(corrected tweet)

And passes unanimously

https://twitter.com/TracyNovick/status/1179878933308870658

Tarr just withdrew two and I don't know what they were.
Recess while Tarr's amendment on unfunded mandates is up

amendment 20 withdrawn on unfunded mandates (Tarr implies that it is being merged)

redraft on amendment 21 to have MSBA look at lead abatement, asbestos removal

amendment passes

amendment 22 fails

amendment 23 requesting representation from the minority party fails

amendment 24 on reporting efficiency drects consolidation of reporting fails

amendment 25 extending timeline to ten years if needed fails #FBRC

.@Jo_Comerford on considering Prop 2 1/2 in consideration of municipal wealth (amendment 27)

@Jo_Comerford many bumping up against the ceiling

"make it impossible to meet the demands of school funding"

.@EricLesser Lesser "this really urgent need we have to examine Proposition 2 1/2"

list of towns with highest property tax rates: highlighted ones come from Worcester west

nearly all are west of Worcester
#MAEdu #FBRC

@EricLesser property values are either flat or going down, in some cases precipitiously

"once the levy limit is reached, towns have no ability to fund local needs anymore"

@EricLesser roll call on 27 on looking at Prop 2 1/2

amendment 27 on looking at Prop 2 1/2 passes

amendment 31: innovation pathways from @SenMikeMoore

enhances data collection for student preparedness for life after high school

@SenMikeMoore and it passes

amendment 32 on towns of 6000 residents from Sen @AnneGobipasses
(after redraft)

amendment 33 on circuit breaker fails

amendment 34 from deMacedo expands Commissioner's powers

"spending a great deal of money" on districts and...allows greater power

.@Sen_Chandler this amendment "represents gross overreach by our state government"

"these districts have vastly different needs and priorities"

"we should not paint these districts with a broad brush"

@Sen_Chandler districts like mine need "a helping hand up, not a slap in the face"

@Sen_Chandler "districts like mine are not chronically underperforming; they are chronically underfunded"

and the amendment fails
h/t @Sen_Chandler! #FBRC #MAEdu

amendment 35 installs a foundation budget review commission without an act of the Legislature

fails

amendment 36 adequacy study: Tarr

whether or not we are making progress that we need

fails

amendment 37: from Gobi

would remove "subject to appropriation" from the regional transportation reimbursement

"talking about the same schools with declining enrollment...it just gets piled on year after year"

next budget cycle Sen @annegobi says "I am going to ask to make this a priority going in"

"a shortfall of $16.4M this year" for regional schools

fails

Hey Peter Demling gets citation from Sen @Jo_Comerford regarding full regionalization for Amherst/Pelham!

Was defeated because of the fear of not full transportation reimbursement
#MAEdu

@Jo_Comerford Chandler "would like to see the issue raised...taken up"

@Jo_Comerford Brady: have to keep our promise to regional schools; "I hope we continue to work on this"

Tarr: "echo the comments that have already been made"

"many attempts in this bill to" set things right

circuit breaker, charter school tuition reimbursement

"those are laudable things" #MAEdu #FBRC

"even while we do these new things, the page is still left blank"

amendment 43 from deMacedo which would reimburse only Plymouth

(I am not kidding)

"it has over 400 miles of roads"

he's now running through smaller regional districts and how much money they get (and probably not making himself very popular)

amendment fails

amendment 47 from Finegold would boost the MSBA cap to $800M

MSBA estimates that they'll need to replace 36 schools a year

one of the schools he went to is in the same shape it was 40 years ago

Lewis: we believe this is fiscally responsible

adopted a redrafted version of 21 about studying other uses of renovations

reimbursement rate is far below actual costs we are seeing now
(TRUE)

.@SenJasonLewis the step we are taking hopefully allows all of our districts to get into the program and get a reimbursement rate that makes the projects financially feasible

roll call on Sen @Barry_Finegold's amendment on the @Mass_SBA

@Barry_Finegold @Mass_SBA that one passes unanimously
(so even higher cap on MSBA)

also I am sure that I just missed another amendment there

.@SenJohnFKeenan data advisory commission; amendment 52

7000 students in Ch.766 schools don't have a representative on the Commission

@SenJohnFKeenan "this is a great bill for just about all the students in the Commonwealth; I just wish we could go one step further"

"This would simply give them a seat at the data table."
#MAEdu

amendment 63: @SenMikeMoore after discussion, "I agree to withdraw this" after hearing from Ways and Means that we'll be getting numbers on what debt free college would look like

amendment 69 @SenBruceTarr on LIFT fund

"so that we have at least SOME identifiable sources of revenue" in the bill

fails

recess

And Senate President @KarenSpilka has taken the gavel (IDK what they call it here; I'd usually say she'd taken the chair)
Tarr speaking on amendment 1 which has been hugely redrafted: DESE to look at a number of funding items
#MAEdu #FBRC

...thus adding to the list of things that DESE has to do as a result of this bill

roll call #FBRC #MAEdu

.@SenBruceTarr withdraws the minimum per pupil to $35.
He is speaking on $100/pupil.

#MAEdu #FBRC

@SenBruceTarr there are districts that would still see only minimum per pupil increases over the life of the bill

Tarr estimates that phasing this in would cost less than $8M

@SenBruceTarr "a group of schools that may be facing a significant increase in their required local contribution"

(but it, of course, in most cases does not require an ACTUAL increase)

(we have some showmanship happening here, with a staffer coming up with pieces of paper)

Chang-Diaz urges a vote no

"this bill should be--and I would argue IS--about changing the status quo"

that means doing things differently than in the past

"it is regressive, and it is non-needs-based. It is popular, no doubt, but it is regressive, and it is non-needs-based"

there is hold harmless in the underlying law; this bill locks in $30/pupil IN PERPETUITY

"there are lots of provisions in the underlying law and in this bill that get into the mechanics and strike a balance" among needs

"minimum aid is about political popularity"
@SoniaChangDiaz

@SoniaChangDiaz back to Tarr who appears to be arguing that if minimum aid is not progressive they should take it out

@SoniaChangDiaz Tarr argues that concentrations of poverty was a "philosophical judgment"

(This is not the case; there is data supporting the measurements of concentrations of poverty.)

@SoniaChangDiaz See, just for example: citylab.com/equity/2015/08…

@SoniaChangDiaz and @SenMikeMoore argues "if we do this, we can all win"

roll call

(this might be a face saver for the Senators that need it)

the amendment is not adopted #FBRC #MAEdu

motion to suspend the rules to meet after 8 pm!
(passes)

And Sen @PatrickMOConnor up on amendment 59 would require annual reporting on implementation (note that his amendment has bipartisan cosponsorship) #FBRC #MAEdu

@PatrickMOConnor and it passes

redraft on Sen @SoniaChangDiaz's amendment 62 on follow-through, which provides for the comptroller to check implementation after 2023 and transfer funds if not.

@SoniaChangDiaz "provided, however, that in fiscal year 2023 and any year thereafter, in certifying the consolidated net surplus,

@SoniaChangDiaz the comptroller shall determine if the appropriation for line item 7061-9010 meets the full obligation; and provided further, that if the obligation is not met, the comptroller shall transfer an amount from available funds necessary to fulfill that obligation.” #MAEdu #FBRC

Senator @adamghinds up: even with hold harmless provisions, his districts are facing additional challenges

had hoped it could be entered into the foundation budget, 'but it is too soon'

@adamghinds make sure Rural schools commission is robust, conducting serious work

And @DianaDiZoglio notes amendment allows Commission to reach their own conclusions #MAEdu #FBRC

@DianaDiZoglio and that passes as well #MAEdu

That's your redraft @nerissa_wallen

And @SoniaChangDiaz on amendment 53 to ensure all implementation continues apace, equally.

“provide increases relative to full incorporation in a consistent manner, including equitable increases to the foundation and increment amounts over the prior year.”#MAEdu #FBRC

@SoniaChangDiaz and that passes

one amendment left

amendment 68 on financial literacy (redrafted) passes.

bill ordered to a third reading; roll call
#MAEdu #FBRC

On a 39-0 vote, the BILL IS PASSED.

(again. The Senate is good at this.)

#MAEdu #FBRC

/end thread

@threadreaderapp unroll