Guided by his unique perspective as the former chairman of the Lowell School Committee, Senator Kennedy has been a proponent of updating the Commonwealth’s education funding formula. One of the first bills that he co-sponsored was the Promise Act, a bill aimed at updating the school education formula by addressing soaring costs for school districts. The Promise Act was later renamed The Student Opportunity Act and signed into law. It is the largest ever single investment in public education in Massachusetts’s history.
Recently, Senator Kennedy has worked with other Senators on updating the formula to better reflect the needs of smaller rural and suburban communities to raise the minimum per pupil amount to 366% of the amount required by law. Senator Kennedy is committed to fighting to further increase education funding in communities that have been impacted by inflation and have not benefitted significantly from the Student Opportunity Act.
Senator Kennedy introduced legislation that was included in the FY24 budget to reimburse school districts hit with cost overruns due to post-pandemic supply chain challenges. This legislation resulted in additional funding of $38 million for Lowell High School, $4.1 million for the Tyngsborough Middle School, and $4.5 million for the Florence Roche Elementary School in Groton.
Another important issue facing smaller communities throughout the Commonwealth is regional school transportation. In recent years, the reimbursement percentage has increased but is still below 100 percent. Senator Kennedy supports regional school districts receiving 100 percent reimbursement on their school transportation costs as was originally promised to regional school districts.