CHERISH Act to Fund Public Higher Education Unveiled; Coalition Launches Petition Calling for Passage of 2 Bills This Spring
AFT Massachusetts members and leaders from around the state joined students, educators, parents, and community leaders in Nurses Hall at the State House on Wednesday, January 17th to announce the Fund Our Future coalition’s full legislative package, designed to end the generation-long underfunding of local public schools and public colleges and universities – this year.
The Fund Our Future coalition is supporting two pieces of legislation that would meet the recommendations of the state’s bipartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission and the Higher Education Finance Commission:
- The CHERISH Act, filed by Senator Jo Comerford and Representatives Paul Mark and Sean Garballey, would implement the core recommendation of the Higher Education Finance Commission, which found in 2014 that the state is underfunding our public colleges and universities by more than $500 million a year in inflation-adjusted dollars. The commission found that since 2001, state funding of public colleges and universities has declined dramatically, from $12,000 per student each year to only $8,000 per student.
- The Education PROMISE Act, filed by Senator Sonia Chang-Díazand Representatives Aaron Vega and Mary Keefe, would implement the recommendations of the bipartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission, which found in 2015 that the state is underfunding public education by at least $1 billion a year. The commission found that the state’s funding formula fails to account for the cost of four specific items: educating students who have disabilities, are English learners, or are from low-income families, and managing the rising cost of health insurance for staff.
“Bipartisan state commissions have identified the need for more funding in our education system – there’s no denying the fact that these investments are needed to deliver the basic elements of a great education,” said AFT Massachusetts Secretary-Treasurer Brant Duncan. “Now it’s our responsibility to remind the Legislature of their duty to fulfill the promises they’ve made to generations of Massachusetts students and fund our future.”
At the event, legislators unveiled the CHERISH Act, which would result in more than $500 million in additional funding for public higher education in Massachusetts. The legislation would require in statute that the Commonwealth fund public higher education at no less than its FY01 per-student funding level, adjusted for inflation, and freeze tuition and fees for five years, as long as the Legislature appropriates the funds required to reach FY01 per-student funding levels in five years.
“Two hundred and thirty years ago John Adams said, 'The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people, and must be willing to bear the expenses of it.' This is the opportunity of the CHERISH Act which seeks to re-establish a workable baseline for state investment in a sector that has seen steady decline over 18 years,” said Senator Jo Comerford. “My belief is that this bill will support public colleges and universities in their continued excellence, and will also be a mechanism for addressing student debt by helping to prevent student tuition and fees from continuing to skyrocket.”
“Over 80% of our young people, who attend one of our 29 campuses of higher learning, remain in the Commonwealth after graduation,” said Representative Sean Garballey. “This legislation is a commitment to our young people, and an investment in the future success of the students and Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
“Massachusetts thrives based on our knowledge economy, and if we want to continue to lead we need to continue increasing our investment in higher education,” said Representative Paul Mark. “I am honored to join my colleagues in filing the CHERISH Act to help ensure the future success of our Commonwealth.”
As a result of the state’s underfunding of public higher education, Massachusetts has the fastest-growing public college costs and the second-fastest growth in student debt in the nation. Tuition and fees at Massachusetts’ public colleges and universities are among the highest in the country. Costs are being shifted onto students and families, who are forced to take on enormous debt. Today, the average UMass student is graduating with over $30,000 in student debt, and the average graduate of our state universities leaves school with over $25,000 in student debt. At the same time, full-time tenured faculty members are being replaced by part-time instructors who are paid much less, have no job security, and often do not receive health insurance coverage.
“Faculty and staff at our public colleges and universities are forced to deal with budget pressures every year as state aid to our public higher education system shrinks,” said Dr. Catharine M. Curran, PhD, President of the UMass Dartmouth Faculty Federation. “Instability on our campuses and repeated tuition and fee hikes put the burden on our students and their families, which is unacceptable for public colleges. We are supposed to be here to support all students and families.”
“Years of state budget cuts have caused repeated tuition and fee increases, and now our public colleges and universities are no longer affordable for middle- and working-class students,” said Anabel Santiago, a student at UMass Dartmouth and Massachusetts public school graduate. “Instead, students are delaying their education or taking on massive amounts of debt, putting a mortgage on our futures. Our state’s divestment in great public higher education is a decades-long embarrassment that needs to be reversed — now.”
Leaders in the Fund Our Future coalition also announced the launch of a statewide petition calling on legislators to pass both bills this spring.
Background
The Fund Our Future coalition was formed to end the generation-long underfunding of local public schools and public colleges and universities in Massachusetts and is made up of the following members: American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, Boston Teachers Union, Citizens for Public Schools, FairTest, Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, Massachusetts Jobs With Justice, Massachusetts Teachers Association, NAACP New England Area Conference, PHENOM — the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, and SEIU Local 888. The coalition is calling on the Legislature to meet the recommendations of the state’s bipartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission and the Higher Education Finance Commission by increasing state funding for preK-12 public schools by $1 billion a year and increasing state funding for public colleges and universities by more than $500 million a year. Advocates are calling for this major reinvestment in public education to happen in time for local communities to include the funding in the next academic year’s budget and in time for public college students to avoid tuition and fee hikes this fall.
The Foundation Budget Review Commission found in 2015 that the state is underfunding public education by at least $1 billion a year. The commission found that the state’s funding formula fails to account for the cost of four specific items: educating students who have disabilities, are English learners, or are from low-income families, and managing the rising cost of health insurance for staff. Since 2002, annual K-12 funding from the state has been cut by $405 million in inflation-adjusted dollars. Nationally, Massachusetts ranks 33rd in the share of our states’ economic resources dedicated to public education. As a result, many students aren’t getting a well-rounded education including small classes, music and art, science, technology, engineering, and math education, and public school staff including counselors, paraprofessionals, special education teachers and librarians.
The state’s Higher Education Finance Commission foundi n 2014 that the state is underfunding our public colleges and universities by more than $500 million a year in inflation-adjusted dollars. Since 2001, state funding of public colleges and universities has declined dramatically, from $12,000 per student each year to only $8,000 per student. As a result, Massachusetts has the fastest-growing public college costs and the second-fastest growth in student debt in the nation. Tuition and fees at Massachusetts’ public colleges and universities are among the highest in the country. Costs are being shifted onto students and families, who are forced to take on enormous debt. Today, the average UMass student is graduating with over $30,000 in student debt, and the average graduate of our state universities leaves school with over $25,000 in student debt. At the same time, full-time tenured faculty members are being replaced by part-time instructors who are paid much less, have no job security, and often do not receive health insurance coverage.