wolf95oct0ber t1_iuaay6z wrote on October 29, 2022 at 7:59 PM

Reply to comment by NoMoLerking in Mass. Tax Refunds Will Start To Flow On Tuesday by plawwell

Question one is a constitutional change that will require the revenue go to public education and transport so I don’t think it would be impacted by the law that required these refunds of excess revenue.

March_Latter t1_iuanwwe wrote on October 29, 2022 at 9:32 PM

Jeez, I bet they won't move funds by removing them from current school and transport line items as they are paid by the new line item.

MoreGuitarPlease t1_iuax7wr wrote on October 29, 2022 at 10:44 PM

So we keep our well funded schools well funded and fund other things…sounds great to me.

guesswhatihate t1_iuhf4lp wrote on October 31, 2022 at 10:58 AM

That sounds like shifting the new tax dollars into the general fund with extra steps. That's a no from me.

gerkin123 t1_iubjx6q wrote on October 30, 2022 at 1:47 AM

"Try it." - Every local teacher union, the AFT, the MTA, the NEA, the MBTA, and the BCU 589.

March_Latter t1_iud04fk wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:04 PM

We are already discovering our mistakes in too much funding for schools. Our town has a 15% management cost before we get to the actual school. They are taking on construction projects in their budget. Nobody can explain the empty buses situation well. In a very well paid state teachers salaries are keeping up and thats not counting their fringe benefits. Class sizes have dropped to 20 or less students with aids in almost every class through elementary school. Meanwhile the output is a less educated student. So regardless of how this vote goes we are going hold the line on our spending until inflation get it back to some sort of normalcy.

Its time for some real change in education and more money is simply not the answer.

gerkin123 t1_iudf54o wrote on October 30, 2022 at 2:19 PM

You're using the conditions of your town to justify opposition to a state-level question in a state where educational conditions are grossly disproportionate on a town by town level.

MA was a hundred years ahead of Brown vs the Board, and integrated schools in 1855 because we had redlined minority populations and used a township funding model, meaning that wealthier families on one side of the tracks got better schools than poorer families on the other side.

I bring this up because the result is that MA schools have been inequitably funded through ~170 years of disinvestment that has resulted in gross imbalances in education needs, spending levels, and outcomes from one town to another.

Your halcyon circumstance living in a community that puts too much money in schools, has tiny classes for your youngest kids, and has an aid in every classroom is an exception, is no reason to oppose the distribution of resources to towns that are overfilled, under-budgeted, and short-staffed.

And using learning outcomes as a justification for stripping money from your school system because those kids went through a pandemic like the rest of us is just plain gross.

Let me reframe what this person appears to be saying for anyone reading this far down: "I'm going to vote down a question on the ultra-rich that will provide much needed funding to the poorest schools in the state because the staff in my wealthy district has it too easy and didn't offer themselves up on a sacrificial altar, defying regional norms for schools. And, despite all indication to the contrary, I'm presuming that's everywhere so fuck'em."

Please don't take that approach to this question when you vote. If you have a fortunate situation, even if you're dissatisfied with your schools, do not take it out on every school in the state. We have schools competing for subs and the poorer districts are losing. We have schools that are pretty and new with limited behavioral concerns and, because of staffing shortages, people are leaving poorer, rougher schools to enjoy the change in cultural climate. Our schools are Swiss cheese right now, and if you aren't dealing with a hole, your neighbor is.

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As for my original "Try it" comment--which frankly has nothing to do with this unique situation-- I'm more trying to clarify that concerns that the money will simply be re-appropriated without push-back are false. There will be plenty of push-back, and the state senate will have to include in their calculation the fact that if they cook the books and are caught, they'll have a considerable, organized response to contend with.

March_Latter t1_iue1e8q wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:56 PM

My approach to voting is my approach to life. I use basic ethics. I won't take from someone something that is not needed. I absolutely will not single out a group to pay more just because they are perceived as able to pay. This is terrible legislation that will backfire and that's not just due to ethics, it's due to basic common sense.