Following a sustained push by educators from preK through higher education, the Legislature crafted a bill to provide nearly $400 million from federal COVID-19 relief funds to public schools and colleges, allowing them to begin to address structural deficiencies that affect the health and safety of students and staff.
The funds, received through the American Rescue Plan Act, can be used to address building and maintenance issues such as improving inefficient HVAC systems. They also can be directed to programs intended to increase educator diversity and alleviate student hunger on college campuses.
Altogether, higher education received $137.3 million in the package signed by Governor Charlie Baker in December, while public school systems received $242.1 million. Ventilation improvements for preK-12 schools statewide got $100 million, while dozens of individual school districts were able to get line-item amounts for various improvements.
Among the districts on the list were Amherst, which received $100,000 for student mental health services; Hopkinton, which got $300,000 for HVAC improvements in school and town buildings; and Melrose, which will receive $150,000 for accessibility improvements for two elevators at the high school.
Still, a large portion of the $5.3 billion in ARPA funds available to the Legislature to spend remains unallocated and available. In February, MTA leaders sent a letter to legislators outlining educators’ goals for further appropriations from the pandemic relief fund and surplus state revenue. Specifically, the MTA is calling for:
▪ $50 million to revive a version of the Tomorrow’s Teacher Program, which provides scholarships to public higher education students who commit to teach in a public school for four years.
▪ $50 million to expand the educator pipeline via loan repayment support; the program could cover up to $50,000 in expenses associated with an undergraduate or a master’s degree, or a licensure program, for current students and recent public higher education graduates who commit to working in public schools.
Reducing or eliminating the burden of college debt for people entering public education careers is expected to help satisfy an urgent need to diversify the educator workforce.
In addition, in response to the 14 percent to 15 percent drop in enrollment at community colleges and state universities, which especially involves Black and Latino students, the MTA proposes allocating $335 million in fiscal 2023 to fully cover tuition and fees for lower-income students who are attending community colleges or in the first two years of attending a four-year university. The funding would allow students to put Pell and other grant resources toward other college expenses.
The MTA also has requested additional ARPA funds for schools and campuses to continue to address health and safety issues associated with facilities and other structural problems.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the extent to which public school and college buildings lack sufficient ventilation. MTA members from across the state have chronicled the acute physical needs of the buildings in which they and their students work and learn every day. Mold, broken windows, water damage, severely cracked walls, floors and ceilings, and leaking pipes and roofs are visible in many public school and campus buildings.
The MTA launched a campaign calling on members to submit photos of the poor conditions of their workplaces. The pictures were shared on social media and submitted to state legislators as they were debating how to appropriate the pandemic relief funds.
In some cases, reporters followed up on the documentation of working conditions that compromised educators’ and students’ health and safety.
The Bridgewater State University chapter of the Massachusetts State College Association publicized the mold and ventilation issues that plague the campus’s Maxwell Library. People working in the library were experiencing respiratory problems and during hot, humid stretches in the summer, mold grew on books, furniture and elsewhere in the library. The Boston Globe reported on the school’s unwillingness to upgrade the library’s HVAC system.
Shortly after that story ran, the Legislature approved the ARPA bill, and Bridgewater State University’s president announced that most of the $5 million available to the campus from the legislation would be used to fix the library’s ventilation system. With further advocacy from the local union, the administration committed to a timeline.
"It was a long-fought battle through member-driven advocacy, but in the end, we won," said Irina Seceleanu, president of the Bridgewater State MSCA chapter.
With funds being distributed, locals are continuing to press administrators to address health and safety issues in meaningful ways.
Major investments are called for, according to MTA President Merrie Najimy. "MTA educators, parents and students made a powerful case to legislators to provide funding to address building deficiencies that are a result of decades of disinvestment in public education," Najimy said. "We need transformative investments in our public schools and campuses that will lead to a recovery rooted in racial and economic justice. The funding allocated through this ARPA bill is a tremendous victory and presents us with some of the resources needed to meet the urgency of this moment."
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