Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy released the following statement regarding the state Legislature’s FY26 budget:

Because of the fierce advocacy by union educators and their allies to secure passage of the Student Opportunity Act in 2019 and Fair Share Amendment in 2022, Massachusetts public schools continue to benefit from funding increases in the FY26 budget released June 29 by the Legislature’s conference committee. The SOA continues to help lower-income districts, and Fair Share allowed for a large minimum-aid increase that will benefit middle-income districts. The budget contains better funding for special education services. And we still have free school lunches for all students.

In public higher education, Massachusetts is able to continue free access to community colleges and tuition-free access to state universities and UMass for many families. And public colleges and universities will see more than $100 million in new funds for campus repairs, hopefully the first of a major annual infusion of funds for campus capital needs.

But serious fiscal problems persist in public education from preK to higher ed, and the Legislature must be willing to commit the funding raised by Fair Share for its intended use: a level of investment for public schools and colleges that reflects the high value our residents place on education. Voters clearly stated that the very wealthy should pay slightly higher taxes to support the common good – specifically public education and transportation.

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Higher Education

The budget contains modest increases in higher education, but not enough to begin to address the funding crisis. it includes the following funding amounts:

• $5 million increase in MassGrant Plus Expansion program for scholarships to students attending public colleges and universities.
• $22.7 million increase in state university campus funding compared to FY25.
• $23.7 million increase in community college campus funding compared to the FY25 budget.
• $68 million increase for the University of Massachusetts system compared to the FY25 budget.
• Level funding for state universities’ SUCCESS grant program; a decrease of $746,000 in community colleges’ SUCCESS grant program.
• Level funding for the MassReconnect Scholarship program at $24 million compared to the current FY25 spending.
• $200,000 for the Department of Higher Education to conduct a classification and compensation study of bargaining unit positions within the Massachusetts Community College Council. Under the language, the department is required to submit a report to the Legislature by July 1, 2026, outlining the findings of its study and recommendations for updated job descriptions and salaries.
• The Fair Share Supplemental budget allocated funds for two higher ed initiatives:
  • $115 million for capital programs at public higher education institutions which can be used to to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog.
  • $2.5 million for Tomorrow’s Educators' scholarship programs and student loan repayment assistance.

  Other Priorities/Outside Sections

• $115 million for capital programs at public higher education institutions which can be used to to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog.
• The typical 3% cost-of-living adjustment on the first $13,000 in pension benefits for retired members of the state and teachers’ retirement systems.
• The budget maintains the current health insurance premium splits for state employees who were hired prior July 1, 2003, which was a key MTA priority. We strongly opposed a Senate proposal that would have significantly increased health insurance premium costs for approximately 17,000 active state employees by changing their premium split from 80-20 to 75-25.

FY26 State Budget

With Washington slashing federal funding and aiming to dismantle public education and other bedrocks of our democracy, it’s crucial that Massachusetts address the growing fiscal crisis in our public schools and colleges by providing significant increases in funding

Fortunately, the Fair Share Amendment that MTA members fought so hard to enact is generating more revenue than had been projected – almost $2.5 billion this year alone. Now, we as the Commonwealth have the resources we need to provide all of our students with a great public education that will allow them to thrive.

The House takes some initial steps in addressing the severe fiscal crisis that is undermining the capacity of schools across Massachusetts. We are especially pleased with the $150-per pupil amount proposed in minimum aid, up from $75 in the governor’s budget. This is something for which we have long advocated and will help address funding issues in middle-income districts. However, we still have a long way to go to address the crisis facing our schools and colleges.

The bullet points list some of the noteworthy education items in the House budget. All education appropriations and comparisons to the FY26 governor’s proposal and the FY25 budget can be found on this page.

Higher Education

The budget contains modest increases in higher education line items, but not enough to begin to address the crisis in higher education funding. Proposals include:

• An increase of $21.7 million in state university campus funding compared to FY25.
• An increase of $23 million in community college campus funding compared to the FY25 budget.
• An $80 million increase for the University of Massachusetts system, compared to the FY25 budget.
• New funding of $10 million for University of Massachusetts SUCCESS grant program.
• Level funding of the MassGrant Plus, MassReconnect and MassEducate scholarship programs.
• Rejection of the governor’s plan to increase the share of health costs paid by long-term employees and retirees.

Other Priorities/Outside Sections

• The budget authorizes a new, one-time opportunity for teachers to enroll in RetirementPlus. This provision was added during the amendment process with the strong support of the MTA and is nearly identical to the version that passed the House at the end of last session.
• A new program for immigrant legal services is funded at $5.075 million.
• Auto-enrollment in the state SMART Plan (a 457 retirement plan) for new employees (and a local option for municipal employees), which is an MTA legislative priority.
• The budget provides the typical 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on the first $13,000 in pension benefits for retired members of the state and teachers’ retirement systems.

Thanks largely to funding from the Fair Share Amendment, the budget proposal has some good news on public school funding. The funding increases, however, only begin to address the severe fiscal crisis facing our schools and some are new initiatives that we will continue to evaluate to determine if they are likely to be helpful or could be problematic.

• The proposal includes a $420 million increase in Chapter 70. This is significantly larger than last year’s increase of $317 million. That is primarily because inflation is higher, not because of a policy change by the governor. Of the $420 million increase, $225 million comes through Fair Share funds.
• Minimum aid is funded at $75 per pupil. The governor proposed $30 per pupil last year and the final budget included $104.
• Regional transportation reimbursement is increased to 95%, and the appropriation increases by $22.6 million.
• The Special Education Circuit Breaker is fully funded. In FY25 the transportation component for this program was significantly underfunded, at 44%.
• Literacy Launch, the state’s early literacy initiative, is funded at $25 million, an increase from $20 million in FY25.
• The governor also proposed spending Fair Share surplus funds on several preK-12 initiatives: $32 million for “reimagining high school,” prioritizing college and career readiness; $75 million for capital/grants for career technical education schools; $30 million for adult basic education/ESOL; $50 million for the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative; $25 million for high-dosage tutoring, or small-group or one-one-one tutoring, to help students learn to read. It appears that those allocations could be spent over several years.

In higher education spending, there is one major new initiative, continued funding of major victories from the last two years, and some reductions.

The governor’s budget proposal allocates $125 million from Fair Share funds each year, which will support $2.5 billion to $3 billion in capital funding for infrastructure improvements across public higher education campuses.

The budget maintains funding for free community college and the major expansions of MassGrant Plus, to make higher education more affordable for low- and middle-income students. It also maintains funding for SUCCESS, wraparound support services for students at both community colleges and state universities.

Campus appropriations were generally up by at least 6% to 8%, reflecting the costs of collective bargaining agreements and the FY25 formula grant amounts being rolled into campus line items.

The governor does not fund the line items that distribute additional aid, through a formula, to community colleges and state universities. That is the way increases in funding are generally provided to those colleges and universities. In FY25 community colleges received $3.76 million and state universities, $7.31 million.

Tomorrow’s Teachers — a program that provides generous scholarships to students at public colleges and universities who commit to teach in our public schools, and debt relief for public school educators — is essentially level funded at $2.5 million.

The budget also includes several tax policy proposals that will raise state revenue, including capping deductions for charitable contributions, which generates $164 million; closing loopholes to raise $145 million; and subjecting candy to the state’s sales tax, which raises another $25 million.

The budget also proposes increasing the share of health care premiums paid by longtime and retired state employees. Currently, employees hired after FY03 pay 25% of their premiums, while employees hired before that pay 20%. Retired employees pay between 10% and 20% of their premiums, depending on their retirement date. The budget proposes that all employees and retirees would instead pay 25 p% of their health care premiums.