Schools Your Kids Deserve

Our roads are getting fixed. Our schools are facing cuts.

Adjusted for inflation, your city's unrestricted state aid grew just 5% in twelve years. That is why your property taxes keep climbing.

Chart showing the state's share of city budgets declining from 2014 to 2025

25% → 15%

Somerville

19% → 16%

Medford

10% → 8%

Winchester

7% → 7%

Cambridge

The state did not cut your aid. It did something quieter.

Since 2014, the state has sent your city more dollars every year — about 44% more in total. Politicians will tell you aid is at "record levels." That is technically true in raw dollars.

But your city's costs grew faster. Construction costs, health insurance, educator salaries, special education — all of it climbed faster than the aid the state was sending. Adjusted for inflation, your city's unrestricted state aid grew just 5% in twelve years.

That is not a budget shortfall. That is a structural problem. And it did not happen by accident.

What that looks like in your city

Medford — The city had to ask voters for a property tax increase for the first time in 44 years to prevent educators from losing their jobs and to begin addressing tens of millions of dollars in deferred infrastructure repairs.

Somerville — The initial FY2027 budget proposal is asking public schools to absorb a $1 million cut to account for a $5.3 million city deficit. The Somerville Educators' Union calls the proposed school budget "well below level-service."

Winchester — An $11.5 million override — the largest ever proposed — failed by fewer than 300 votes. The community is facing educator layoffs, possibly reduced library hours, and cuts to first responders.

Cambridge — The city is bracing for the loss of $23 million in annual federal funding on top of the state aid gap, with the city manager calling it "a troubling and uncertain time."

Four cities. Four versions of the same forced choice: cut services your community depends on, or ask your neighbors to tax themselves more for things the state should be funding.

Your home price went up. Your school funding went down.

The state formula uses your property's market value — what your home would sell for — as a measure of how wealthy your city is. The higher your home values climb, the less state help your schools get.

But under Proposition 2½, your city can only increase the total amount it collects in property taxes by 2.5% per year, no matter how fast home values rise.

So when property values surge, the state formula concludes your city is rich. But your city's actual ability to collect revenue barely moved.

The formula measures what your home is worth. It should measure what your city can actually raise.

We already proved this can be fixed

For more than a decade, Chapter 90 — the state program that pays for road and bridge repairs — was frozen at $200 million while construction costs climbed every year. Cities were falling behind.

But municipal leaders organized. Legislators made the case. And the House voted 155 to 0 to pass a transportation bond bill that raised Chapter 90 to $300 million — a 50% increase. For our district: $1.27 million for Medford, $1.53 million for Somerville, $3.29 million for Cambridge, and $755,000 for Winchester.

If we can do that for roads, we can do it for the aid that funds our schools, our firefighters, and our libraries.

The plan

The state is reviewing the Chapter 70 formula right now — the first serious review of the local contribution methodology in a generation. The study is due June 30, 2026, and the FY2027 state budget begins moving through the legislature this month. This is the window.

Fix the formula's broken ruler — The state should measure what cities and towns can actually collect under Proposition 2½ — not what their real estate happens to be worth on the open market.

Grow unrestricted aid faster than inflation — Unrestricted General Government Aid needs to grow at the rate your costs are actually growing, not at a rate that sounds like a record but loses ground every year.

Pay educators what they deserve — I have filed the Act Relative To Educator Pay, which would guarantee a minimum salary of $55,000 for education support professionals.

Push the DESE study to go further — The current study must examine constrained property revenue as an alternative to equalized valuation. If the study punts on the core measurement problem, the broken formula gets locked in for another decade.

I dug into twelve years of state financial records for every city in this district. You deserve to see what is actually happening with your money.

Data sources: MA DOR Division of Local Services Schedule A General Fund Revenue Reports (FY2014–FY2025), Cherry Sheet Trend Data, DESE Chapter 70 program spreadsheets, H.5375 (transportation bond bill).

What I Am Fighting For

The plan.

Fix the Chapter 70 formula so it measures what cities can actually raise, not what homes happen to be worth
Grow unrestricted state aid faster than inflation
Guarantee a $55,000 minimum salary for education support professionals
Push the DESE formula study to address the core measurement problem before it gets locked in for another decade

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