Baker Signs Student Opportunity Act, Committing $1.5 Billion to Massachusetts Schools

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6118 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

BOSTON — Governor Baker signs $1.5 billion Student Opportunity Act at English High School in Boston. The law, signed Wednesday during the school's Thanksgiving week pep rally, rewrites Massachusetts's school funding formula for the first time since the Education Reform Act of 1993, committing an estimated $1.5 billion in additional state education aid over seven years. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said the legislation translates to roughly $1,800 more per student annually in Boston, a city where 58 percent of English High students speak a language other than English at home.

Senate Education Co-Chair Jason Lewis, who called the moment "right up there with my wedding day and the birth of my two daughters," and House Co-Chair Representative Alice Pysh shepherded the bill through a bipartisan conference process. Senate President Karen Spilka said she first organized a statewide coalition to change the Chapter 70 formula 20 years ago; House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he gave his word the House would pass the bill at a 2018 meeting with Foundation Budget Review Commission members. Pysh cautioned that the signing is "just the first step" and called accountability "not a dirty word."

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Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6118 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.