Milford Schools May Get 14 Percent Bump In State Aid

MILFORD, MA — Milford is on track to receive about $31.1 million this fiscal year under the state's new education funding formula, up 14 percent from this year, according to preliminary estimates released recently by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Gov. Charlie Baker signed the Student Opportunity Act in November. The new law increases state aid for public schools in Massachusetts by $1.5 billion over seven years. Aimed at closing the so-called "opportunity gap," the law increases state funding for school districts serving higher proportions of students from low-income families.

The bill also revamped the formula the state uses to determine how much local governments need to contribute to public education spending to qualify for state funding, known as Chapter 70 Aid.

But the new formula also requires Milford to contribute more to get aid. Under the new formula, Milford, needs to spend at least $25.9 million on education in fiscal 2021 compared to $24.8 in fiscal 2020.

The final state education funding numbers will be finalized when the legislature completes the state budget.

Patch editor Dave Copeland contributed to this report.