It’s Back to School at the MA State House. Here’s How You Can Support Public Education.

Earlier this month was back to school season. The backpacks big and small. The school buses. The returning college students. The proud parents taking photos.

Back-to-school season is always a reminder of how critical a reminder of is how critical our investments in public education are. Schools open doors to students for skills, experiences, and pathways to their future lives. Our public schools are anchors of communities. They are engines of democracy and economic opportunity. And they are essential vehicles for reducing economic and racial disparities.

That’s why we’re fighting for legislation this session to improve the full spectrum of education, from child care and pre-K to K-12 schools to public higher ed. Here’s what’s happening–and how you can help.

This Past Monday: Cherish Act Hearing

On Monday, more than a hundred people were in Gardner Auditorium at the State House to support the Cherish Act.

The Cherish Act lays out a comprehensive blueprint for supporting public higher education:

debt-free public higher education
increased student supports
better wages and working conditions
green & healthy buildings

Over the course of the hearing, the Joint Committee on Higher Education heard powerful testimony from students struggling to make ends meet, graduates facing mountains of debt, and adjunct faculty lacking basic benefits on the job, underscoring the importance of investing in public higher ed.

If you weren’t able to attend on Monday, here are two things you can still do:

Action Network: Urge the Higher Education Committee to report the Cherish Act favorably out of committee: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urge-your-legislators-to-support-the-cherish-act/.
Follow the Higher Ed for All coalition on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahigheredforall

Wednesday, October 4: Thrive Act Hearing

Sign up to share that you’re joining us for the Thrive Act hearing on October 4th!

Location: Gardner Auditorium

Time: 2pm – 8pm

The Thrive Act would end the state’s ineffective approach to educational assessment and improvement by:

Replacing the undemocratic and ineffective state takeover of local public schools with actual improvement plans and processes
Replacing the (mis)use of MCAS as a graduation requirement with graduation based on successful completion of coursework that meets state standards and frameworks
Establishing a commission to create an authentic, whole-child system for assessment and accountability.

The state has a responsibility to help all students and schools succeed, but, even by their own measures, the state’s interventions have not worked. It’s time to replace top-down ineffective punitive approaches with approaches that build local capacity, address root causes, and truly help students thrive.

In addition to showing up, here’s how you can help:

Testify in person or virtually! Share your story about why this is important to you. Sign up to testify here! (deadline: October 3rd at 3 pm)
Join a Testimony workshop: If you’d like support with your testimony, attend a testimony writing workshop hosted by the Thrive Act Coalition.
Help us spread the message about the hearing!

Tuesday, October 17: Common Start Hearing

Massachusetts families need affordable and accessible child care and early education. Instead, our state has some of the highest costs in the country, while at the same time many providers are at risk of closure and early educators are not compensated enough for their work. It’s clear: we need a new system.

The Common Start bills would strengthen our commonwealth’s child care and early education infrastructure through a combination of direct-to-provider operational funding and family financial assistance to reduce costs to families while compensating providers for the true cost of providing quality care.

The legislative hearing for the Common Start bills will be on October 17th at 1:00 PM. While the room is yet to be announced, we know that it’s critical for Common Start to show up in full force and pack the hearing room so the Legislature and the Joint Committee on Education know how much support there is for affordable, accessible, early education and care!

The coalition will be organizing buses from various parts of the state and wants to gauge interest. If you can join on October 17 at the State House and would be interested in organized transportation, please fill out this form.

If you would like to write testimony in support of H.489 / S.301, feel free to reference our written testimony guidelines and written testimony template, and if you have any questions about writing testimony, please reach out to James at james@field-first.com.

Common Start higher ed public education

NEXT WEEK: Show Your Support for Public Higher Ed, State House Employee Union

With the summer over, the Legislature is getting back into the swing of things, with a number of hearings coming up soon. Here are two key ones next week — and what you can do to help.

Monday, 9/18: Hearing on the Cherish Act

On Monday, at 10 AM in Gardner Auditorium at the State House, the Joint Committee on Higher Education will be holding a hearing on the Cherish Act.

Our public colleges and universities are essential vehicles for economic mobility and economic stability. However, our state has been underinvesting from public higher education for the last two decades. When the state reduces funding to public colleges and universities, the result is higher tuition and fees, and a growing debt burden faced by students and families.

The Cherish Act (S.816; H.1260) is a comprehensive response to the problems facing public higher ed today and charts a vision for what a higher education system for all would look like. The bill has four key parts:

Debt-Free Public Higher Education
Increased Student Supports
Recruitment and Retention of High-Quality Faculty and Staff
Green, Healthy, and Safe Campus Facilities

Click here to RSVP for Monday’s hearing.

Click here to register to take a free bus to/from the hearing.

Click here to submit written testimony.

Click here to sign up for a virtual written testimony workshop.

Click here to urge your legislators to attend the Cherish Act Hearing.

Click here to learn more about the Higher Ed for All Coalition!

Wednesday, 9/20: Show Your Support for the State House Staff

Last year, State Senate staffers announced that a majority of their colleagues had signed union authorization cards in March of 2022. They requested voluntary recognition from our Senate President, and after delaying for three months, she refused to recognize the union.

Since then, the Senate has maintained a card majority despite major turnover, and organizers are over 2/3 of the way to a majority in the MA House. In order to unionize, however, they need to change state law on public sector unionization.

H.3069/S.2014, An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees, will get a hybrid public hearing in front of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on September 20th at 1pm. These bills would extend to State House staff the same right to unionize, if they choose, that almost all workers in the Commonwealth already enjoy.

Read and sign onto written testimony from MSHEU requesting the SARO Committee support the bills. Please sign the letter from organizations/unions/supportive individuals.
Register to testify in person, or virtually, at the hearing on Sept 20th. You can fill out the linked form by 5:00 PM on Monday, September 18th to register.
Email your state legislators to ask them to co-sponsor H.3069 and S.2014.

beacon hill higher ed workers rights

It’s Time to Raise the Minimum Wage Again

Labor unions have always been a driving force behind every minimum wage increase in Massachusetts and across the US. Let’s continue to honor Labor Day by acknowledging recent gains and continuing the fight for fair wages.

We’ve been proud to fight alongside labor for a fair and just economy in coalitions like Raise Up Massachusetts, and we’ve had some big victories, such as winning a $15 minimum wage and paid family and medical leave.

From 2013 to 2018, RUM worked to bring the statewide minimum wage closer to a minimum wage, and given the stagnation of the federal minimum wage, that $15 is something to be proud of. But it’s still not a living wage.

And given the rising costs of health care, housing, child care, and basic goods, it doesn’t stretch as far as it did in June of 2018.

That’s why it’s time to raise the minimum wage again.

New legislation, filed earlier this year by Sen. Jason Lewis and Reps. Tram Nguyen and Dan Donahue would raise the minimum wage to $20 and index it to inflation so that it doesn’t lose value over time.

Can you write to your state legislators in support of raising the minimum wage?

economic justice workers rights

Celebrate Labor Day by Supporting the Massachusetts State House Employee Union

Yesterday — Labor Day — your state legislators likely talked about how much they support labor here in Massachusetts. Pro-labor legislators need to not only support unions organizing across the state but also support those organizing in the State House itself.

If you have ever interacted with your state representative’s or state senator’s office, you know how hard-working State House aides are. They coordinate the responses to constituent services requests, they connect people to needed agencies and services, they help draft and decipher policy, they staff community events across the district, and much, much more.

But compared to the work that they do and the talent that they have, they are underpaid, and they lack a voice at the job.

Despite the organizing work by the Massachusetts State House Employee Union, the MA Legislature has yet to voluntarily recognize the union, and many otherwise staunchly pro-labor legislators have yet to voice their support.

When State House staff are not provided fair wages, safe and healthy work conditions, or a seat at the table, we lose talent and limit who can even consider entering public service in the first place. When we don’t have all of the diverse voices of the Commonwealth at the table, we miss vital perspectives in crafting policy.

Can you write to your state legislators today to support collective bargaining rights for State House staff?

S.2014 / H.3069 (An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees) would permit legislative staff in the House and Senate to form a union, if they want to, for the purpose of negotiating their wages, benefits, and working conditions.

To learn more about legislative staffers’ union drive, visit: https://statehouseemployeeunion.org/.

One More Way to Take Action

Want to help us reach our to more people? This summer, we restarted an Activist Afternoons series. For the fall, we’ll be switching to weekdays.

Tomorrow, at 6:30 pm, we’ll be making calls in support of these bills.

Can you join us tomorrow?

labor

Here’s What Fair Share Is Delivering in its First Year

Last year, voters like you showed up in November to vote for the Fair Share Amendment because you understood the importance of a fairer tax code and greater investment in public education and transportation. And you didn’t just show up to vote — you canvassed, phone-banked, text-banked, tabled, spoke to neighbors, and much more.

Now that Governor Maura Healey has signed the FY 2024 budget, we can see how much the Fair Share Amendment has delivered in its first year. Let’s take a look.

$229 million for public colleges and universities
$224 million for K-12 public schools
$70.5 million for early education and care
$175 million for roads and bridges
$95.7 million for regional public transit
$205.8 million for the MBTA

✅$229 million for public colleges and universities ✅$224 million for K-12 public schools ✅ $70.5 million for early education and care ✅$175 million for roads and bridges ✅$95.7 million for regional public transit ✅$205.8 million for the MBTA

For early education and K-12 public education, that means….

For early education and care, that means $25 million for reducing the early education and care waitlist, $15 million for additional early education and care slots, $25 million for early educator and pay benefits, $5.5 million for expansion of pre-K. For K-12, public schools, that means....$150 million for school building projects and green schools, $69 million for universal school meals, $5 million for early college programs

For public higher education, that means….

For roads, bridges, and regional transit, that means….

For roads and bridges, that means $100 million for municipal roads and bridges, $50 million for state bridges, and $25 million for federal matching funds. For regional transit, that means $90 million for regional transit agencies(funding fare-free pilot program, expanded service hours, weekend services, and route expansions) and $5.7 million for ferry service.

For the MBTA, that means…

(See a written version of this information here.)

But Wait…The Fight Continues

The new revenue raised by the Fair Share Amendment could be at risk this fall if the Legislature passes major tax giveaways for the ultra-rich and large corporations.

Massachusetts needs to prioritize spending on what will make our state truly affordable, equitable, and competitive: programs that support working people and ensure a labor force adequate to our economy’s needs. That, in turn, requires that families have affordable housing, childcare, educational opportunities, and reliable transportation to make it possible for them to work, gain skills, and earn a good living.

We need to act NOW to protect the Fair Share Amendment from tax avoidance, and ensure that Massachusetts can invest more in our schools, colleges, roads, bridges, and public transit systems. At the same time, we need to make sure our legislators don’t give away billions of dollars to the ultra-rich.

Can you write to your state legislators to thank them for the budget victories and urge them to protect Fair Share revenue?

Fair Share public education public transit revenue tax fairness

📣Good News in the State Budget — and Next Steps

On Monday (a month past the deadline), the MA House and Senate came to an agreement on the budget for the next fiscal year.

We wanted to highlight some of the important victories in it:

Tuition equity for all students regardless of immigration status
Permanent funding for universal school meals
No Cost Calls, keeping incarcerated individuals and their families connected

FY 2024 budget victories from the surrounding text (Graduation cap, school meal, mother with child on phone)

These victories came because of people like you reaching out to your legislators (and then reaching out to friends to do so too) and keeping the momentum going.

The budget also contained transformative new investments because of the Fair Share amendment, which you voted for and organized for last year.

Raise Up MA @RaiseUpMA · Jul 31 With the state budget released last night, voters can now see exactly how the first billion dollars from the #FairShare Amendment will be spent. Legislators are delivering on the promise of the Fair Share Amendment by making new investments in transportation & public education. Raise Up MA @RaiseUpMA This year, Fair Share funding will help: 🚃Upgrade the MBTA 👩‍🎓Make public college more affordable 🌉Repair bridges 🍱Provide free school meals for all students 🏫Build green schools 🚍Expand local bus service 🚸Increase access to early education ⛴️Support new ferry service

But the fight is not over yet…..

Call Gov. Healey to urge her to sign the budget

The budget doesn’t become law until Gov. Healey signs it.

Can you call her office at (617) 725-4005 to urge her to support Tuition Equity, Permanent Universal School Meals, and No Cost Calls without changes?

The call can be short and sweet: it just needs that simple message.

Urge Your State Legislators to Reject Tax Cuts for the Ultra-Rich and Large Corporations

Although the Legislature came to an agreement on the budget, they are still in negotiations about a tax reform package.

Can you write to your state legislators to thank them for the budget victories and urge them to protect Fair Share revenue?

budget Fair Share no cost calls school meals tax fairness tuition equity

Take Action for Healthy Youth

Across the country — and unfortunately, here in Massachusetts — we are seeing right-wing advocates mobilizing on behalf of narrowing school curricula, banning books, and erasing the experiences of LGBTQ youth.

That’s why we were happy when Governor Healey took a step to move Massachusetts in the opposite direction–that of inclusion.

It may come as a shock, but the sex ed curriculum framework for schools here in Massachusetts was last updated in 1999.

Healey’s proposed updated curriculum framework reflects the Healthy Youth Act in requiring that sex ed is comprehensive, medically accurate, age-appropriate, consent-based, and inclusive — as it should be, and as it should have been a generation ago.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is soliciting public comment on this new draft comprehensive health and physical education curriculum framework through Monday, August 28.

Can we count on you to join us in submitting supportive comments by the 28th? Can you think of 5 friends, family,colleagues or neighbors who care about kids getting the comprehensive education they need to make smart and healthy choices? Can you ask them to join us? This is how the opposition is gathering comments and we need to meet this challenge.

You can find the Healthy Youth Coalition’s toolkit and a sample template below. In solidarity,

Submit public comments in support of the new draft MA Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Curriculum Framework

You can submit public comment one of three ways:

Submit using the Public Comment Survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6646350/Comprehensive-Health-and-Physical-Education-Framework-Public-Comment
Email to Kristen McKinnon at chpef@mass.gov
Mail to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Attention: Kristen McKinnon, 75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 0213

How to Write a Comment:

The Healthy Youth Coalition has helpful guide for submitting public comment, with talking points here.

Here’s a sample for you to use if you want to get started:

I am writing today in full support of the new comprehensive health and physical education curriculum framework. Having an updated framework that is grounded in science and reflects best practices will help health educators teach students what they need to know at every grade level.

It is especially important that students have a health curriculum that emphasizes the importance of consent to healthy relationships and one that is inclusive of students of all gender identities and sexual orientations.

I urge BESE to vote to adopt this new Framework and I look forward to learning how DESE will support educators to implement it in their classrooms.

healthy youth

Pro-Vaccine Voices Needed: Send in Testimony in Support of the Community Immunity Act

Yesterday, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health heard testimony on the Community Immunity Act.

If we want to be ready for the next pandemic, or even just ready for the next outbreak of a disease we thought we were decades past, we need to be strengthening and standardizing our infrastructure for immunization. We need to leave the past three years with lessons borne out in policy.

The Community Immunity Act is an essential part of that path forward. The bill facilitates robust data collection to assess gaps in statewide vaccine delivery, standardizes immunization protocols for our schools and other youth programs, and supports local interventions in communities lacking herd immunity against dangerous (and even deadly) yet preventable diseases.

Two years ago, I testified in support of the bill and was horrified by much of what I heard during the hearing. Over 15+ hours back in July 2021, the Committee heard from literally hundreds of individuals who espoused toxic disinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, grossly distorted and flatly misstated the content of the Community Immunity Act, and personally attacked the character of any legislators and public health professionals who care about strong immunization policy and infectious disease prevention.

That’s why voices of people like YOU, who believe in pro-science and pro-public-health policy, are so important.

Can you submit written testimony in support of the Community Immunity Act?

You can use the link above or copy, paste, and adapt the text from it and send it to Rosalind Jordan (rosalind.jordan@mahouse.gov) and Brian Rosman Brian.Rosman@masenate.gov).

A Week Full of Hearings

This week has been full of hearings at the State House. If you haven’t already, make sure your voice gets heard in support of the following bills that we spoke about in recent emails:

vaccination

📣Take Action in Support of No Cost Calls & the Prison Moratorium

Last year, after impressive organizing work from impacted communities, the MA Legislature passed No Cost Calls and the Prison Moratorium.

But neither became law because of our former Republican governor, Charlie Baker, who vetoed them at the end of the session.

We now have a new session, a new governor, and a new opportunity to complete these wins.

Earlier today, the Judiciary Committee on Beacon Hill held testimony on both of these and other bills. The case for both is still clear.

We know that we cannot incarcerate our way to public safety, and that investing in communities, not new prisons, helps communities to thrive.

And we know that keeping families connected, by ending the practice of charging predatory fees for phone calls to loved ones behind bars, is good for public safety and economic security.

And Beacon Hill knew both of these last year when they passed such legislation. Both chambers also recognized the importance of No Cost Calls when they included similar language in their FY 2024 budgets, still stuck in negotiations.

We shouldn’t have to wait until July of next year to finish these victories.

Can you email the State Legislature in support of No Cost Calls and the Prison Moratorium?

decarceration no cost calls

Hybrid Meeting Access Has Been Great for Democracy. Let’s Make It Permanent.

I’ve been happy to see the return of in-person hearings at the State House. There’s a liveliness to a hearing room that can’t be replicated on virtual platforms.

But what I’m even happier about is that the Massachusetts State House has kept the option of virtual testimony for hearings. Not everyone has the ability to trek to downtown Boston and wait for hours for their time to testify. Perhaps because of a job with rigid hours. Or small children at home. Or difficulties with transportation or mobility in general.

Keeping this remote access is critical, and it’s to the State House’s credit that they have done so. But we need to see it expanded across city and state government.

An Act to Modernize Participation in Public Meetings (H.3040 / S.2024) would make the hybrid meeting accessibility we’ve seen over the past few years permanent, prioritizing state agencies and elected municipal bodies and providing resources to cities and towns to make the change.

If you are able to testify in person or virtually, you can sign up here by 3 pm today. (Wouldn’t it be nice if the Legislature gave at least a week of notice? A fight for another day….)

But even if you can’t testify in person or virtually, your written testimony still matters. Can you email the Legislature in support of hybrid meeting access for all?

democracy