If the Boston Public Schools have their way, their Fiscal Year 2019 budget will total $1.09 billion, up 4.4 percent in overall funding from last year. Last week, in a memo to school officials announcing the budget, Superintendent Tommy Chang said the increased funding comes despite declining state aid and insufficient reimbursements for charter schools.
“While Mayor Walsh has increased BPS’s annual budget by $170 million since taking office, the state’s Chapter 70 funding has only increased by $8 million,” Chang wrote. “The Commonwealth also continues to underfund charter school reimbursements for cities and towns, which under the Governor’s proposed budget translates into $27 million in lost funding in Boston in FY19 alone and more than $100 million over the last five years.”
Annissa Essaibi-George, who chairs the City Council’s Education Committee, said Tuesday night that the overall budget number should be able to serve the school district, but large chunks of funding are also funneled toward expensive areas like transportation, which is in line for a 3 percent jump this year to $119.1 million.