As lawmakers try again this session to rework the way the state funds public schools, there will be one new set of hands at the controls.
Rep. Alice Peisch is returning for a fifth term as the House chair of the Education Committee. Her longtime co-chair, Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, is off the committee entirely this session, and Sen. Jason Lewis was announced Thursday as Senate President Karen Spilka’s pick for the chairmanship.
“I’ve got some big shoes to fill in taking on the leadership of the Education Committee with Sen. Chang-Diaz having led that committee for a number of years and doing a phenomenal job, so I’m going to first start by learning a lot from her and getting up to speed,” Lewis said.
Peisch, of Wellesley, and Chang-Diaz, of Jamaica Plain, had chaired the committee together since 2011.
Last year, the pair led the ultimately unsuccessful negotiations to reconcile competing school finance reform bills and were unable to reach consensus by a July 31 deadline.
They also co-chaired the Foundation Budget Review Commission that in 2015 reported the state’s school funding formula underestimates the cost of education by $1 billion a year by inadequately accounting for expenses associated with health care, special education, and teaching low-income students and English language learners.
That commission’s report has been a catalyst for efforts to revamp the formula, including a bill filed this session by Gov. Charlie Baker and another Chang-Diaz rolled out last month, dubbed the Promise Act.
Lewis, of Winchester, noted Thursday he was the first Senate co-sponsor of Chang-Diaz’s bill and said he has worked with her for years on education issues.
“I anticipate working very closely with her and with other senators as well,” Lewis told reporters after the caucus where Senate Democrats ratified Spilka’s committee appointments. “Education funding is a top priority issue, I can say for every senator and representative, because nothing is more important in any of our districts than supporting our public schools.”
Lewis, who has served in the Senate since 2014 and spent five years in the House before that, said school funding issues were what originally drove him to run for office. The Winchester Public Schools experienced “significant cuts” 2002 and 2003, he said, and his daughter’s school asked for parent volunteers so it could keep its library open.
Chang-Diaz now chairs the Children, Families and Persons With Disabilities Committee and the Marijuana Policy Committee. She is vice-chair of the Judiciary Committee and a member of the Election Laws, Financial Services, and Public Safety and Homeland Security committees.
In a statement, Chang-Diaz indicated she’ll continue pursuing work on education funding reform despite the committee shakeup. She described the Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Committee as “enormously impactful” to residents of her district, and, referring to the the Marijuana Policy Committee’s work, said, “Shaping an emerging billion dollar industry in Massachusetts is also no small undertaking.”
“Between chairing those two committees and working with parents, students, educators, and local leaders to pass the PROMISE Act this summer, I’m excited for the work ahead,” she said.
Whether the new leadership on the Senate side will make a difference is something that “will remain to be seen,” House Vice Chair Rep. Paul Tucker said.
“But I’m sure that as the speaker does, I’m sure the Senate president put the right people in place that she feels can get things done,” he told the News Service.
Of Peisch, Tucker said, “She’s great. She’s a strong leader, and nobody knows education on the legislative side better than her.”
Tucker has served on the Education Committee for four years, and succeeds the late Rep. Chris Walsh of Framingham as its vice chair. Tucker and Sen. Joan Lovely, the Senate vice chair, are both from Salem.
Tucker said he’s excited about the attention being paid to education funding reform “across the board, from the governor to the Senate to the House” this session.
“It came close last year, a lot of good work was put into it, and I think this is the session that we actually get it to the finish line.”
Lewis said he is looking forward to working with others in and outside of state government to “get to yes on updating our Chapter 70 formula.”
Lewis is also the Senate sponsor of a proposal to institute a surtax on incomes over $1 million, with the revenue funding education and transportation needs, known as the Fair Share Amendment or the millionaire’s tax.
“That’s an important issue that I’m committed to working on as well,” Lewis said. “They’re separate issues, but of course I do believe that if we’re going to fully fund our public schools and implement the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission, that is going to take additional revenues in the years to come. We have to obviously discuss all the details here and what the timeframe would be for phasing in these changes, but I think if we’re going to fully fund our public schools, if we’re going to provide adequate funding for higher education and of course also our transportation needs, I do believe that the best way and the fairest way to do that is to pass the Fair Share Amendment.”
