Mass. Senate announces first draft budget

On Tuesday, the Massachusetts state Senate released their draft version of the FY17 budget. Next, senators will propose and debate amendments to this budget.

We are supporting three amendments as part of this process.

Early Education Rate Reserve Amendment, Sen. Michael Moore – Invests an additional $10 million early childhood education with a critical investment through the workforce (line item 1599-0042). We’re struggling to keep high-quality educators in the field, which has a 30% turnover rate. Massachusetts should lead on education, but we have a ways to go on early education.

Restore Kindergarten Expansion Funding, Sen. Brian Joyce – Restores some $16 million in cuts to kindergarten expansion grants.

Early Education Quality Improvement, Sen. Linda Dorcena – Invests $2 million in additional funds to help early education programs raise and maintain their level of quality, which is critical to meeting our standards for effective early learning programs (line item 3000-1020).