By Alison Kuznitz
Gov. Maura Healey wants to significantly boost English language learning services for adults and dramatically expand college and career readiness programs.
The investments are among the outlays Healey offered in a supplemental budget filed Wednesday that charts a path for spending about $1.3 billion in unallocated income surtax receipts from wealthier households.
“Across House 1 (and) this supplemental budget, our proposal for FY ‘26 proposes a near-even split between Fair Share funding between education and transportation,” Administration and Finance Secretary Matt Gorzkowicz said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “When you combine what we put in the operating budget with what we put in the supplemental budget, we’ve got equity between (the) two.”
Healey recommended $32.5 million for college and career readiness programs that the governor’s team called “Reimagining High School” initiatives. The administration expects that money will help lead to more than 10,000 students participating in Innovation Career Pathways—which offer coursework and training in fields such as information technology, engineering, health care, life sciences and advanced manufacturing — across 150 high schools.
The funding will also support more than 13,500 students who are projected to participate in early college programs across 100 high schools; more than 61,500 students involved in Career Technical Education programs, across 100 high schools, that the administration wants to modernize; and 1,500 teachers who will receive professional development and curriculum aid for advanced courses.
Healey’s package invests $30 million over the next two years into English for Speakers of Other Languages services for adult learners, with the aim of cutting in half the list of 20,000 people waiting to access literacy services. The one-time education investments also include $150 million for early education and care and $250 million for K-12 education.
For K-12 education, the supplemental budget includes $150 million for the special education circuit breaker reserve and $75 million for Career Technical Education Schools Grants, which A&F says will support capital projects and “capacity-building.
The income surtax spending bill appropriates surplus fiscal 2024 collections. The state had budgeted for $1 billion in surtax collections but ended up hauling in $2.4 billion.
There’s also $25 million for “high dosage” literacy tutoring to support 10,000 students in kindergarten through third grade, with first graders given priority. A&F said the high-dosage tutoring will offer additional reading and writing resources to students struggling with learning loss.
In early education and care, Healey recommends $100 million to bolster and stabilize the system, plus $50 million for the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative as the administration looks to chart a pathway for universal Pre-K.