With Election Day 16 days away, we launched a new feature: 16 reasons in 16 days. From now until Election Day, we’ll be unveiling 16 reasons to reelect Tom Sannicandro on Nov. 6 as state representative.

Day 2 (15 days to go): Tom Sannicandro will support school funding and has gotten results

Funding for public schools comes from two main sources: local funding, and state funding.  In the time Tom has been in office, state funding for Ashland and Framingham has tripled.

The reason is he pushed for changes in the school funding formula that helped Ashland and Framingham qualify for more money from the state.

The state’s Supreme Judicial Court required the state to create a funding formula in 1993 to ensure every student in every school would be given a quality education. At that time, Ashland and Framingham dedicated more local money to their schools’ needs than their peer towns and communities. As a result, the state subsidized Ashland and Framingham at a lower rate than other, similar municipalities.

Tom helped change the formula, updating the variables in the formula to more accurately reflect a town’s capability to pay for an adequate education.

As a result, state funding for Ashland and Framingham has gone up 197 percent, compared to a statewide increase of just 31 percent.

Annual increases in school funding are not automatic, they must be fought for each year. If Tom is reelected as state representative, he will support a pro-education agenda, which includes continued advocacy for school funding from the state.

Previous entries:
Oct 22, Day 1: Let's pass the Updated Bottle Bill