Massachusetts Students Face Educational Crisis as Resources are Diverted to Support Migrant Influx

Boston, MA - As the 2024-2025 school year approaches, parents across the Commonwealth are grappling with the harsh reality that their children’s education may be at risk. With school budgets being reallocated to support migrant students across Massachusetts, many parents are growing anxious as their children face reduced instructional time and fewer resources. The diversion of funds has left teachers with pink slips and students with a less promising future. School districts are making difficult decisions: cutting bus services, increasing student-athlete fees, canceling advanced classes, and eliminating art programs.

It doesn’t take long to see that towns like Stoughton, which are housing migrant families, are at the heart of the issue. In the past year, Stoughton raised its budget by 7% to meet rising costs, while also being directed by the Healey-Driscoll Administration to house 237 migrant families. However, this 7% increase does little to address the additional expenses, including accommodating 162 new students who now require bus services. Despite this, the school district was forced to eliminate one of its existing buses. According to state law, migrant students must be provided with transportation, even as 150 existing students are left without bus services. Beyond transportation, English language and mental health services are being overwhelmed, not just in Stoughton, but also in towns like Hanover and Brookline.

MassGOP Chair, Amy Carnevale, provided comment on the migrant crisis’s impact on students’ education stating, “The migrant crisis is affecting every facet of life for Massachusetts residents, and now it has reached our most vulnerable population-our children. Students are being deprived of opportunities to reach their full potential as advanced placement classes are cut. Parents are being forced to stretch their budgets to support their children’s passions in sports and the arts. Bus services, once a fundamental resource for working families in Massachusetts, are being taken away.”

“When will this stop? With no end in sight, this crisis is only set to worsen. The Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Democratic supermajority must take decisive action to address the migrant crisis and restore the Massachusetts education system-the pride of our Commonwealth-to its former glory before it’s too late,” Carnevale concluded.