Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 15A, § 36

No public school shall receive funds through the professional development schools grant program if, (1) said school is within a city, town, or regional school district in which the share of local expenditures allocated to the support of the public schools has declined in any fiscal year commencing on July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-five, or (2) any schools receiving professional development school grants have received average per pupil support less than that received on average by all other schools of the same classification and grade level in the district, or (3) the absolute level of financial support for the public schools in the city, town or regional school district has decreased in any year since fiscal year nineteen hundred and eighty-six. In the case of a school district which fails to meet the aforementioned criteria, the board of education shall consider as eligible those schools in which the per pupil educational portion of local expenditures, adjusted for inflation and other factors, has not declined in any year since fiscal year nineteen hundred and eighty-six.