We applaud state Sen. Brendan P. Crighton’s bold approach to addressing equity in public education by aiming squarely at the heart of the problem: aging schools and segregation in school districts.

Crighton, a state senator since 2018, proposed sweeping legislative proposals reforming the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) — the state’s school construction agency — and addressing segregation through a grant program.

Declaring MSBA money available for local school projects “willfully insufficient,” Crighton, with state Reps. Daniel Cahill and Peter Capano, proposed doubling school construction revenue and updating the MSBA’s project selection formula.

These reform ideas aren’t new. But Crighton has melded them with a focus on addressing racial and economic inequity in public schools.

His MSBA funding formula revamp would ensure districts with large proportions of low-income students receive sufficient funds. He would bolster this initiative through his segregation-eliminating grant legislation modeled after a federal initiative passed by the U.S. House in 2020 and Obama-era education reforms.

Crighton isn’t simply proposing a financial solution for achieving racial equity in schools. He has sponsored legislation setting up a special commission to examine racial segregation and its impact on housing, education and transportation in Massachusetts.

As the Third Essex District senator representing Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Nahant, Saugus and Swampscott, Crighton is thoroughly familiar with problems school districts face with aging schools. But he is also a forward-thinking legislator who understands that state policies and funding practices must be revised to ensure real solutions to inequity are conceived and undertaken.

Crighton can pat himself on the back and claim some credit for Pickering Middle School’s re-admittance to the MSBA project list. But his legislative vision extends far beyond his home city and the Third District.

He understands that the MSBA needs a funding formula overhaul, and he understands that school districts can benefit from the option of using a percentage of state school funding to bolster the money they have available for school projects.

He knows that addressing segregation as a byproduct of institutional racism must be done by making changes to the spending formula and by targeting money and policies to achieve integration.

Crighton realizes now is a time of reckoning on race in Massachusetts and America. He has his eyes on the horizon when it comes to proposing legislation aimed at turning this reckoning into a reality defined by equality.

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