Which school aid plan better
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Clive McFarlane
April 26, 2003
The formulation of direct education aid to cities and towns -- Chapter 70 funding -- has always been complex, but with the state facing a fiscal crisis the aid has become the clearest barometer of whether a district will terminate programs, close schools or lay off teachers.
Under Gov. Mitt Romney's budget proposal, Worcester has decided to close three schools and middle school programs as part of a plan to erase a $14.6 million deficit in next year's budget. This deficit exists despite the school system getting some $9 million more in Chapter 70 funding under the governor's budget than it did the previous year. Medical insurance premiums and raises in teacher salaries are among the factors contributing to the deficit.
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The dilemma is that the governor's and the House budget reflect two philosophically different approaches to K-12 public education funding.
The House budget, to a large extent, expects local districts to carry their fair share of the education burden and is relying on the Chapter 70 funding formula that anchored the state's financial commitment to public education under the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993.
Using about 19 different factors, including a district's population and tax base, the formula created a foundation budget, or an adequate level of spending for every school district.
Additionally, the law established a formula to ensure that each community contributes a fair share of local resources (fair effort amount) to school support.
The calculation for this formula is based on a district's property values and average personal income.
Under this approach, the city of Worcester would need to provide an additional $9 million in education aid, bringing its total share of the school budget to about $64 million.
On the other hand, Mr. Romney wants to ease the funding burden on cities and towns by reducing their local contribution and having the state pick up the tab in Chapter 70 aid.
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But while the ''cash in hand'' under the governor's budget might look good now, in the long run school spending will suffer, according to S. Paul Reville, a lecturer on education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and chairman of the state's Educational Review Commission.
''Under the governor's proposal there is no rational basis for what the foundation budget is,'' Mr. Reville said.
The big fear, according to Mr. Reville, is that under the governor's budget, local districts dramatically diminish their commitment to public education.
''It is arbitrarily selected. It might be good this year, but as time changes, we will not be able to make a rational argument in support of an adequate spending level because we have dropped the analysis of the component.''
Mr. Reville also pointed out that the governor's budget proposal cut many additional sources of funding, including Lottery reimbursement, that favor cities and towns such as Worcester.
The house budget, he said, has restored most of those additional funding sources.
''I am betting the House budget provides more money to Worcester overall, and that will allow the city to spend above foundation in ways it would do before,'' Mr. Reville said.
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Meanwhile, the last word on Chapter 70 spending might not be with the Senate budget, which has not yet been released, but with several ongoing court cases challenging the state's commitment to spending equity on education.
The current formula on Chapter 70 spending was crafted in large part to respond to the 1993 state Supreme Judicial Court ruling that the inequities in spending in school districts across the state were unconstitutional.
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