January 2006 Ed Summit

Summit weighs education problems

The Repubulican
By Mary Ellen Lowney
January 25, 2006

HOLYOKE — Facing shrinking resources and growing educational needs, Western Massachusetts schools are struggling to keep up with federal and state mandates, said officials yesterday.

More than 200 men and women met at the Log Cabin for a Pioneer Valley Planning Commission educational summit aimed at exploring the issues facing parents, schools, and districts.

Attorney Michael Weisman of Boston-based Weisman and Associates, who was the lead counsel in the Hancock v. Driscoll case that charged the state with failing to adequately fund public education, told participants that he believes the state still is failing schoolchildren, even though the court order last year fell short of forcing the state to finish its education reforms.

"The state is not getting the job done, especially in the cities," he said.

"I'm watching. The court has ruled that the state has a constitutional duty to get the job done, and it's not happening. The court may have to step in."

Weisman and others agreed yesterday that the funding formula outlined in the state Education Reform law needs updating - and quickly. Added to state achievement mandates are tough new federal standards under the No Child Left Behind law.

Many children, especially those in urban environments, are not making the grade.

Also addressing the crowd was Paul Reville, president of the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy.

He advised district officials to find ways to do more with less.

"We do have funding issues," he said. "But at the end of the day, education is still the largest investment that communities and the state are making. We've got to make the right decisions using what we have."

Officials working in cities and districts said that funding has been taken up by rising health care costs and utilities, with too little left for such needs as early childhood programs, remedial help for struggling students, and labor contracts.

"Teachers are underpaid and undervalued in our society; we have to deal with that," said Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins, who chairs the city's School Committee.

Edgar Alejandro, co-chairman of the Step-Up Springfield educational initiative, said his city's labor impasse with teachers has gone beyond the critical stage.
Teachers have gone without a contract for almost four years, since before the state-appointed Finance Control Board started running the city's finances in 2004.

"It's time we got this issue resolved, if not for the morale of our teachers, for the children who are impacted on a daily basis," he said. "If we think it's not affecting our schools, we are fooling ourselves."