Budgets Shrink as Pressures Rise for Massachusetts Schools

As published in The Gardner News, February 4, 2011


There are mounting pressures on the landscape of Pre K - 12 education. While the federal government is investing billions of dollars into the transformation of public education, via the Race to the Top Fund, cities and towns across our great nation are struggling to come up with the fiscal means to sustain their educational achievements, however great or small they may be.


At the same time, officials at the state level are debating whether or not school districts should be consolidated in efforts to increase capacity, decrease expenditure, and improve student performance. And on top of all of this, there is even more debate about the creation or abolition of charter schools.

While the aforementioned issues seem to be separate, a common theme exists. The Race to the Top Fund is actually $4.35 billion; cities and towns are looking at ways to spend less because there is not enough to go around; state officials are looking at the expense of education in small districts versus large districts, and the major debate about charter schools is that when they are formed, they divert much needed funding from local public schools, thereby making public school improvement increasingly difficult.

I have found that my educational colleagues have differing views about the aforementioned. While administrators in large districts seek their districts’ share of Race to the Top funds, administrators from small districts groan at the seemingly insignificant dollar amounts they are scheduled to receive. Some school officials are doing all that they can to partner up with neighboring schools in shared purchasing agreements and combined services, while others see consolidation efforts as an attack on local autonomy.

Yet while all of these debates ensue, school happens. While President Barack Obama is on television supporting high achieving charter schools, while State Rep. Marty Walz, D- Boston, is in deliberations about state-mandated district realignment and regionalization, and while superintendents are pleading with local finance committees not to slash education funding in the next fiscal year, the students are walking through our doors ready to learn. Not surprisingly, parents are also expecting that we will deliver on our promise to prepare each child to maximize his or her human potential.

Most school districts in Massachusetts receive more than $11,000 per student per year for the purposes of education. With this in mind, you have the right to expect the very best for those who are attending your schools. For those not directly involved in public education, you can help your schools improve too. You may be a town official, a parent, a business owner, or a taxpayer. You can do your part to ensure that the children in your town are receiving a high quality education:

Parents and local business owners
You might consider becoming a member of the school council of your local school.  Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 71, Section 59C calls upon the involvement of this council in the creation of the school’s budget. As a parent or community representative you can see to it that the programs and services most valuable to you and to your school community remain intact.

Town officials
Do not hesitate to ask for school program reviews from independent evaluators. Only then will you know that the taxpayers’ dollars are being utilized for the maximum benefit of your towns’ students. Since you are recommending the dollars to be spent, you have the right to know that those dollars are being spent wisely.

We know that the financial times for Massachusetts cities and towns will be difficult in the next fiscal year. Regardless, the state and federal government will continue to increase the demand that our public schools improve through a rigid system of accountability. And while this is happening the pressures will mount and the debates will continue.