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MARS Board Meeting Minutes
April 11, 2006
Present: Maureen Marshall, Clifford Fountain,
Lynn Ryan, Gene Carlo, Pam Porter, Tom Lively, Ken Rocke, Peter Dewar, Donna
Harlan, David Tobin, Dee Dee Niswonger
Think positively! We can win sufficient funding for 07 because there IS money.
We should see the governor’s budget as the benchmark below which nothing falls.,
not the terrible numbers in the House budget. Legislators immediately have
responded to this disappointing budget by preparing amendments to meet or exceed
the Governor’s budget.
While we thank the Governor, the DoE and the House for the 5 million added onto
regional transportation we also must remind our legislators that 5 million will
not even keep up with inflation. And other than transportation (which must still
increase) the rest of the House budget is an embarrassment. It is incumbent upon
us, as citizens in the legislative process, to keep the pressure on our elected
legislators so they know we really are serious about adequate funding. We are
serious about needing a formula; currently there is not one. We are serious
about a new Foundation Budget that accurately reflects the real costs of meeting
state standards for education. We are serious about the drain on town finances
having gone too far. We are serious about the state meeting it’s fair share.
The House 2 wealth measurement proposal is fair and accurate. It provides a
level playing field. It does not deal with adequacy. It will only provide relief
if based on a new Foundation budget using current real figures, The new
Foundation Budget would be paid with 50% from required local contribution and
50% from the state.
MASS, MASC, MMA and MASBO have a five year goal to have the state pay that 50%
of the up-to-date accurate statewide Foundation budget. That means the state
pays 50% of the total statewide cost, not 50% town by town. Individual cities
and towns will be required to pay a share based on their income and property
value up to, but not exceeding 85%, with the base state aid at 15%, and these
percentages will be adjusted for each city and town so that, using the
consistent wealth measurement proposal in House 2, the state will provide aid
for every community to reach foundation. Thus we are dealing with target share,
for both the community and the state. While we now receive aid to meet
foundation, the foundation budget being used was developed in 1993, and is not
accurate for today’s costs. The cost of health insurance alone has skyrocketed.
The current amounts districts are recorded as spending, per category item, do
not reflect what should be spent, but rather, what can be spent in the face of
under funded transportation, increased health insurance, increased energy costs
and all the other costs which are not reflected properly in the currently used
old foundation budget. Neither the categories, nor the amounts are accurate any
longer. Current spending patterns show how districts have survived but not what
they need to do.
We see increasing animosity between town and districts, and towns and state, as
the state continues to reduce it’s share of educational costs. Funding is based
on no formula, essentially no foundation budget (since what is used is so
incorrect) and no direction.
Following the above material Gene Carlo and Dave Tobin gave us a thorough
run-through of the material put together to explain the 50/50 50 5 program.
Those numbers refer to 50% income, 50% property values, 50 % state aid, over 5
years. Because of the silliness of so many numbers it is shortened to be called
the 50 50 proposal.
Some discussion ensued concerning the problems at Mohawk. Although the situation
there is somewhat overwhelming, with declining enrollments causing the district
to consider closing schools, it seems clear that if the state met the 50 50
proposal, fully funded regional transportation, and included SPED transportation
in the Circuit Breaker, the Mohawk communities could meet their obligations to
their schools.
MARS members are urged to contact each and every one of your legislators. We
need them to know that:
Fully funded transportation is essential,
The figures in the Governor’s budget are the floor which can only go up, not
down. This means that the 28 districts receiving increases in the House budget
would receive those increases.
SPED transportation must be included in the Circuit Breaker
The old foundation budget must be replaced by a New Foundation Budget.
They need to pass the wealth measurement proposal in House 2
They need to adopt the MMA, MASC, MASS, MASBO proposal. (strongly supported by
MARS)
We are all appalled by the House Numbers, but they can be changed and the Senate
will ensure that what we are seeing now will not be permanent. The only way the
democratic process works is if we work with it. Our legislators are elected by
us to do what is best for us, but unless we tell them what that is, they cannot
know it. So please work hard on the points above. We could end this budgetary
period with a sound formula and direction toward adequate funding—let’s make
that happen.
An interesting development talked over briefly is that regions are no longer so
separate from non-regions. Although the governance is drawn from a broader
canvas (many towns instead of one) many of the difficult differences are
disappearing as the costs of education become reported more and more accurately.
The proposed 50 50 idea has no losers, unlike proposals of the past. While
regions have complexity because of numbers, we really aren’t outsiders in this
proposal. All the numbers have been run, out five years(without inflation being
used), and we can see in black and white that the proposal works for regions.
The work put into this proposal by Gene Carlo, Dave Tobin, Tom Scott, and the
others on the MASS finance task force is truly impressive. We have never seen
anything like this before. Please work hard to help get it in place.
Respectfully submitted by Dee Dee Niswonger
For More Information Contact:
Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools
P.O. Box 334, Williamsburg, MA 01096-0334
Tel: 413-268-3607
E-mail:
niswonger@comcast.net
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Massachusetts Association of
Regional Schools