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REPORT: EDUCATION SPENDING NOT KEEPING PACE WITH INFLATION, EXPECTATIONS
By Catherine Williams
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
MALDEN, JAN. 22, 2008....Bay State graduation rates are flat from 2006 and per pupil spending has not kept pace with academic expectations and inflation since 2002, according to state education officials.
A preliminary financial report on the current fiscal conditions in Massachusetts public schools and data on graduation rates were released Tuesday - a day before Gov. Deval Patrick files his fiscal 2009 budget - at a Board of Education meeting in Malden.
One report indicates that teacher salaries and health care are driving costs up, with the average teacher salary rising 16.4 percent and health insurance spending rising 74.3 percent between 2002 and 2007.
Spending on improving instruction in the classroom is being "crowded out" by rising health care and salary costs, said Jeffery Nellhaus, acting commissioner of education. Teacher salaries rose to an average $58,573 in 2007 and health insurance spending rose to $1.3 billion in 2007 from $772 million in 2002, according to the report.
"There is pressure building at the local level," said Christopher Anderson, an education board member. "We have a lot of expectations on our education delivery system and yet we don't have the ability to match those expectations with financial resources."
The report found schools are "hard pressed" to maintain spending levels "let alone increase them to meet higher expectations" and determined fiscal pressures are affecting "a much more broader range of districts, including many middle-class communities that have traditionally taken great price in the quality of their school systems."
During the meeting, state officials voted to stiffen 2008 high school graduation rate requirements and unveiled a second report that showed the overall graduation rate ticked upwards from 80 percent to 81 percent between 2006 and 2007, while significant gaps remained among and between white, African-American and Hispanic students.
Slight improvements in high school graduation rates are "not a cause for great celebration" but something to be pleased about, said Paul Reville, education board chair.
"There continue to be disturbing gaps," said Reville. "The board is committed to continuing to pay attention to this."
Of the 76,000 students who entered high school as freshmen in 2003, low-income students gained the most ground with a 3 percdent increase in graduation rates, up from 62 percent in 2006 to 65 percent in 2007. White students graduated at the highest rates in 2007 at 86 percent, compared to 59 percent of Hispanic students and 65 percent for African-American students.
The board voted 6 to 3 to increase the 2008 high school graduation rate requirement to 60 percent, up from 55 percent in 2007. Board members voted to offer schools two other options to meet the graduation requirement via a 65 percent five-year graduation rate or a 2 percent per year graduation rate increase over four years. State officials project that under the new rules, 40 of the state's 351 high schools won't be able to meet the new graduation rate requirements. Failure to meet the rates would likely lead to increased state control of schools.
Sixty-five high schools fell below a 55 percent graduation rate in 2007, including schools in the Lawrence and Chelsea school districts, which reported district graduation rates of 41 percent and 53 percent respectively.
Board member Ruth Kaplan told the News Service she voted against the measure because there wasn't enough data about the impact the new rules would have on high schools.
Spending per pupil remained flat relative to inflation from 2002 to 2007 and Chapter 70 aid increases did not keep up with inflation between 2003 and 2006. On average, school districts spent 18 percent more than foundation budgets, suggesting that the existing budget foundation calculation may not reflect the actual cost of education.
Reville said he plans to send the financial report to the Legislature in advance of budget talks, scheduled to tie up lawmakers for the next several weeks.
To fill the spending gap, schools have increased local funding and imposed fees on transportation and extracurricular activities. The report suggests user fees for transportation rose from $3 million in 2002 to $11 million in 2006, with the number of districts charging fees in this area rising from 41 to 93.
During the meeting, Nellhaus suggested that schools join state health and pension plans to reduce costs and collaborate with other schools and districts to share special education or transportation costs.
The report also cited "inefficiencies" created by a large number of small school districts in Massachusetts. Of the 328 districts, 284 serve fewer than 5,000 students.
Anderson told the News Service he hopes lawmakers look at the report and "galvanize" around funding longer-term education projects.
"Money will move the debate," Anderson told the News Service. "There is a growing financial bind that shows no sign of abating."
During the wide-ranging meeting, the board also approved seven charter school renewal applications, including Boston Collegiate Charter School in Dorchester and Four Rivers Charter Public School in Greenfield.
Click here for a report http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/docs/0108/item3.html
FIDNICK, SIMONS NOMINATED FOR PROBATE COURT JUDGESHIPS
Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday nominated attorneys from Leverett and Pittsfield to fill seats on the Probate and Family Court. Linda S. Fidnick, 54, a partner at the Amherst law firm of Burres, Fidnick & booth, was nominated as associate justice of the Hampshire County Probate and Family Court. Patrick appointed Richard A. Simons, 48, of the Pittsfield firm Simons, Smith & Gerrard P.C. to fill a vacant circuit judgeship. If confirmed, Fidnick would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice Sean Dunphy last September. Simons is slotted to fill the circuit post that opened up last November, when Judge Anne Geoffrion was named to the Hampden County Probate and Family Court.
PATRICK BUDGET CALLS FOR STRONGER TAX LAW ENFORCEMENT, $370 MILLION IN ONE-TIME-REVENUES
Gov. Deval Patrick on Wednesday offered lawmakers state budget that raises state spending by 3.5 percent and increases local aid to cities and towns by 5.1 percent as Massachusetts confronts a potential recession and slowing economic conditions. To close a projected $1.3 billion structural budget gap, Patrick hopes to wring $300 million in savings out of the state's Medicaid program, boost state employee health insurance premiums by $51 million and provide no spending increases to 190 state budget line items, forcing state managers to find "creative ways" to deal with increasing costs and demands. Patrick also wants to save $40 million by eliminating 300 earmarks included in this year's state budget, a move that sets up another confrontation with the Legislature over who is best suited to decide how taxpayer monies are spent. On the revenue side, Patrick's plan calls for the generation of $197 million merely by improving enforcement of existing tax laws and the production of nearly $300 million in in new corporate tax revenues. The governor suggests using $370 million more in one-time revenues to close the budget gap, which has persisted for years because the state spends more than it generates in tax revenues and consistently deploys one-time revenues to pay for that spending. Patrick, noting this year's budget depends on $780 million in one-time revenues, says his latest spending plan calls for a "measured" use of state reserves "to protect against harmful cuts." As previously reported, Patrick's budget uses his hoped-for casino licensing revenues to provide $88 million to cities and towns for transportation infrastructure improvements, insulate cities and towns from ma $124 million shortfall in Lottery revenues, and deliver $88 million in property tax relief worth an average of $200 to more than 420,000 households, The first stop for Patrick's spending plan is the House Ways and Means Committee, which will likely host budget hearings statewide with members of the Senate Ways and Means committee. The House usually debates its version of the budget in April, the Senate in May, followed by conference committee negotiations aimed at producing a final state budget in time for the July 1 start of fiscal 2009.
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