Chapter 70 plays part in Swampscott voters’ decision for state rep

SWAMPSCOTT – As Swampscott voters headed to the polls on Tuesday to elect a state representative for the 8th Essex District, one thing on a lot of their minds was Chapter 70 funding.School Committee Chairman David Whelan, who said he was only speaking for himself and not his colleagues on the School Committee, said Chapter 70 aid was on his mind when he entered the polling place Tuesday.”A couple of years ago a lot of people weren’t even sure what Chapter 70 was,” he said. “Now everybody is talking about Chapter 70. I viewed this (state representative race) as an opportunity and a forum to talk about problems facing us with state aid. I know it is something all three candidates are aware of.”Whelan said the inequity in the Chapter 70 funding formula has cost the district more than $1 million in lost aid in just two years.”The (fiscal year) ’09 projected value of this maddening bit of public policy is about $435,000,” he said. “What does it all mean and how much money are we talking about? The ’07 and ’08 cumulative value of this inequity is in excess of $1.1 million.”Mary Ellen Fletcher, who has a child in the district, agreed Chapter 70 funding was on her mind when she went to the polls Tuesday.”It’s a really big issue,” she said. “There is a lot of chit chat about it and I hope someone can get something done.”Jill Sullivan, who was speaking for herself and not as a member of the Board of Selectmen, said Chapter 70 aid is a big issue for many Swampscott voters.”It was a huge factor in my decision,” she said. “I think it’s the number one factor for most Swampscott voters. All three candidates promised to fight for more state aid but I thought about which candidate would fight the hardest. Think about losing $500,000 in Chapter 70 aid each year. It is cumulative damage to Swampscott’s ability to deliver services to our school aged children caused by 23 years of this inequity. In my mind it compounds each year we are under funded.”Whelan said the state calculates a foundation budget, which is based on enrollment and numerous other factors. The state then reimburses each community a certain percentage of its foundation budget.Two years ago, Swampscott was among only 69 districts in the state that were reimbursed less than 17.5 percent of their foundation budget. At that time communities receiving less than 17.5 percent of their foundation budget were told their rate would be “phased in” over a five-year period and at the end of that five years all districts would be at 17.5 percent.Whelan pointed out approximately 80 percent of the school districts in the state are receiving 17.5 percent of their foundation budget in state aid, but for the current fiscal year Swampscott is only receiving 14.3 percent – a difference of $557,000.Whelan said the reimbursement rate for FY’09 is only 15.1 percent, which is approximately $435,000 less than the town should receive. Whelan said that money could be used to hire additional elementary teachers to reduce class size. He said the $435,000 would help prevent some of the budget cuts, which include music, band and physical education at the elementary school level.Examples of other services that are being cut that could be saved with Chapter 70 equity include district-wide librarians and high school level English, math and foreign language teachers.