Swampscott official blasts governor over Readiness Project

SWAMPSCOTT – The Readiness Project being touted by Gov. Deval Patrick could prove disastrous to struggling school districts, according to some local elected officials.The Readiness Project, which includes universal pre-kindergarten programs and all day kindergarten, is a major concern for School Committee Chairman David Whelan, who expressed fears it would become another unfunded mandate.When asked how he intended to pay for his sweeping initiative, Patrick simply replied, “We’re building a house. You design it first and then cost it out.”Whelan said the governor’s lack of explanation regarding how the state would pay for the project is unacceptable.”You don’t put a large addition on a house when you’re struggling to pay the mortgage,” he said. “I can’t for the life of me begin to understand how he can begin talking about new programs when thousands of teachers are being laid off across the state. Programs we already have are going unfunded and the infrastructure is falling apart. He has no definitive answers on how to fund public education.”Whelan pointed out the Swampscott School District has laid off 45 people in two years and the future is bleak.”Money is being taken from the public schools and going to charter schools,” he said. “Districts are forced to pay for unfunded state and federal mandates. It’s a disaster and it’s only getting worse.”Whelan said if Patrick was serious about education reform he should start looking at how to fund and improve existing programs before rolling out ambitious new projects.”Chapter 70 Aid is a perfect example,” he said. “He (Patrick) said the funding formula is broken and he said it’s a disaster. But we’re two years into his term and he hasn’t even started talking about how we’re going to fix it or where the money is coming from to fix it.”According to Whelan, the district is receiving approximately $500,000 less in Chapter 70 school aid annually than it is entitled to. Whelan pointed out more than 80 percent of the school districts in the state are receiving 17.5 percent of their foundation budget in state aid, but Swampscott is only receiving 15.1 percent.Whelan explained 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.Several years ago the state said all districts would receive a minimum of 17.5 percent of its foundation budget in Chapter 70 aid but it would take time to get underfunded districts like Swampscott up to the 17.5 percent funding.State Rep. Lori Ehrlich said the Chapter 70 issue is on her radar screen and something she is committed to working on. As for the Readiness Project, Ehrlich said she believes it is a little premature to jump to any conclusions on how it could affect Swampscott and other communities.”What the governor unveiled was a long term vision,” she said. “There is a 10-year time line. I’m glad for the initiative. We need to rebuild public education to stay competitive. As part of his long term vision he is assembling a committee to look at financing.”