North Shore towns join coalition for school funding

SWAMPSCOTT – Numerous school committees on the North Shore concerned about what they perceive as a crisis in funding are working together to light a fire under state officials.Swampscott School Committee Chairman David Whelan, who is one of the founders of the North Shore Coalition for School Funding (NSCSF), said more than a dozen communities have joined the coalition.Whelan said the NSCSF has a three-prong mission statement designed to make districts more viable.”We’re being told how to spend our money in the form of unfunded state mandates,” he said. “Those costs are out of control – SPED, health insurance and pension costs. We have no control over those three things and it is really destroying budgets across the board. We’re looking for ways to control costs and that would have to come in the form of legislation from the state. Something has to change. The whole educational system across the state is in real trouble.”Whelan said the second part of the mission statement is getting the state to reevaluate state funding particularly for suburban districts in terms of Chapter 70 funding.”The critical issue is no one in this group is looking to take money from urban districts,” he said. “This is not about Swampscott versus Lynn or Lawrence. We’re not interested in seeing their Chapter 70 money reduced so we can get our fair share.”Whelan said the NSCFS also wants to find ways to force the state to comply with the Chapter 70 requirement for adequacy studies.”The state is required to do adequacy study of Chapter 70 every two years and it has never been done,” he said. “It’s a law that is apparently being ignored. I believe that if an objective adequacy study were done it would determine suburbs are not getting what they need from the state to run the schools.”Manchester-Essex School Committee Chairman Susan Beckmann was selected to head up the coalition and she said the group is committed to finding partnerships among communities.”Our goal is to outline current funding issues, quantify the challenges, align the communities, set priorities and look to short-term solutions that can be worked collaboratively with state legislators, DOE and the governor’s office to impact funding in the near future,” she said. “We are not just asking for more money, we are committed to work the issues and find solutions. These solutions may include pooling resources, suggestions for legislative action to control costs, assessments of current costs and adequacy of Chapter 70, as well as identifying areas where we can create results and a win-win for all communities.”Beverly, Manchester-Essex, Nahant, Ipswich, Gloucester, Hamilton/Wenham and other North Shore communities are involved. Beckmann said the group would like to get other districts including urban school districts like Lynn involved because the issues affect every school district in the state.”The North Shore Coalition for School Funding’s mission is to create a community partnership, find common ground, and align the priorities to present solutions for educational funding,” she said.”The education of our children is a priority for all of our communities and it takes the lion’s share of any local budget,” she said. “But despite our best efforts, and the millions of dollars we spend each year, we are forced to make difficult choices that often undermine student learning, i.e. cutting staff and curriculum to balance a budget. Worse yet, we are pitting our communities against our schools and each other by competing for limited funds.”