LYNN-The Lynn Public Schools will receive just more than $1.7 million in federal education recovery funds in fiscal year 2010, Gov. Deval Patrick announced at a press conference in Framingham Thursday.
Touting the funding effort as a large part of his Massachusetts Recovery Plan to “secure the state’s economic future,” Patrick announced 166 districts that will get a portion of $168 million in federal education recovery funds, largely based on a community’s foundation budget.
According to Patrick, the money will give the 166 districts the ability to preserve programs and avoid teacher layoffs next year at a time when the economic crisis is forcing communities such as Lynn to push class sizes to the max and cut programs down to the bare minimum.
Superintendent Catherine Latham and Business Administrator Kevin McHugh announced last week that, despite not having a bottom line from the state, they would begin preparing the fiscal 2010 budget based on fiscal year 2009 numbers – all but assuring layoffs and program cuts.
While the total $1,742,813 will go a long way in helping Lynn avoid some of those layoffs and program cuts, the payout is still likely too small to completely solve the city’s upcoming budget crisis.
The reason for this is that the funding is not based on the individual needs of cities and towns, or even those communities’ total budgets, rather the gap between level Chapter 70 funds and the city’s foundation budget.
The state education reform law, first passed in 1993, established so-called foundation budgets for communities, setting a minimum funding threshold districts must meet so that students receive a “fair and adequate” education.
According to Patrick, due to a historic drop-off in state revenue collections brought on by the recession, level-funding of Chapter 70 prevented 166 districts from reaching foundation spending levels. The funding announced Thursday would fill that gap and bring communities up to that foundation level, providing the governor’s Chapter 70 proposal is approved by the Legislature.
If Patrick’s numbers remain the same, Lynn will receive a much smaller payout than some of its neighbors, as Salem ($3,215,367) and Revere ($5,251,378), each received more funding despite having fewer schools.
Other large, urban districts lumped into a category with Lynn at the state level also received significantly larger amounts of money, including Lawrence ($6,749,168) and Springfield ($13,182, 907) while others like Holyoke ($1,667,565) and Lowell ($2,607,047) are alongside Lynn in their disappointment.