Education secretary stands by school funding as Kennedy, committee wrangle

LYNN – State Education Secretary Matthew Malone said making schools a local spending priority “is what democracy is all about,” adding that tax dollars spent on schools spur city and town economies.?Investments in education open doors and close gaps. I would urge city officials to fully fund,” Malone said during a Lynn Woods Elementary School tour on Tuesday.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and fellow Lynn School Committee members are at odds over how to meet state school spending targets with Kennedy saying she has “done all I can to avoid layoffs.”A committee vote on a proposed $126 million school budget – tentatively scheduled for June 26 – includes reductions in textbook spending, after-school assistance programs, drama instruction, elementary school librarians and a plan – now axed – to teach Mandarin in the high schools.?Can we live with this? Yes,” School Superintendent Catherine Latham told committee members last Thursday.Two members – Charlie Gallo and Patricia Capano – disagreed with Latham?s assessment with Capano calling library cuts “an embarrassment.”?Students are taking a direct hit,” she said.Chief Financial Officer Peter Caron said the city?s goal for this year is to provide enough money to schools to ensure the state does not penalize Lynn for not meeting spending requirements.?Some tough decisions are going to have to be made over the next three or four years to get the School Department up to full funding,” Caron warned.Malone stood by state school spending requirements and said the state has provided additional money to school districts with large numbers of limited English-speaking students.?Everyone needs to recognize excellence and fund it. We want schools funded at 100 percent – it?s a local decision but it?s a hard decision,” he said.Latham outlined for Malone on Tuesday another looming problem facing local schools: the growing classroom space shortage.She told Malone the city does not have space to open an “innovation” school suggested by Malone as a place where newly arrived students, including refugee children from other nations, can begin to adjust to American education.?We can partner with you,” suggested Malone.?Give us some help to find space,” Latham replied.Drewicz School parents meet at 7 p.m. in the West Lynn school to discuss plans to send next year?s kindergarten class to the early childhood center on Commercial Street. The center opened last fall to educate kindergartners originally slated to go to school in Tracy, Brickett and Ford schools. Latham said the city needs a new elementary school.