Hectoring the local schools to save money won't fix the budget problem
I give the Recorder a fair amount of crap for their local coverage (or rather, the lack thereof), but this weekend's edition provides a pretty good summary of the funding challenges facing rural schools like ours.
🔗 Franklin County school leaders call for equitable Chapter 70 funding - Greenfield Recorder:
🔗 Franklin County school leaders call for equitable Chapter 70 funding - Greenfield Recorder:
GREENFIELD — As state legislators contemplate how the state funds education, representatives for school districts and towns across Franklin County say urgent changes are needed to ensure rural school districts receive equitable funding.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services (DLS) have been tasked with studying the local contribution components of the state’s Chapter 70 school finance formula and determining if changes are necessary. During a public listening session held Thursday at Greenfield High School, superintendents, finance and school committee members, teachers, and other community members said they already know the answer: Yes, changes are needed.
“The formula is not only broken, it makes our MCAS test look good, ” Goodwin said.
The whole thing is worth a read, especially if you are not familiar with how much local school funding comes from the state and how that is calculated.
I find it amusing that the lead quote here is from Greenfield School Committee member Melodie Goodwin, given that her whole schtick the last year has been about how the main culprit in the Greenfield Public Schools budget fights has been the local administration’s top-heaviness and lack of transparency.
She is not wrong here, though. The way the state funding formulas work, it is basically impossible for communities like ours to adequately fund our schools.