Towns and Schools Face an Uncertain Future Together

It’s going to be a tough budget year at the State House. With the economy in a continual downward spiral, Governor Patrick is simultaneously talking about another round of mid-year cuts and preparing municipalities, state employees, and other recipients of state funds for a deeper cut in the FY10 budget which is facing a gap of about $3.1 billion. We’re still in the beginning of a long period of darkness before the eventual dawn.
What will these next few months of deep budget cuts mean for kids and families?
One major impact on children will come through proposed cuts in state aid to municipalities. Governor Patrick has announced a total cut of about $500 million in local aid, about a quarter of which has to be implemented in this fiscal year (before June). The rest will be part of the FY10 budget proposal he is expected to release this Wednesday. In addition to the families who will lose income directly as towns lay off employees and make cuts to services ranging from libraries to public safety, the cuts will likely have a significant impact on school budgets. In Massachusetts, approximately half of public school expenditures are teacher and specialist salaries (about 37%) and related benefits like health insurance and retirement (about 15%). With most other categories (including administration, at around 3%) in the single digits, massive cuts are going to be hard to implement without cutting back on teachers and increasing class size.
Each municipality will have to decide how it will handle these cuts, and how much they will impact their school districts. Some of the factors they will have to consider are the percentage of the school budget already paid for with local taxes, the capacity and will of the community to raise more revenue through Proposition 2 ½ overrides, and their ability to cut expenditures both in school budgets and in the other areas of the municipal budgets. Ideally, towns will also consider the current quality and effectiveness of their school districts, and how cuts will impact the future of their students. Stakeholders in local districts (town elected officials, town and school administrators, residents and employees) need to start considering those factors now, and be ready to advocate for the most appropriate fiscal strategies for their communities.
What effects of the upcoming budget cuts are you already feeling – in your home, your workplace, or your community? What unexpected strategies have you found for getting by in these difficult times? What suggestions do you have to the Governor and legislature as they make these cuts? Let’s bring the discussion from the State House to the kitchen table and back again, so we can all own the solution to these difficult economic times.