UPDATED: Chapter 70 Enrollment Comments Draw Fire From Local Activists

A spokesman for the state's education department said most of the additional Chapter 70 funding in the governor's proposed budget for Fiscal '13 is being directed to school districts with increased enrollments.

That comment drew a poignant response from local activists fighting to bring Swampscott to the promised 17.5 percent education funding level. 

J.C. Considine, a spokesman for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, told the Boston Globe that enrollments were a determining factor in deciding how to apportion additional funds. 

“There was a little bit of additional money in the budget proposal to work toward that 17.5 percent goal. But most of the $145.6 million in increased Chapter 70 funding in the governor’s FY13 budget proposal is to get districts with increasing enrollments up to their foundation level. This is both the constitutional requirement and the focus and priority of the administration,’’ Considine said in the Globe story.

“We hope in the coming years as the economy continues to improve to make better progress on getting all districts to the 17.5 percent threshold when additional funding becomes available,’’ Considine added.

Michael McClung, the chairman of the , said Considine's comment, "while glib and designed to further muddy the waters, actually points out the very issue."

"When you can choose which parts of a formula to apply or how to apply them, then it really isn't a 'formula,' at all. It's a $4.1 billion patronage scheme, no better than the Probation department.

"When you can simply walk away from promises you've made to fix the inequities, then you're not really a leader. You're  a politician.

"When you can ignore the law if it's inconvenient for you [chapter 70, section 4 directing a full review of the funding formula every two years], you're scarcely better than a criminal," the chairman said.

The state has traditionally funded a much higher percentage of school budgets in less wealthy cities and towns. By law, it is required to fund every school district at the 17.5 percent level, but has not.

McClung has organized a joint meeting with counterparts from Saugus and Nahant to oppose the funding shortfall.

“Seven years ago we were promised a 5-year phase-in to bring us up to 17.5 percent,” said Swampscott Finance Committee Chairman Michael McClung.  “Since then, we've lost ground, not made it up, and our property taxes increase to the difference.”

David Whelan of Swampscott, an activist in the growing movement to bring the town to the 17.5 percent foundation education funding level, wants a better explanation from the spokesman.

"It is fundamentally a lazy response because so much more goes into the formula than enrollments," he said.

Furthermore, he said many districts with moderate increases in enrollment received sizable increases in Chapter 70 funding under the governor's proposed budget.

He pointed to Danvers as an example of a district with no projected growth but a large increase in funding.

Danvers' enrollment for the upcoming school year is projected to decrease but it is receiving a 25 percent funding increase under the governor's budget, Whelan said.

Local elected officials have gone on the offensive in recent weeks, speaking out against what they say is gross inequity.

School Committee member Rick Kraft estimated that the state shorted the district by $800,000 this year and $4.6 million over the last six years.

Swampscott selectmen have worked with area legislators and urged residents to become politically active and advocate for boosting aid to Swampscott to the 17.5 percent level.

Patch correspondent Stewart Lytle contributed to this report.