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Education is the bright spot in State budget
The Legislature has finally reached an agreement on the more than $28.3 billion Fiscal Year 2009 State budget. The State budget has grown each and every year in its size and scope. This year is no different. The fact is that the State budget has never been larger and is chalk full of earmarks and special interest spending. Unfortunately, even despite a slowing economy, the pace of unsustainable spending continues.
I am not suggesting that the entire State budget is bad news. The local aid distributions to our schools and towns continue to show improvement. During the six years I have served on Beacon Hill, the Upper Cape communities have seen an over thirty-percent increase in State aid. This is real progress for which many deserve credit. In this month’s column, I want to share with you some very positive steps the Commonwealth has taken in the area of Education.
The 2009 Budget reflects educational aid amounts agreed to by Democrats and Republicans in the local aid resolution adopted on March 12th. This early resolution was adopted in order to assist cities, towns and regional school districts in their budget planning process. It includes an additional $223 million for Chapter 70 funding, providing a record level of $3.9 Billion. This reflects our continued commitment to address the long-standing concerns over the equity of the formula by phasing in the third year of an anticipated five year plan. As the Ranking Member on the Education Committee, Chapter 70 funding remains one of my primary focuses.
I am pleased to report that this Budget provides $2.9 million for continued support for Reading Recovery programs. I have been a strong supporter of early intervention literacy programs as they clearly improve the performance of children who are at-risk of failing to read by the end of first grade. By investing a relatively small amount of money during the early grades, we are better serving our students and saving a significant amount of funding which would likely be needed for remediation in later grades.
The entire Cape Delegation has been working together on regional school transportation. The FY09 budget presents $3 million more than the FY08 budget level. This addition brings such funding to $61.3 million. These funds are critically important to regional school districts for which transportation costs are often a significant portion of their overall operating budgets.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Budget includes funding for the Statewide pilot program testing a model of delivery for special education transportation services. The cost of these services has considerably outpaced the rise in regular education transportation in recent years. The goal of the pilot program is to demonstrate how a quality service with efficiency can be enhanced with more collaboration for out-of-district transportation. Over the next fiscal year, the pilot program will be expanded to ten collaborative districts which will serve the entire State. The Conference Committee budget provides full funding for the special education circuit breaker for FY09 estimated costs, funding the line at $230,043,700. This important program provides State financial assistance to local school districts for high-cost special education students.
I am also very pleased that the Legislature has continued its commitment to funding programs for the Commonwealth’s highest achieving students, appropriating $750,000 for Gifted and Talented education. While we have a long way to go to provide adequate programs and services to our brightest students, we are making progress in this area.
In other education related areas, the approved Budget increases funding for school-to-work programs by $320,000 over last year’s funding level, providing a total of $3.12 million. This amount includes a $245,000 earmark for Junior Achievement, a provider of programs in K-12 classrooms in the subject areas of entrepreneurship, workforce readiness, and economic and financial literacy.
While the overall State budget continues to be full of much wasteful spending and unnecessary earmarks, in the area of local aid and education the Legislature is doing a good job. I am pleased to serve on the Education and Ways and Means Committees and support such laudable efforts to provide a proper education to our children.
I welcome your comments on this column or in general. Please feel free to telephone my District Office at 508-888-2158 or visit my website at www.electjeffperry.com.
Office Hours
In an effort to be available to his constituents, State Representative Jeffrey Davis Perry (R-Sandwich) has established a District Office to meet with concerned citizens of the 5th Barnstable District. Representative Perry or an aide will be holding the following regular office hours each week:
1st Friday: |
9:30am - 11:00am |
West Barnstable Fire Station |
2nd Friday: |
9:30am - 11:00am |
Bourne Town Hall |
3rd Friday: |
9:30am - 11:00am |
Barnstable Senior Center |
4th Friday |
9:30am - 11:00am |
Mashpee Town Hall |
All Fridays: |
2:00pm - 4:00pm |
Sandwich Office |
Evening appointments or home visits are also available upon request and Representative Perry urges you to contact him at either his Sandwich or Boston office at:
State House Information
Representative Jeffrey Perry
Beacon Hill
State House, Room 136
Boston, MA 02133-1054
Phone: (617) 722-2800 x8743
Fax: (617) 722-2819
Email: Rep.JeffreyPerry@hou.state.ma.us
District Office Information
Representative Jeffrey Perry
449 Route 6A
Post Office Box 1435
Sandwich, MA 02563
Phone: 508-888-2158
Fax: (508) 888-1179
Email: ElectJeffPerry@aol.com
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