How can more schools be the solution for underfunded schools?

Dear Members of the Joint Committee on Education,

I respectfully ask that the Members of the Joint Committee take a moment to imagine a fictitious urban library system. This library system is struggling because of two decades of being underfunded; the funding has been based an outdated Foundation Book Formula that does not take into account technological innovations, rising costs and the skyrocketing expense of providing health care for employees. The libraries are understaffed and disorganized, the books are sparse and the spines are broken, and the libraries lack current advances in technology. The librarians are doing their best with what little is given to them, even buying new books with their own money to provide the best libraries they can, but their efforts cannot make up for decades of underfunding. And now imagine if our Governor suggested his solution for improving public libraries: opening MORE more public libraries, funded by diverting money away from the struggling libraries.

Opening more schools when our current schools are being chronically underfunded is fiscally irresponsible and bad education policy. Our educational resources will be spread too thin among our district and charter schools alike, and our kids will pay the price. I’m confident that under the leadership of our thoughtful legislators in the Joint Committee on Education, Massachusetts can do better.

I commend Senator Chang-Diaz, Representative Peisch, Senator Jehlen and all the members of the Foundation Budget Review Commission for their work over past year, and I’m optimistic that the recommendations of the Commission will modernize the funding structure of public education for the 21st century. Let us pause to examine these forthcoming recommendations. And as Massachusetts is implementing a new funding formula, Boston’s new Superintendent Tommy Chang is facing the daunting task of “right-sizing” a large urban school district. This process will no doubt result in painful closures that tear neighborhood’s apart. This is not the time to open more schools in Boston, this is the time to properly fund and carefully restructure the ones already in existence.

Please: Let us stop fighting over for schools that don’t exist and start investing in the ones that do.