Economy thrives but schools go begging

David D’Allesandro has a beef with corporate America. D’Allesandro is a guest columnist for the Boston Globe and a former CEO of John Hancock Financial Services. On September 3, 2007, he wrote an op-ed piece for the Globe about how schools go begging while the economy thrives. As he noted:

As a capitalist, I believe in free markets, reasonable tax rates, competition, high compensation for performance and I am all for businesses being incredibly successful. But there is something disturbing – really disturbing – that while Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson recently said, “This is far and away the strongest global economy I’ve seen in my business lifetime,” our public school systems are suffering beyond comprehension.

While the economy appears to be booming, schools do not appear to be reaping the benefits. Many school districts throughout the Commonwealth are being forced to cut services and programs, increase and add fees for things such as sports and bus transportation, and reduce staffing. The National Education Association reports that we are facing a potential nationwide teacher shortage with more than a million teachers retiring in the near future and the need for more than 2 million teachers in the next decade. The NEA also reports that 50 percent of new teachers leave within five years. Among the reasons for this turnover is inadequate pay compared to other professions with the same training requirements.

Earlier this year, the citizens of Franklin had to turn to a proposition 2 ½ override in order to maintain basic services. This followed a five year cycle of budget cutting and curtailed services for municipal and school budgets. In this same timeframe, Goldman Sachs recently stated in US News and World Report that the period 2003-2008 will have been one of the most powerful periods of economic growth globally since accurate data has been collectible for much of the world.

As D’Allesandro observed, we need some of these global profits to trickle down to local budgets. As he stated, “If we are going to be globally competitive and continue to attain record profits in this ever-evolving competitive globalization, that same corporate America has to “cough up” and take more financial responsibility for our greatest asset: our children and their education.”

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The Brick School and the budget

As you know, last year was a very difficult year for the school system relative to budget matters. We are certainly pleased that the community gave overwhelming support to the override which enabled us to maintain a high level of educational programming. Nonetheless, we did face some difficult choices and unfortunately, ended up losing some people, programs and materials. We continue to be amazed at how well we adapt and how well this district performs in spite of these adversities.

As we consider last year’s budget, one area of concern and misperception that surfaced was the School Committee’s acceptance of a targeted gift to keep the Brick School open for an additional year. That decision generated a lot of controversy and is deserving of some clarification.

The Brick School certainly possesses many historical qualities. Indeed, it is listed on the Federal Register of Historic Buildings, and is purported to be the oldest, continuously operating, one room brick school in America. It has served as a kindergarten classroom in the Davis Thayer district for many years.

However, when the budget for the 2007-08 school year was proposed, that facility was not included because of the necessity of budget cuts amounting to several million dollars. Even with the override dollars, the School Committee was not able to provide funds for its continued operation at the expense of other program needs.

The Brick School Association, a private entity, proposed funding the operational expenses for that facility to maintain it as part of the Franklin school system. In fact, that group was able to raise — with the generous aid of Garelick Farms who donated $18,000 — $27,000 to fund all of the operational expenses for the building for one year.

The School Committee voted to accept that targeted gift for one year. By accepting these funds, the Brick School remained in operation, and the Committee was afforded an opportunity to make a full and reasoned study of the impact of targeted gifts in the future. In fact, a task force was formed to study the Brick School in particular, and the viability of future funding for its operation. At the same time, the School Committee’s Policy Subcommittee will be preparing language for a new policy on acceptance of targeted gifts.

In these tough financial times, it is necessary for us, along with School Committees throughout Massachusetts, to review and consider any and all opportunities which allow us to remain a high performing school district. We will continue to explore options which enhance our system.

It is important that you know that no school budget dollars or programs were compromised in any way in order to fund the operation of the Brick School. For the 2007-08 school year, that facility is operating solely on private funding. The Committee is in the process of drawing lines for future acceptance of gifts, so that we can supplement our offerings without compromising our educational mission and vision.

The School Committee remains committed to moving the district from good to great, and we will continue to push for funding, programs and facilities that serve the best interests of all our students. We thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Brick School Task Force Charge

In July, the School Committee appointed a Brick School Task Force to examine a number of issues related to the continued operation of that facility. The School Committee will take the information provided by the Task Force into consideration when setting the budget for the next fiscal year (FY09 which runs from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009).

As part of its work, the Task Force was asked to attempt to reconcile the differences expressed in statements for keeping the facility open versus closing it, and to make recommendations to the School Committee. Accordingly, the Task Force was charged with addressing the following issues and is expected to issue a written report on or before Tuesday, December 18, 2007:

1. Determine of the Brick School is, in fact, the oldest continuously operating one room brick school in America? How was that determined? There is a school house in NH that claims to be 12 years older than the Red Brick School (See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5316645&ft=1&f=517860)
2. What are the administrative issues related to a standalone classroom (i.e. library time, specials, nurse, etc.).
3. Address equity and accessibility issues related to continued operation of this facility.
4. Address safety issues related to the building
5. Address finances and report on how the building may be funded in the future (i.e. public and/or private grants, private donations). Identify sources of funding and the likelihood of availability in years to come.
6. Address other potential uses for building instead of as a classroom (i.e., museum, gathering spot, etc.). In addition, explore whether, as opposed to just taking students from the Davis Thayer population, we opened the enrollment to anyone in town through a lottery.