Nearly all the news from the Statehouse during the past several months has concerned the proposed Constitutional Amendment regarding gay marriage. Lost in all this debate is the legislature's failure to get to work on the FY2005 budget. Rumor is that the shortfall will be somewhere between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. There are only two places where that kind of money can be cut: Education and local aid. And with the late start, this is all going to surface very quickly, leaving little time for parents and other advocates of school funding to get organized. On top of all this came today's announcement that the Bush Education Department has changed the formula for disbursing Title I money (state aid to school districts with students at or near the poverty level). Massachusetts will lose $25 million in Title I funding, more than any other state. Lowell's share of the reduction is not yet clear, but it certainly will be felt.