School Funding Revolt

It seems that there's a revolution brewing in the suburbs over the state's school funding formula known as Chapter 70. While we in the cities recognize the urgent need for more funding for urban school systems, the fact remains that cities do receive an enormous amount of state education money and, when viewed from outside the city, that seems to be done at the expense of the suburbs. The suburban school systems have persevered as the state shifts more and more of the burden of education from the state income tax to local property taxes. With the historic explosion in property values and corresponding revenue increases, this has worked. But real estate prices are slipping as are tax collections and school financing has reached the crisis stage in many suburbs. Now, delegations from Chelmsford and other towns in the Route 495 belt are heading to the state house to lobby for changes in the school funding formula. There's an enormous risk that we will all slip into the Romneyesque trap of demaning that the school funding pie get divided differently. This debate will divide us all. What we should be advocating is to increase the size of the pie; that way there will be plenty for everyone.