State House News Service 

Boston March 10, 1999--Senate President Thomas Birmingham accused Gov.
Paul Cellucci today of playing "fiscal shell-games" and "raiding" the
Education Reform Act for $90 million, apparently to free up money for an
income tax cut.

Birmingham said his budget analyzers suspected at the outset that House One diverted at least $30 million from local school districts accounts to
categorical grants for other programs.  After a more thorough review, the
Senate leader said, "the news appears even worse."

"Governor Cellucci has raided monies that were intended for the local
school districts to the tune of $90 million," Birmingham said.  "To me,
this is a fundamental breach of the education reform promise, a breach that
will not be repeated by the Senate, a breach that will not be countenanced
by the Senate, and a breach which the Senate will try to correct."

Senate Ways and Means Chairman Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) charged Cellucci "double-dipped" in several accounts to create a budget that promises something for everyone.  "The governor clearly diverts $90 million out of Chapter 70," he said.  "We think, at Ways and Means, that it is, in a sense... just a shell-game, where the supplanting of the dollars will
give you the impression it's supplementing the dollars."

Under the Chapter 70 Education Reform Act, which Birmingham called the
"lynchpin" of education funding, state aid to local school districts is
scheduled to be increased by $245 million this year, the final installment
under the seven-year law.  The governor's budget provides only $155 million of the required increase, and spends the other $90 million in categorical grants traditionally funded outside the Education Reform Act.

Birmingham said the grants - $24 million for early childhood education, 
$20 million for new teachers, $20 million for MCAS remediation, $12 million for after-school programs, $10 million for charter school reimbursement and $4 million for professional development for teachers - are "worthwhile programs" that the Senate has supported in the past.   He took issue, however, with funding the programs with Chapter 70 money.

"We will fund these programs at levels equal to or greater than that which
the governor has appropriated, without raiding the monies from the local
school districts," he said. 

Birmingham said he suspects Cellucci played "fiscal shell-games" to free up
enough extra money for his perennially proposed income tax cut.  "The
dollars are fungible, and by relieving $90 million of spending pressure, he
can leave $90 million for a tax cut," he said. 

The Senate considers full funding of Chapter 70 "a matter of institutional
pride," Birmingham said.  "The Senate is speaking with a single voice.
Education Reform Act contains a seven-year promise, not a six and a
half-year promise.  There is no reason to renege on that promise now." 

Birmingham said the diversion would hit hardest in the areas that need the
cash the most.  "In this instance, it is largely the older, urban and less
wealthy communities that bear the brunt of the $90 million diversion," said
the senator from Chelsea.

Montigny said the diversion of funds threatens local autonomy by taking
away the unrestricted Chapter 70 funds, over which the districts have total
control, and placing the money into programs that are either restricted or
state-administered.

"It's clear to us at the Ways and Means level that parents and students are
known best at the local level by local officials, and therefore, flexibility is key," he said.  "We will fully fund the $245 million the Chapter 70 statute calls for and we will respect the fact that local officials ought to have flexibility in making local decisions."

Geoffrey Beckwith , president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association,
said the Education Reform Act promises a partnership, but all House One
promises is hardship. 

"With the diversion of $90 million... it would be impossible for many
communities to be able to maintain their education programs at their
current levels," Beckwith said.  "Education reform is not a zero-sum
game... education reform is an investment."

Peter Finn, president of the Massachusetts Association of School
Superintendents, said the pressure on public schools to boost student
performance has never been greater than it is now.  "It is absolutely
imperative that they have full funding available to try to answer those
demands," he said
 

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