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| Senator Moore seeks greater transparency and accountability in school budgeting |
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July 21, 2005 - Concerned that recent revelations of major discrepancies in school financial reporting will undermine taxpayer support for education, Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) has called upon the state’s Department of Education to review school finance laws and regulations. In a letter to Dr. David P. Driscoll, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, Senator Moore called for greater transparency in school finances to restore public confidence in local education budgets. Mr. Moore pointed to two recent examples where local school committees and taxpayers were surprised by dramatic changes in their fiscal status. The Douglas School Committee, after having been told by school administrators to expect a surplus, learned that, in fact, the district faced a deficit of about $189,000. On the other hand, Southbridge officials recently learned that their school budget now showed a surplus of as much as $700,000 to one million dollars after weeks of debate over a significant deficit that culminated in a failed Proposition 2 ½ override and the announcement of substantial layoffs. Senator Moore explained that voters facing school budget requests, and state lawmakers who are heavily lobbied to increase school aid, need more reliable information in order to make sound policy choices. “We need to know the real numbers in school budgets if we’re expected to fight for more education aid on Beacon Hill, and local voters need the truth before they’re asked to take the tough vote to raise their own property taxes,” Senator Moore stated. “I want to support education and provide the youth of Massachusetts with the best we can afford, but I’m offended when school administrators rally parents to demand more education aid from the state when they don’t even know – or fail to reveal – their true financial conditions,” Senator Moore continued. “Maybe some of our school administrators need a refresher course in basic math!” Senator Moore also contacted the Association of School Business Officers International (ASBO), headquartered in Reston, Virginia seeking solutions to the problem. Dr. Anne W. Miller, ASBO Executive Director told the senator that her organization has two nationally known programs that promote transparency in school budgeting. One is for budgets and the other is for comprehensive financial reports. “Some states,” she explained, “use these widely and others do no. Massachusetts school business officials have not utilized them.” “Perhaps,” Senator Moore wrote to Commissioner Driscoll, “it’s time for Massachusetts to consider improved standards of transparency and accountability in school financing.” The senator said that he was considering such a requirement as part of any legislative initiative to reform the Chapter 70 education aid formula, an effort that is expected to get underway this fall when the Legislature’s Education Committee holds statewide public hearings on the formula, including one planned for Oxford. |
