Mike Festa is getting involved
Published on December 16th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - In response to concerns voiced by the Finance Board, on Monday night, Stoneham's newest representative to the state legislature vowed to rally for increased state aid to the town.
Mike Festa, who will be officially sworn in as state representative of the 35th Middlesex District on January 6, stated that he is also concerned with the level of state aid the town has received in recent years and advised that Finance Board input regarding Stoneham's past and present funding levels would be necessary for investigating the matter.
"I'd like to get a sense...where you see problems dealing with state funding issues," Festa requested.
He concurred with the board that it is a mystery why Stoneham is at the level it is, whereas similar communities, such as Melrose, are receiving significantly more state aid in the form of Chapter 70 dispersements.
Festa assured the board that there has been recognition on the state level, including that by State Representative Paul Casey and State Senator Richard Tisei, regarding an inequity in the formula that determines state funding levels. That formula stems from the Education Reform mandates that school systems are required to implement, and with which the state has pledged to help communities fund.
In addition, he advised that Department of Education Commissioner David Driscoll, with whom he has a good relationship, would assist Stoneham in its investigation once the town's concerns were brought to his attention.
"There is a golden opportunity to get the Department of Education to take ... Stoneham into consideration to adjust the formula...Let's get together with the Department of Ed and understand what's happened already and where we see an ability to tinker with the formula," he said.
With towns like Stoneham and Melrose having limitations on their tax base due to a high percentage of residential property in addition to Proposition 2 1/2, the burden for public education funding lies largely with the individual tax payers.
"Even though I'm a rookie, I think I have something to bring to the table and I look forward to doing so," said Festa.
He estimated that an additional $2 million of Chapter 70 money would be available for the next fiscal year.
"The real challenge...is for us to get our fair share...," said Festa.
School Committee Chairman Stephen Gucciardi, who attended Monday night's meeting, voiced his dismay at the consistently low level of state funding for Stoneham over recent years.
"What's wrong with Stoneham's numbers? Why isn't the formula helping? Why would more affluent communities get more funding?," he questioned. "Stoneham, for some reason, is greatly disadvantaged compared to like communities."
Locating those answers, Festa stressed was attainable and reiterated that Department of Education experts could review those issues with Stoneham.
"That is the first order of business," he pledged for next month, though cautioned that any resultant change in funding levels would not aid Stoneham in the current fiscal year.
Finance Board member John Warren provided a handout for the board's review which detailed funding levels of state aid by town, compiled from the state Department of Education, the state Division of Local Services and the Boston Globe.
In glaring detail, it portrayed Stoneham as one of the lowest state aid recipient communities in the area as well as a community that has never benefited from the state's reserve of aid from the overburden fund, since Ed Reform came to be in 1996.
In Fiscal Year 1998, Stoneham's Chapter 70 state aid per pupil was $641. For the same year, on a per pupil basis, Melrose received $1,296, Arlington $967, Wakefield $930, Reading $896 and Winchester $705.
Stoneham, he asserted, should be at the same overall funding level as the towns of Wakefield and Arlington.
Warren explained that since Ed Reform was implemented, the state has recognized that certain communities would not be able to fund the mandates alone. In response to this, an overburden reserve was established to assist, while keeping all mandates in place.
For Fiscal Year 1998, the state has dispersed $104 million, up from $86 million the previous year. This fiscal year, the level has risen to $141 million.
In reviewing the data, Warren suggested that once a community was established on the overburden funding list, it appeared to be funded again in subsequent years. Stoneham has yet to make that list.
Festa pledged to coordinate a meeting with the Department of Education, Finance Board Chairman Richard Gregorio and Gucciardi for next month to research Stoneham's concerns directly with the source.
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!