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Registered voters in precinct 6 vote at the Marstons Mills
East Elementary School. Are you registered to vote? If not you can go to
the Town Clerk's office and fill
out the registration forms, go to your local library and obtain a
mail-in voter registration form, or contact us and we will
help you register.
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CHAPTER 70 FUNDING -- has
always been a major concern of mine.
To read the background on this issue
click here
Some of the work I have done on this issue to date:
- I organized a cape wide working group of
elected school and municipal officials.
- I have developed working relationships with Cape legislators.
These relationships are so
important, not just for Chapter 70 work, but for work on many issues.
- Last January at the Mass Municpal Association -
a power lobbying organization working for cities and towns, I was able
to add a contraversal amendment that address our needs for fairness on
cape cod - that was a victory because those voting represented towns and
cities from all over the commonwealth.
- In March, I traveled to Lowell with a selectman
from Harwich and testified before the joint Ways and Means Committee
about the unfairness of the chapter 70 formula.
- I have been invited to meet with the new house
chair of the education committee at the end of November as one of two
elected officials from Cape Cod.
We are on the road to success
with Chapter 70 thanks to our Legislators - but there is still a long way
to go!
Last spring - when all was said and done we
received $315,500 more in Chapter 70 funds for FY06
- additionally we received funds from the Commonwealth's "pothole"
money in the categories of "relief for towns with extraordinary increases in minimum local contributions for education" ($270,000), "relief for towns with high property values in relation to income levels" ($243,000) and "relief for towns with independent fire districts" ($50,000)
These are small steps towards the changes we are
seeking.
There is still much work to be done.
A copy of a bill
filed by Representative Atsalis proposing changes in the formula to
consider median income can be found here: http://www.capeforkids.org/MRX.htm
A copy of the report
by the chapter 70 study committee can be found here. http://www.capeforkids.org/chap70Reportforweb.htm
We are also looking just as closely at
the Lottery formula. This formula has us sending 30+ million dollars a
year to the state and receiving just over a million in return. Keep
checking as we lobby our governor and Beacon Hill for a more fair
distribution of these funds.
5/04
We need residents of
Cape and Island towns to contact legislators involved in the chapter 70 formula
review, those who are on the Ways and Means committee, those who are
on the education
committee and the Governor.
Take a minute to review the
information on the Cape for Kids Website – www.CapeforKids.org and feel free send emails to ask
questions so that you understand the background and current situation with
the State's funding formula.
We need to send a message that
this formula has left us under funded for too long. That our high
property taxes are not an indicator of our wealth, but more of a burden to
many of us as individuals.
Please tell a personal story-or speak from
the heart. Keep your correspondence to one page, or less. Talk about the burden of
property taxes and the cost of living on the Cape. Talk about the schools and town
and how we have been cutting to the bone.
Please send a copy to us, the Equity in 70
committee. We would like to collect copies to share when we
speak with legislators.
Contact information
for the Ways and Means Committee members can be found here: http://www.capeforkids.org/contactwaysmeans.html
Contact information
for the members of the Chapter 70 working committee can be found
here: http://www.capeforkids.org/contactchapt70comm.html
Contact information
for the Governor, the Senate President and the Speaker of the
House are at the bottom of this web page -- http://www.capeforkids.org/call.html
A copy of a bill
filed by Representative Atsalis proposing changes in the formula to
consider median income can be found here: http://www.capeforkids.org/MRX.htm
A copy of the report
by the chapter 70 study committee can be found here. http://www.capeforkids.org/chap70Reportforweb.htm
Comments specific
to the report should be made to: the Joint Committee on Education,
Arts and Humanities (Room 473G, State House,
Boston, MA 02133) or emailed to ssmith@senate.state.ma.us and kathleen.devlin@hou.state.ma.us by January
15, 2004.
Here is a
brief history of the school funding formula issue. For more
details please visit -- www.capeforkids.org
Since 1993 most towns on the Cape and Islands have
been managing their schools based on the mandates in the Education
Reform act. The mandates, along with funding from the state to
support the mandates, was intended to improve public schools. In the
past ten years Ed Reform has accomplished what it set out to do by
improving the schools in inner cities and poorer towns. The
idea was to give each child the same opportunity whether they were in
Chelsea, Somerville or Wellesley. But a few areas of the state, like
Cape Cod and the Berkshires, are the losers.
State education funds are distributed based on a
formula know as the Chapter 70 formula, the title based on the
chapter of law where current version of the formula is
filed.
Cape and Island towns began with a low percentage of
distribution of these funds for many reasons. The reason, put
simply, is that the formula itself is uses a town's property value as
the primary indicator of ability to pay. Little weight is given
to the median income of a town's residents.
Since its inception, Cape and Islands legislators and
officials have been arguing that the chapter 70 funding
distribution formula punishes us because there are so many
high-valued second home in our towns. The Ed Reform formula (chapter
70 funding formula) considers us a wealthy community and the sense of many
at the State House and in the Department of Education is that we ARE
wealthy, and should stop complaining. We are expected
to use our property value to fund our education budget, by
continually overriding proposition 2 1/2. We are frequently reminded
that we only taxing our property at 40% of the allowed levy
limit.
We have been arguing that our year-round residents,
should not have to bear the burden of higher property taxes and that the
formula must give more weight to our median income. The last census showed
that here on the Cape, all towns except Sandwich are below the 30% average
for median income in this state. We have some of the lowest income
home owners in the state.
For the first time in ten years there is a glimmer of
hope that we might see a change in this formula.
A committee has been formed and has been
given the charge to study the problems with this formula and
recommend changes to the legislature.
What has stopped us in our tracks over the past few
years, is the argument that in order for us to receive a more
fair percentage of state funding, poorer towns and inner cities would have
to give up school funding monies. Despite hearing more and more
legislators say they understand that the Cape is under funded, those
legislator will also say they cannot vote in favor of any measure that
would take money away from their own districts. One legislator
actually asked me if, in these scary economic times, if I were living in
his district, would I enthusiastically vote to reelect him if he were
to support a cut in school funding for his district? That would be
hard for anyone to do.
Unfortunately, we have a small number of
legislators representing us, while the cities and poor towns are well
represented. Even here on Cape Cod a few legislators are faced with
the fact that the town of Sandwich, with a usually high median income
relative to the rest of the Cape towns, would actually lose money if more
weight is given to median income.
Additionally, our
Governor's position began and continues to be that we should be able to
sustain our schools with our second home income. He challenged us to show
him that we cannot fund our education budget with our second home property
tax. Months ago we answered that challenge (see our second home
report on the website http://www.capeforkids.org/secondhomes.htm )
but he continues to consider us wealthy. For example, in
Barnstable the percentage of state school funding went from 16% to
12% in the last fiscal year and is expected to decrease again this
year.
We have been making noise for ten years, and the
facts are on our side.
There is a chance that we might see a change, but we need
to make our voices heard.
Numbers on paper and in graphs are one thing. But stories of
the hardships we suffer put a face on the problem.
Please take a few minutes to write a message to the state
representatives and officials who have the power to make changes in this
formula.
NOW
is the time -- we need your help!!!
The Equity in 70
Committee
Janet Joakim
Equity in 70
www.capeforkids.org
Barnstable Town
Council
Please check our website for updates and news.
Natka Drive 02/19/03 see more storm
photos here
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ISSUES:
PRECINCT MEETINGS?
NEIGHBORHOOD meetings? I had a pprecinct
meeting last fall - 3 interesting and wonderful residents attended.
How can we increase these numbers? How about neighborhood meetings? Would
you like to host a neighborhood meeting or coffee?
contact me. 
Barnstable Town
Councilor
Precinct 6
205 Donegal Circle
Centerville, MA 02632
(508)420-2153
email:janetjoakim@aol.com
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