ATHOL — The Board of Selectmen Tuesday night added its voice to those calling for state education aid reform.
Board members unanimously endorsed a resolution circulated by the Concord-based Suburban Coalition calling on the state to fully fund the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission. According to the Coalition, implementation of the recommendations would have meant a $500 million more in aid in the current budget. The increase required to meet actual costs would be closer to $2 billion, according to the group.
Members of some local regional school districts have long disputed the formula used by the state. The Mohawk Trail Regional School District is among the signatories to the resolution listed on the Coalition’s website.
Selectmen’s Chairman Lee Chauvette said the state is starting to expect more spending from towns, while at the same time it has never come through with the promised 100 percent reimbursement of transportation costs that drove towns to regionalize.
“You can’t understand the formula no matter how many degrees in mathematics that you have, so anything we can do to help and keep that funding stream coming, I figure is a good thing,” Chauvette said.
The resolution holds that the formula used to calculate state aid significantly and increasingly understates the true cost of education, and that increasing aid now will bolster other local services and create a better-educated work force.
You can reach Chris Curtis at: ccurtis@recorder.com