METCO STUDENTS, PARENTS RALLY TO REVERSE PATRICK CUTS
By Gintautas Dumcius
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 18, 2009…..Twenty-one million, six
hundred and 15 thousand, three hundred and thirteen dollars.
That figure was pounded home on Wednesday morning, through a call-and-
respond chant, for the students and parents who gathered to lobby lawmakers
for restoration of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity
(METCO) program's funding levels in the fiscal 2010 budget.
Hundreds of METCO supporters clogged the hallways and gathered in front of
the Grand Staircase as officials shouted out names of legislators to lobby and
targeted Gov. Deval Patrick for his cuts to a program that sends 3,275 urban
students to 37 school districts that participate voluntarily.
Lawmakers, including Reps. Gloria Fox (D-Roxbury) and Willie Mae Allen (D-
Mattapan), who joined METCO officials on the staircase, said they were
confident the Legislature will return the program's funding to its original fiscal
2009 budget figure.
"It's been at $21 million for a while," said Fox, a member of the House Ways and
Means Committee. "It's not like we're asking for more."
"The governor had the same type of opportunity," Fox added, referencing
Patrick receiving a scholarship sending him to Milton Academy and pulling him
out from under-funded Chicago schools when he was 14 years old. "He has to
understand we have to struggle to at least keep level funding."
Asked about Fox's comments, a spokesman for the Executive Office of
Education, said that Patrick does not enjoy cutting funding for programs he
supports and had pressed for spending increases in better economic times.
In the fiscal 2009 budget, the governor proposed a $1.5 million increase in
METCO's funding, which was cut down to a $1 million increase by the
Legislature, spokesman Jonathan Palumbo said.
But the program took a $2.3 million cut when Patrick made mid-year spending
reductions in an attempt to balance this year's budget. That cut rankled many
lawmakers who met over the winter to discuss the program's fate.
The program sends participating students from school districts in metropolitan
Boston and near Springfield to "racially isolated suburban schools," according to
METCO. Twelve thousand students are on a waiting list.
Another $900,000 cut to METCO is planned, along with incorporation of the
mid-year spending cuts, under Patrick's fiscal 2010 budget, leaving a budget
total of $18.5 million for METCO. The cuts will lead to a loss of tutoring and
after-school programs for the students, METCO officials said.
"Who took the money from us? Gov. Patrick!" shouted Catherine Tang, METCO
public affairs director. "We need to send him a letter asking for it back." She
added: "A nice letter."
METCO supporters were given a sample letter to the governor stating that
further cuts to the program would put "educational opportunity in jeopardy" for
students, and a double-sided sheet outlining "METCO Lobby Tips and Skills" and
containing facts about the program.
Fox said level funding must be maintained this coming budget year in anticipation
of deeper cuts in the following budget cycle, which she predicted will end up
mired even deeper in economic crisis. "You have to hold on to what you have,"
she said.
Sheryl Goodloe, director of the METCO program in Westwood, said Patrick had
pledged to "hold harmless" education funding in his cuts.
"He told a fib," she said, adding that her community was hit with $15,000 less
thanks to midyear "9C" cuts.
"If we weren't a successful program, we wouldn't be 45 years old," she added,
pointing to a 98 percent graduation rate for METCO students and an 87 percent
placement rate for college.
Palumbo, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Education, noted the
governor had pledged to keep "Chapter 70" funding, or direct aid to school
districts, harmless.
"He has followed through on his promise there," Palumbo said. "The budget
crisis hit and we all had to work very hard to manage our budget and make do
with less money across all sectors in the state. We think education fared well in
the 9C cuts."
Palumbo added: "He never suggested he was going to hold all of education
harmless."
More articles are available at the News Service's website.
By Gintautas Dumcius
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 18, 2009…..Twenty-one million, six
hundred and 15 thousand, three hundred and thirteen dollars.
That figure was pounded home on Wednesday morning, through a call-and-
respond chant, for the students and parents who gathered to lobby lawmakers
for restoration of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity
(METCO) program's funding levels in the fiscal 2010 budget.
Hundreds of METCO supporters clogged the hallways and gathered in front of
the Grand Staircase as officials shouted out names of legislators to lobby and
targeted Gov. Deval Patrick for his cuts to a program that sends 3,275 urban
students to 37 school districts that participate voluntarily.
Lawmakers, including Reps. Gloria Fox (D-Roxbury) and Willie Mae Allen (D-
Mattapan), who joined METCO officials on the staircase, said they were
confident the Legislature will return the program's funding to its original fiscal
2009 budget figure.
"It's been at $21 million for a while," said Fox, a member of the House Ways and
Means Committee. "It's not like we're asking for more."
"The governor had the same type of opportunity," Fox added, referencing
Patrick receiving a scholarship sending him to Milton Academy and pulling him
out from under-funded Chicago schools when he was 14 years old. "He has to
understand we have to struggle to at least keep level funding."
Asked about Fox's comments, a spokesman for the Executive Office of
Education, said that Patrick does not enjoy cutting funding for programs he
supports and had pressed for spending increases in better economic times.
In the fiscal 2009 budget, the governor proposed a $1.5 million increase in
METCO's funding, which was cut down to a $1 million increase by the
Legislature, spokesman Jonathan Palumbo said.
But the program took a $2.3 million cut when Patrick made mid-year spending
reductions in an attempt to balance this year's budget. That cut rankled many
lawmakers who met over the winter to discuss the program's fate.
The program sends participating students from school districts in metropolitan
Boston and near Springfield to "racially isolated suburban schools," according to
METCO. Twelve thousand students are on a waiting list.
Another $900,000 cut to METCO is planned, along with incorporation of the
mid-year spending cuts, under Patrick's fiscal 2010 budget, leaving a budget
total of $18.5 million for METCO. The cuts will lead to a loss of tutoring and
after-school programs for the students, METCO officials said.
"Who took the money from us? Gov. Patrick!" shouted Catherine Tang, METCO
public affairs director. "We need to send him a letter asking for it back." She
added: "A nice letter."
METCO supporters were given a sample letter to the governor stating that
further cuts to the program would put "educational opportunity in jeopardy" for
students, and a double-sided sheet outlining "METCO Lobby Tips and Skills" and
containing facts about the program.
Fox said level funding must be maintained this coming budget year in anticipation
of deeper cuts in the following budget cycle, which she predicted will end up
mired even deeper in economic crisis. "You have to hold on to what you have,"
she said.
Sheryl Goodloe, director of the METCO program in Westwood, said Patrick had
pledged to "hold harmless" education funding in his cuts.
"He told a fib," she said, adding that her community was hit with $15,000 less
thanks to midyear "9C" cuts.
"If we weren't a successful program, we wouldn't be 45 years old," she added,
pointing to a 98 percent graduation rate for METCO students and an 87 percent
placement rate for college.
Palumbo, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Education, noted the
governor had pledged to keep "Chapter 70" funding, or direct aid to school
districts, harmless.
"He has followed through on his promise there," Palumbo said. "The budget
crisis hit and we all had to work very hard to manage our budget and make do
with less money across all sectors in the state. We think education fared well in
the 9C cuts."
Palumbo added: "He never suggested he was going to hold all of education
harmless."
More articles are available at the News Service's website.
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