"It could be worse!"
That’s the mantra we’re now used to hearing from human services, education and local officials grappling with budget cuts and the resulting layoffs. Maybe in this context, an 8.4 percent cut in the state’s k-12 education spending may seem mild:
“While certainly severe, cuts to education have not been as extreme as those in some other areas of the state budget including Local Aid (cut 37.6 percent), Environment & Recreation (cut 26.7 percent ), and Law & Public Safety (cut 14.6 percent). Much of the total cut to Education comes from Non-Chapter 70 Aid programs (cut 24.5 percent), Early Education and Care (cut 18.3 percent), and Higher Education (cut 16.4 percent).” [Full Report: Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center]
Here’s a snapshot of how this 8.7 percent cut looks in North Worcester County, where the Sentinel and Enterprise reporting staff did an excellent job of quantifying local cuts:
“Six teachers in Fitchburg public schools have received layoff notices, and Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District has notified about six teachers representing 4.85 full-time positions that they will be laid off along with a guidance counselor, a custodian, and six paraprofessionals for a total of 14 lost jobs. North Middlesex Regional School District expects to layoff about 20 teachers and let go another 15 non-teacher employees through attrition, said Superintendent Maureen Marshall.”
In short, the only towns not laying off teachers and staff are those who did so last year.
