Paiva Weed redux: the state ed funding formula

By John McDaid | Sunday, 22 April 2007

Second clip from the cable-access Newport County Forum on 4/19/07, where Sen. Majority Leader Teresa Paiva Weed discusses the urgency for crafting a funding formula for state educational aid to towns.

I take Sen. Paiva Weed at her word that she is committed to working to get this passed in the current session. Our Portsmouth Senator, Chuck Levesque, in his appearance on WADK last month, said that he had initially held out for the education funding piece first, but was convinced by Paiva Weed to vote for S3050, so we know he's on board.

There is enormous political will to get this through, and there is a dire need, as every community comes up against the cap. Let's keep reminding our legislators that this needs to get done.

Tags: 
Localblogging, 02871

Comments

eileen

Sun, 04/22/2007 - 10:18am

If she says it will be done, most likely it will be. The amounts in the formula may be the problem though. All the schools systems have been screaming for a new formula for awhile, complaining that the amount they receive isn't fair. What this translates to is that they all want more money.
Right now, it just isn't there. And it doesn't appear that it will be there in the near future. So, even with a "fair" formula, that doesn't mean that the Lege will be able to fund it, esp. since the most recent initial study determined that we should be spending a lot more on edc. than we currently are.
A good example of this problem is the "No Child..." It never rec'd the funding that was promised. So it never really fulfilled it's potential. The same thing could potentially happen here & we could end up in the same boat. Good intentions, no $. We shall see.

John McDaid

Sun, 04/22/2007 - 5:46pm

Hi, Eileen...
As you point out, and Pat Crowley cautioned in the thread on the other video, I'm just overly optimistic. Sigh.

Despite my hardboiled, text-noir exterior, deep down I believe that nobody wakes up in the morning thinking about how they're going to screw our kids out of a decent education to save themselves $100/year in taxes. And other people don't wake up saying, "Gosh, those folks in the million-dollar houses on Indian Avenue have my best interests at heart. I'll sign whatever petition they stick in front of my nose. Golly gee whillikers, I like sitting in a Tent on a Saturday. It makes me feel special."

Of course, this is one of my imaginative scotomata. Recent history has proved me painfully wrong. And may yet prove me wrong about the good intentions of Senator Paiva-Weed and our legislators. But I really, really hope not.

It's not that the money isn't there. It's that people don't believe that they are responsible for kicking in their fair share. And yes, I'm looking at the folks in the million-dollar houses when I say that. As Pat Crowley points out, property taxes are regressive, meaning that I pay a bigger percentage of my take home. And I pay it happily — I just expect everyone else to do the same. That's the social contract.

I know, I know, I can hear Dr. Pangloss getting ready to kick me, even as I speak...

Cheers.
-j

eileen

Sun, 04/22/2007 - 8:03pm

You must be a good writer. I had to pull out my dictionary twice and, let me assure you, that is a rarity.

You know, it's not so much convincing those on Indian Ave. that they should pay their fair share. It's convincing all the rest of us that they should. And convincing us no matter how hard we try, we're never going to be one of "them" because the deck has been stacked & it's not in our favor. How many complaints did you hear when the Lege cut taxes on the richest???? The silence was deafening. And it was an election year. No one EVER asked me about this. Even when I brought it up. Yet ALL of us pay in some way for that minus money.

John McDaid

Sun, 04/22/2007 - 8:33pm

Hi, Eileen...
Bringing up the elephant in the room -- tax cuts? You must be an honest politician. And I mean that in the best possible sense.

Cheers.
-j