ENDURING speeches and miscellaneous hoopla, the children at the Dorchester Boys & Girls Club were remarkably patient in their role as props.
Governor Deval Patrick, who used the site to launch a "new era of education reform," was not. Asked how he planned to foot the bill - new taxes? casinos? - Patrick answered tersely, "Everything is on the table."
To his credit, the governor has a vision. When it comes to paying for it, he's rolling the dice.
"We're building a house," he said. "You design it first and then cost it out."
Tom Birmingham, the former Senate president who coauthored the Education Reform Act of 1993, costs out the governor's education dreamhouse at "over $1 billion."
Back in 1993, Birmingham wanted to pay for his landmark plan by increasing the sales tax. After losing that argument to Republican Governor William F. Weld, he and the Legislature cut other state programs in order to fund ed reform with its first $175 million appropriation.
Given the continued phase-in of costly healthcare reforms and a questionable economy, it would be "exceedingly difficult," said Birmingham, to fund Patrick's ambitious plan simply by cutting the budget elsewhere.
That leaves new taxes - or casinos.
Patrick was a big loser after his proposal to license three casinos went down to crushing defeat last winter. But that was then.
Not long afterward, the governor told a Brookline Chamber of Commerce audience that a similar plan could resurface. He cited the continued need for property tax relief, the possibility of slot machines at the state's racetracks and ongoing efforts by the Wampanoag Indians to build their own casino.
But the biggest reason gambling could resurface is political.
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi was gambling's - and Patrick's - most powerful foe. However, since beating Patrick on casinos, the speaker has been the subject of numerous news stories alleging ethical lapses. For a while, fellow legislators vied openly to replace him. While talk of successors has quieted down, DiMasi is chastened. And a chastened DiMasi strengthens Patrick and his agenda, as the governor's recent string of political successes demonstrates.
Obviously, the governor needs continued legislative support to accomplish future goals. Putting aside the funding component, Patrick has a tough job ahead when it comes to selling certain elements of his education agenda, especially to charter school advocates and teachers unions. Given the expected pushback on policy, how does he get legislators behind him?
In 1993, education reform was propelled by a court case brought by students in certain poor communities who alleged that the school funding system violated the education clause of the Massachusetts Constitution. The case, McDuffy v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Education, ultimately ended up before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. In its decision, the SJC established the state constitutional standards against which education reform efforts in Massachusetts would be judged.
"There is not that Damocles sword hanging over the Legislature now," said Birmingham. "It will take an active collective will to make the kind of commitment the governor is talking about."
Fifteen years ago, Massachusetts made a commitment to funding and standards. There may, indeed, be a collective will to take it to the next level. There is no court suit this time, just the urgency of people knowing public education is still in need of reform. But is there an appetite to raise taxes to do it?
Rather than make the call himself at the outset, Patrick is passing the buck to a new commission. It has until Nov. 15 to report back to him about short-term cost savings and potential new revenue sources.
It will fall to this commission to cost out the governor's dream house. If everything is on the table, as the governor said, it will also fall to this commission to weigh the pain of new taxes against the glitter of casinos.
The bottom line? Patrick could be gambling on gambling to fund his ambitious education agenda, along with the dreams of those quiet, hopeful children sitting before him in Dorchester.
Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com.
