No children need apply

In an Independence Day address in 1823, Horace Mann, the father of American public education, outlined for the first time his core beliefs that education, the intelligent use of the ballot, and religious freedom are the keys to preserving the nation's liberties. Born in Franklin, he gave that signature speech in Dedham, where he had just opened his first law office. John Quincy Adams, who would soon become our sixth president, watched approvingly from the audience.

How things change, and not always for the better. Now, 184 years later, the town of Dedham is considering ceding 40 acres to the city of Boston. The reason: A developer wants to build a large new neighborhood, and Dedham taxpayers don't want to pay to educate the children it will attract.

What would Horace Mann, the champion of free public schools for all, tell his fellow Dedham citizens on this, Independence Day, 2007?

The sight of any community rolling up the drawbridge because it doesn't want to pay for public education is morally repugnant. But it is also incredibly short sighted for the future of our economy. Unfortunately it is happening not only in Dedham, but in communities across the Commonwealth -- a term full of irony when we behave with only the narrowest of our self-interest in mind.

Here in Massachusetts, where the weather is cold and the costs are high, we talk a lot about how an educated workforce is our great competitive advantage. We want the smart workforce; it's just the children we don't want. Or not in our town, anyway.

"This is really economic suicide to be trying to zone kids out," says Doug Foy, who as the Romney administration's secretary of commonwealth development spent four years trying to undo zoning restrictions that favored McMansions over affordable housing. Paul Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation, has another word for Dedham and other communities that want to just say no to kids: "It's un-American."

In case you missed it, on Saturday, the Globe's James Vaznis reported that Dedham was considering allowing Boston to annex 40 acres because the town is concerned that a proposed housing development with 1,850 units would attract families with children and drive up property taxes to pay for the schools. "Earlier this month," Vaznis reported, "School Committee members voiced outrage over the number of families with children moving into the new affordable housing units." Imagine the nerve.

Property taxes are high. But whatever disincentives there are to making Massachusetts more family friendly have to be fixed. Two years ago the Legislature passed a law that provides state funding to make up the difference between what communities collect in property taxes from new homes and the cost of educating children who move into them. But more obviously needs to be done.

Communities are more than glad to build strip malls, which add to the tax base. Age-restricted housing is sprouting up all over the state. We welcome old people and discourage families with children. This is how to build our innovation economy?

I like old people; in fact, I hope to be one myself one day. In a growth-challenged economy like Massachusetts, the truth is we need to welcome the young and the old. Consider: In the decade 2005 to 2015, the state's working-age population is projected to grow 4.8 percent, or half the national rate, according to Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies. That entire growth will come from workers 55 and older.

So we need those older people, and we could use some younger people, too. They are both our workforce, present and future. But they are more than that: They are our parents, our children. They are us. Horace Mann taught us as much.

Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.