Court order could change everything

In the education budget he unveiled yesterday, Governor Mitt Romney avoided what many observers call the most critical question confronting Massachusetts schools: a looming court decision over whether the state is providing enough money to educate children in the state's poorest school systems.

Romney's budget added nearly $100 million for public schools, a 2.7 percent increase that mainly covers schools' basic needs, such as cost-of-living increases for teacher salaries.

But the governor did not address a state judge's report last spring that found the state is shortchanging its poorest students and cited schools that lacked textbooks, adequate science labs, and extra help for students. The Supreme Judicial Court is expected to rule on the matter soon, perhaps this month. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the legal case could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lawmakers and teachers said the governor missed an opportunity to confront the problems before the court hands down its decision. But the governor said he would tackle additional school funding issues and his own initiatives, such as merit pay for teachers, in separate legislation to be filed later in the year. That scenario would be similar to early 1993, when lawmakers passed the Education Reform Act that increased state funding and led to widespread MCAS testing in schools.

The governor said he does not believe that money alone is the answer to the state's education problems.

"Just paying the same people more money to do the same thing will not yield a different result," Romney said during a press conference yesterday.

It's not surprising that Romney, and others, might be reluctant to tackle the issue of school funding raised by the legal case until the court forces them to. The question of state aid to local schools and how to distribute it among poor schools and more affluent ones is among the most contentious subjects confronting states around the country.

Romney's budget is just the start of what will be a long, arduous debate in the Legislature, and lawmakers will put forth their own, probably very different, spending blueprint.

The leaders of the Senate Education Committee, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association said yesterday they already saw room for changes. They are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Judicial Court's decision in the school funding lawsuit and say that some of the inequities in schools could be addressed now.

In a report last spring, Superior Court Judge Margot Botsford said gains had been made since the 1993 measure, which pumped billions into education and required MCAS testing to hold schools accountable for student achievement. But she said those gains were not enough and recommended changes, such as free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds in poor families and a review of how much more money is needed for special education. But she also took aim at the administration of some of the poor districts, saying they need to be better managed.

Because of budget cuts in recent years, Lynn public schools, one of the districts mentioned in the case known as Hancock v. the Commissioner of Education, have had to sharply reduce preschool and extra help for students who fail the MCAS. Mayor Chip Clancy, also chairman of the School Committee, said the state budget plan released yesterday represents a minimal increase for schools.

"If Hancock were to come down favorably, it would explode those numbers," Clancy said.

Statewide, for instance, money to help struggling students pass the MCAS has plunged from $50 million a few years ago to a proposed $20 million next year, when the governor is pushing the state Board of Education to add science to the 10th grade math and English MCAS tests that students must pass to graduate from high school.

Senator Robert A. Antonioni, chairman of the Legislature's joint Education Committee, proposed spending $150 million to $175 million each year for seven years, partly to address the inequities outlined in the Hancock case. He said he was disappointed in the governor's budget.

"It pretty much represents something of a holding pattern," Antonioni said. "There was a big opportunity there for the governor to do something, and I didn't see that."

Others said it was premature for Romney to budget money before the court rules.

"We don't have a Hancock decision yet; we don't know what it's going to cost," said Mark Roosevelt, managing director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.

In his budget, Romney provides funding in a number of areas, including: $4 million to track student test scores; $1.5 million for a teacher database that would provide basic information about teachers for the first time, such as how many certified science teachers are working in public schools; and $2 million so the state Department of Education will intervene faster in failing schools.

The budget also calls for lifting the cap on charter schools and provides $750,000 to let private school students take the MCAS, opening the door for the top scorers to qualify for free tuition at state colleges and universities.

In higher education, the governor's budget included a modest increase, about 2 percent on average, for the nine Massachusetts state colleges and 15 community colleges. Proposed increases varied, under a plan by the state Board of Higher Education to adjust funding to reflect enrollment growth and other differences among campuses. Bridgewater State College would receive $32.6 million, an increase of 3.5 percent, under Romney's plan, while Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield would get $8.05 million, an increase of 1.9 percent.

Fred Clark, the executive officer for the state colleges' Council of Presidents, said campus leaders were pleased to see a budget increase, but will continue to lobby for the 9.5 percent increase requested by the Board of Higher Education.

"The governor's moving in the right direction, but not far enough to help the colleges help the state," he said. "We hope to make that argument loudly in the Legislature this coming session."

Jenna Russell of the Globe staff contributed to this report.