SWAMPSCOTT — Dave Whelan was angry when he went to hear Gov. Deval Patrick speak in Salem on Tuesday.

"And I was angrier when I left than when I went in," said the Swampscott School Committee member.

It was Patrick's first stop in a statewide series of town hall-style meetings. Specifically, Whelan was upset by the governor's declaration that the formula for distributing state education money to cities and towns, Chapter 70, might be unfair.

"Chapter 70 is broken," Patrick replied in answer to a question from former Swampscott School Committee member Mary Dechillo. "Everybody knows it."

Whelan agrees completely. But, he asked, "I just want to know how he can state that the formula is flawed and not fix it? ... I want to see some action."

Whelan cites statistics showing, for example, that Wellesley gets more money per pupil from the state than Swampscott receives, despite the fact that the Boston suburb's per capita income is nearly three times higher. Likewise, Marblehead scores more aid than its less affluent neighbor.

"It's easy to abuse a little town like Swampscott," Whelan said.

So far, he estimates, the disparity has cost more than $700,000 and led to layoffs over the last two years totaling more than 40 professional positions.

State Secretary of Education Paul Reville said the governor is supporting a long-term education plan meant to address the needs of cities and towns in general.

"We're acutely aware that there are stresses and strains," he said.

Conceding unfamiliarity with the specific problems of Swampscott, Reville was quick to acknowledge difficulties created by the complicated Chapter 70 formula. "There are anomalies in the formula." Both the governor and the Legislature are debating how to deal with education and the formula.

"The governor shares (Whelan's) sense of urgency," Reville said. "We're looking at the existing formula and alternatives to it."

Informed that Swampscott could face still more layoffs next year, he replied, "You'll see some things in the FY09 budget."

"I want to see these things now," Whelan said. "I want to know (their plans) now."

Swampscott Superintendent Matt Malone backed him up with an e-mail to The Salem News. "We need to take action. Enough talk. Chapter 70 hurts kids. I can't stand for that. ... We could sit around and study the issue to death, but that would not put dollars back into the classroom."

Whelan complained that Swampscott could face successive $1 million deficits in the coming years, forcing the town to close two elementary schools. He lamented the lack of communication between the state and town. "What's being done to stop the bleeding?"

If the town got its fair share, Whelan said, "we wouldn't be tearing each other apart here over layoffs." The tight money in Swampscott has led to "a complete breakdown in civility," he said.

Most recently, layoffs were blamed for a no-confidence vote aimed at Malone by the teachers union.

"Pieces of the formula," Whelan said, have led to the disparity. For example, the number of students qualified for school lunches can skew the distribution.

Finally, he said, Patrick's Salem statement "flies in the face" of everything the town has been told by the governor's own Department of Education. In the past, they held the formula was "fair and reasonable." (It was at least meant to be fair and reasonable, Reville said.)

"I do share Dave's feelings," School Committee member Maureen Thomsen said. "It's just disappointing."

"The state needs to look at what's equitable," said committee member Glenn Paster. Additional funding, he said, could eliminate many of the town's problems.