Opinion

Nelson Benton: More yawns than cheers for Deval plan

By Nelson Benton
Staff writer
Published: June 27, 2008

It took Gov. Deval Patrick three days to roll out his ambitious education reform plan this week.

The governor stands firm on the need for accountability in the form of continued testing of students. And the plan places great emphasis on early childhood education; having children spend more time in school; and the need for students to continue their studies after high school, proposing free tuition at community colleges for everyone in the commonwealth eventually.

Most disappointed with the proposal were charter-school advocates, since the bill does not propose any expansion of those institutions. Rather, it proposes that public school districts establish "readiness schools" where students would be given more personal attention and administrators allowed to experiment with different teaching methods.

Of course, all this will cost money that neither the state nor cities and towns currently have. And voters are unlikely to countenance higher taxes as a means of paying for these reforms unless they see significant sacrifice on the part of the teachers' unions. So don't hold your breath.

How many taxpayers in Peabody, for instance, are employed by companies that pay 90 percent of the cost of premium health plans? That city's teachers enjoy this rich benefit — and they're clamoring for more.

Until some balance is restored to public-sector benefits, you're likely to see fewer services, not more, from the schools.

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Whether planned or not, the numerous leaks by administration figures regarding the contents of the governor's "action education agenda" prior to its formal release this week, made it seem like old news when it finally arrived. There wasn't even much notice taken of the proposal to allow the children of undocumented immigrants to attend state colleges and universities at in-state rates — a source of great controversy on Beacon Hill a year or so ago.

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North Shore residents who assisted in drafting the governor's plan by serving on the various subcommittees included Carole Cowan of Manchester-by-the-Sea, president of Middlesex Community College; Beverly's Bill Guenther, president of Mass Insight; Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District Superintendent Marinel McGrath; former Beverly state representative Mike Cahill; Lyle Kirtman of Wenham, president of Future Management Systems; and Arthur Pippo of Ipswich, director of the Massachusetts Teacher Association's Division of Higher Education.

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This week's tiff between School Committeeman Ed Nizwantowski and the Peabody Youth Foundation may have only been a preview of a much bigger fight that will play out between now and the 2009 city election. Stay tuned.

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U.S. Rep. John Tierney has joined colleagues James McGovern, D-Worcester, and William Delahunt, D-Quincy, in calling on the U.S. to abandon negotiations on a long-term security agreement with Iraq, and instead ask the United Nations to take responsibility for keeping the peace there beginning next year.

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The threat of a repeal of the state income tax, which will be on the ballot this November, has slowed the momentum of a proposal to increase the pay of judges, legislative leaders and other top state officials. Wonders Chip Ford of Citizens for Limited Taxation: "If the income tax repeal doesn't pass in November, any bets on how long it'll take for the pols to grab that pay hike?"

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It's the end of an era for one of the region's longest-running charity events. The Fred Berry Open, the golf tournament begun a quarter-century ago, will not be held this year. Friends of the Senate majority leader, who's had to limit his public appearances due to a variety of physical ailments, say he will continue his charitable endeavors in other ways, however.

Despite those ailments, Berry remains a force to be reckoned with on Beacon Hill. For instance, he's being credited for keeping legislation alive on Beacon Hill that would boost the rates the state pays contracted caregivers and others in the human service field. Advocates of the legislation say some of those rates haven't been adjusted since 1987.

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Nelson Benton writes a weekly column on politics.