Moriarty Opposes Use Of Public Funds To Lure Students Out Of District

By Town Councilor Shaun Moriarty

First and foremost, a big thank you to Southbridge’s own Mike Murray for leading the charge in a justified fight that will be heard on Beacon Hill later this week. It can be argued whether Mr. Smith can truly go to Washington anymore, but he certainly can go to Boston.

I vividly remember coming home one afternoon and being surprised to see a postcard from the Quaboag Regional School District in my mailbox, touting the classes being offered, technology available, athletics and extra-curricular activities, and more. It seemed quite fitting that I found it nestled among flyers from used car dealers. It was later that day when my phone rang with Mike Murray on the other end, clearly agitated over the use of public funds to entice locals to send their kids — and tax dollars — elsewhere. 

The difficulties within Southbridge’s schools have been very well documented. I am asked regularly by people from other towns, “Is it really as bad as they say?” or “You would never work there, would you?” and “They just can’t get their act together, can they?”

The Town and its school district has developed a nasty reputation. Some of it is the product of self-loathing and a horribly negative self-image. Some of it is deserved. Some of it is pure make believe and fantasy.

What is not make believe and fantasy, however, is the impact the exploitation of school choice and what it has wrought upon the Town and local public school system. I understand the concerns and fears of many locals who have opted to take advantage of school choice, sending their child to another district. As a parent, one of your prerogatives is doing what you believe is best for your child. What many do not realize, however, is that local tax money is sent with that child to cover the costs of educating him or her in that out-of-town district, regardless of what the difference may be in per student expenditures. Unfortunately for local taxpayers, if, for any reason — including teacher contracts, cost savings of regionalization, or fewer extra-curricular opportunities, to name a few — the receiving district’s cost of educating the average student is less than the sending district’s cost, that receiving district is the beneficiary of a nice little cash windfall. That move means the cost of educating our Town’s youth remains the same, or even increases, while the number of kids being educated here goes down.

I can’t speak for Mike Murray, but my big problem is not necessarily with school choice, but the exploitation of school choice as a money-making endeavor. Education is expensive, and there are many reasons for that. Public elementary and secondary education is not, however, a business. Schools are supposed to compete for trophies on the athletic field, in show choir competitions, and quiz bowls, not for local tax dollars.

Senate Bill 1804, sponsored by State Senators Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge) and John Fernandes (D-Milford), will go a long way to prevent districts from using money to engage in predatory practices to steal money from other communities. The school choice windfall enjoyed by a district such as Quaboag more than covered the costs of the postcard production and mailings, all with the intent of padding that pile of cash further at the expense of our own tax dollars.

Let your representatives know how you feel about Senate Bill 1804. Let us better control our tax dollars by keeping our tax dollars locally rather than subsidizing the education of folks 40 minutes away.