Mayor Warren Needs to Talk to Mayor Walsh About Paying for its Out-of-District Students Attending Newton Schools

From William Heck:

I am delighted that Mayor Warren will serve on Boston Mayor-Elect Marty Walsh's transition team. Now, Setti can directly address the issue of out-of-district students with Marty, and insist that Boston pay Newton a minimum of $7.5 million per year for Boston's 400+ out-of-district students in Newton schools. Yes, Newton taxpayers pay to educate more than 400 Boston students in Newton schools, and it’s wrong.

Whenever any out-of-district students attend Newton schools, Newton really must be paid, fully and fairly, to educate these students. Think about it: Taxpayers in Boston pay city taxes to educate their students in public schools. When Boston students attend Newton schools, Boston sends its students but keeps the tax money. Boston is a wealthy city with a $1.5 billion dollar investment portfolio, an enormous commercial tax base, and hundreds of residents who are millionaires and billionaires. Under these circumstances, and as a Newton taxpayer, I resent paying the costs to educate students in Newton schools who are not from Newton.

Newton now has more than a billion dollars of unfunded debt, obligations, and liabilities. Yes, you read it right – more than a billion. Under Setti, debt has grown to $1.16 billion. The greatest factor in this debt bloat is the runaway costs of Newton schools. And, yet, officials act like Newton’s burdensomely expensive public schools are free to give away.

Setti must speak directly with Marty, telling him that Newton’s education-driven debt bloat has placed a virtual lien on every household in the amount of $38,103. Yes, each Newton homeowner “owes” $38,103 because Setti subliminally funds school spending with “off-the-P&L” IOUs in the form of increased debt and future obligations for which we – the homeowners – are liable. There’s no transparency here.

Enough is enough, and too much is too much; out-of-district students are too much.