Neighbor News
Need for Additional School Funding through Override Clear: Letter
The Melrose Public Schools have had to educate our children with a dramatically smaller budget than its peers.
By every financial measure the City of Melrose has fallen dramatically behind when it comes to investing in our school system and our public school students.
Of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts only 8 communities spend less on their students as measured by Per Pupil Expenditure...a benchmark established by the Department of Education. Only 40 communities pay their teachers less, and none of those communities fall inside of Route 128.
The shortfall is dramatic when measured against similar communities throughout the Commonwealth
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1) Municipalities with similar Median Household Income
The median family income in Melrose is $94,434 according to the latest census data.
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In a sample of 10 similar communities in Massachusetts with populations of at least 22,000 people and median family incomes that average $93,160, Melrose is dead last in Per Pupil Expenditure ($12,248), average teacher salary ($65,368) and second to last in the residential tax rate ($10.81) behind only Burlington ($10.48) who arguably has the most envious commercial tax base inside of Route 128.
The average per pupil expenditure for these 10 communities, including Melrose, is $16,773. To put this in perspective, if Melrose spent an additional $4,525 per student to reach the average of $16,773 our school system would be working with an additional $18,425,000 to educate the 4,072 children in the Melrose Public School System.
Sample Data: Burlington, Canton, Marshfield, Tewksbury, Watertown, Wakefield, Stoneham, Dedham, Norwood.
2) Municipalities with similar Median House Prices
The Median House Price in Melrose is $617,000.
In a sample of 10 Communities in Massachusetts with Median House prices averaging $609,000 and similar populations Melrose is again dead last in Per Pupil Expenditures, average teacher salaries and ranks 9th out of 10th in tax rate, behind Medford at $9.60.
The average per pupil expenditure of these 10 communities is $15,716. Again, if Melrose spent the additional $3,468 per student to reach the average that these communities achieve, the school system would be working with an additional $14,123,000 to educate the children of Melrose.
Sample Data: Medford, Reading, Waltham, Newburyport, North Andover, Natick, Middleton, Acton/Boxborough, Andover.
3) Municipalities within the Middlesex League Athletic Conference
Using the Middlesex League as a barometer tells a similar tale.
Of these 12 Communities Melrose again finishes last in Per Pupil Expenditure and average teacher salary. Melrose is third from last in property tax rate, again finishing closely behind Burlington and Woburn ($9.50). The difference in per pupil expenditure for Melrose and the average of $16,037 in the Middlesex League is $3,737. If Melrose achieved the average of these school systems the Melrose Public Schools would have an additional $15,215,000 to educate the children of Melrose.
Sample Data: Arlington, Burlington, Belmont, Lexington, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield, Watertown, Wilmington, Winchester, Woburn.
The State average for Per Pupil Expenditures is $16,015 and teacher’s salary is $78,707, further adding to the evidence of a tremendous shortfall of funding in Melrose.
Whether it’s statewide or in comparison to 24 similar communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the message is clear. The Melrose Public Schools have had to educate our children with a dramatically smaller budget than its peers. The numbers are almost impossible to believe. However, in any comparable data sets the results will be the same. How can they not be when there are 351 Communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Melrose ranks 343rd in Per Pupil Expenditures and 311th in Average Teacher Salary.
The bottom line is that when viewed in comparison to communities that have similar household incomes, similar housing costs and are in our general proximity, Melrose is dead last in school investment, teacher’s salaries and 22 out of 25 in the residential tax rate.
During override discussions there will be a group of opponents who come forward with claims that the Melrose School Administration isn’t getting the job done and they are providing a lousy education. This group won’t support an override until the “right” administration or “right” educational system is put in place. However, the data does not support these claims.
Although Melrose is in dead last for student investment among these cities and towns, the Melrose students are equal to or outperform their counterparts in approximately half of these communities when comparing SAT Scores and 10th Grade MCAS results. Quite an achievement given Melrose’s incredible financial disadvantage.
Melrose residents who oppose additional school spending may state that a Melrose education can’t compare to Winchester, Lexington and Belmont. They would be correct. However, if Melrose administrators were given the additional $1,350 per student that Winchester and Belmont provide for their children, or the additional $6,000 Lexington provides, the system would have an additional $5,200,000 (Belmont & Winchester) to $24,000,000 (Lexington) to help level the playing field.
Over the past 15 years and 2 failed school override attempts Melrose has had to continue to do more with less. The system is now at the breaking point. The evidence is clear on the need for an override. Based on the data, an override request by the City for $5.18 million is more than reasonable. The only questions left are how important public education is to our community and are we O.K. living in a community that’s dead last in student investment and teachers pay. We get to answer those questions on April 2nd.
