[Note: Links and materials referenced in an archived posting may have expired.]

TV ad spotlights impact of budget cuts

The Massachusetts Teachers Association has launched a television advertising campaign focusing on the unacceptable choices that funding shortfalls are forcing upon public schools in the Commonwealth and the impact of the situation on children. The MTA's 30-second spot, Negotiations, began airing this morning on network and cable stations throughout the state. The ad focuses on children who are "negotiating" about what to do next -- further increase class sizes, charge for bus service or sports, or close the school library.

"These kinds of choices are being made every day, and they are hurting students across our state," said MTA President Catherine A. Boudreau.

Examples used in the advertisement were drawn from a study entitled "Progress in Jeopardy: A Report on the State of Education Funding in Massachusetts" that was issued in February by groups representing teachers, superintendents, school committees and municipal officials. The report detailed the specific impacts of budget cuts on 18 school districts and covered general survey findings from 187 school districts. Among other things, "Progress in Jeopardy" showed that class sizes had risen in 59 percent of the 153 districts that reported class-size data.

The television spot, produced by the advertising firm of SS+K, is one of a series of MTA ads airing this spring. Two radio ads are currently being played across the state, and more are planned. The campaign dramatizes the impact of the lack of state funding on students in the pre-kindergarten-through-grade 12 public schools and in the Commonwealth's public higher education system. It also refers viewers and listeners to www.goodschools.org, an MTA Web site that focuses on the report's findings and encourages visitors to become active in the effort to restore public education funding.

The ads note that Massachusetts "has cut more state funding per student than any other state in the past two years." The statement reflects the findings of a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Andrew Reschovsky, which showed that state aid per pupil, including grants and reimbursements, dropped by more than 14 percent in the Commonwealth between fiscal years 2002 and 2004, after adjusting for cost increases. Nationally, the average decline was 4 percent over those two years.

The budget proposed by Governor Mitt Romney does not come close to making up for the amounts cut from either the public schools or public higher education. The three accounts that are used to fund public education - Chapter 70 direct aid, grants and reimbursements and unrestricted local aid, up to half of which communities allocate to public education - declined by $527 million in actual dollars between FY02 and FY04, according to the Progress in Jeopardy report. Public higher education funding, meanwhile, was cut by $223 million, or 21 percent, between FY01 and FY04.

The House Ways and Means budget, released last week, provides more aid to education than the one proposed by the governor, but it, too, would not reverse the impact of the "structural deficit" that Massachusetts faces year after year because of inadequate revenues.

Boudreau noted that significant funding must be restored to education for the sake of the state's economic health, as well as for the sake of students.

"Our ads tell the truth and state it clearly: ‘When our schools have to make tough choices, it's our children who suffer,' " she said. "We are putting this campaign out there because we consider it vital for the citizens of Massachusetts to understand what is at stake and to act on the information. They need to demand that the governor and the Legislature take action to reverse the financial crisis faced by our schools, our colleges and our University. We must give students the chance to succeed if our Commonwealth is to succeed."

The television spot will air through late June on stations in the Boston and Springfield markets, including WBZ, WCVB, WFXT, WHDH, WLVI, WMUR, WSBK, WGGB, WSHM and WWLP. It also will appear on CNBC, E!, HGTV, The Learning Channel, VH1, The Discovery Channel, ESPN, ESPN2, The Weather Channel, The Food Network and MSNBC. The radio spots are airing on stations in Greater Boston, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester, and on Cape Cod.

SS+K, an advertising firm with offices in Boston and other cities, began working with the MTA earlier this year and is producing the entire campaign.

-----------------------------------------------------

The radio ads are posted on the MTA Web site. The TV spot is available upon request from the MTA Communications Division at 617-878-8265. Progress in Jeopardy: A Report on the State of Education Funding in Massachusetts can also be found on here and on www.goodschools.org. It was issued by the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers.

Professor Reschovsky's report, "The Impact of State Government Fiscal Crises on Local Governments and Schools," can be found at http://www.lafollette.wisc.edu/publications/otherpublications/education/2004/reschovsky-StateFiscalCrises.pdf.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association represents more than 96,000 public education employees, including teachers, higher education faculty and staff, education support professionals and future teachers.