Follow the money!

A few things coming out of last night's School Committee budget hearing:

1. The $14 million that going to (mostly) save the FY10 school budget isn't ours yet and there's some troubling rumblings coming out of the State House on where the money is going, how the votes are lining up, and how things are being allocated. If you don't want to see the city school budget get really awful really fast, SEND A MESSAGE TO YOUR LOCAL DELEGATE! (You can get in touch with them through the General Court site.)
   
2. This year's budget is going to have lots and lots more in it, in terms of the information being broken down in various ways. Plan on some heavy reading!
3. We've now had both the city and school sides present budgets that depend on the various unions accepting a zero percent pay increase and the 75/25 split on health insurance. Expect to hear arguments over balancing the budget on the backs of the workers, and over how these realities line up with what's happening elsewhere. I think we'll be seeing a lot of the numbers on how much money this involves, and consequently how many people will lose their jobs if this agreement is not reached between the city and the unions.
4. MORE TO COME: The School Committee meets tonight! The joint subcommittees meet Monday! The Citywide Parent Planning and Advisory Committee meets for a presentation by Brian Allen on Tuesday! There are lots of opportunities to ask questions and get more information.
   
5. And Brian Allen gets a tip of the hat for the fourth (by my count) literary reference of the week in terms of the city budget, in titling his comparison with Boston "A Tale of Two Cities"!