The long budget cycle finally gets to Nick Kotsopoulos

As one who's been putting in some time myself following all the ins and outs of the budget, I sympathize, Mr. Kotsopoulos, I really do.
But in the haze of who had done what this week, you called this one wrong.

In his Sunday column, Mr. Kotsopoulos writes:

Well, on the same night it unanimously approved a line item in the public school budget that will fund a 52 percent pay raise for board members as of July 1, some members said they want to see the School Department get 50 percent of future new revenues received by the city.

What left people scratching their heads, though, is the fact that the City Council is considering giving 100 percent of “new revenues” ($250,000) the city will be realizing because the Massachusetts Port Authority is picking up a bigger share of Worcester Regional Airport’s operating deficit.

Oh, by the way, those school board members want 100 percent of those “new revenues” and 50 percent of future new city revenues.

Mr.Kotsopoulos was not at this meeting (readers might recall this happened during Thursday's budget hearing); he may of course have watched it broadcast on cable. His colleague Jacqueline Reis was there and filed an article, leading with the pay raise, in Friday's paper.

A motion was made by Mr. Monfredo for a 50/50 split. Such a split has been done, just for one example, in Boston, as well as other communities concerned about how schools are falling behind in funding. It's not exactly a radical notion.

As it happens, this motion was voted down, Mr. Monfredo himself being the only vote in favor. I was told after the meeting that the concern was exactly that which is mention above: as the School Committee is hoping that the City Council will forwarded the excess airport funding to the education budget, they feel this isn't the time to ask for the 50/50 split.

Even beyond this breakdown in facts (okay, he didn't say that this motion passed, but basing his entire article around it certainly implies something of the kind, does it not?), the tone of this column is just dismaying:
the members of that elected body put the arm on the City Council to jack up the city’s contribution to the public school budget
No, Mr. Kotsopoulos, they requested additional funds.They didn't stick up the City Council in an alley; they passed a motion, way back in the spring. As, regrettably, the School Committee has no authority to raise funds on its own, they have no choice but to ask the City Council for the funds.
On the 102%:
Instead, some continue to bicker about the city’s contribution rate. They contend that when all is said and done, the manager’s budgetary action only provides for 100.5 percent of the foundation budget, not 103 percent, as suggested by the city manager or the 102 percent they had pushed for.
Now, surely, Mr. Kotsopoulos has been at any number of meetings in which this was clearly explained (I know I have been!): this isn't some number that Brian Allen over in the school finance office gets to make up. The state, that is, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Department of Education takes our numbers (how much do we spend on teachers' salaries? utilities? school supplies? etc.) and they determine how much of the foundation budget we are funding. There is a widely circulated list which shows what community gives what percent to education. How does it look when Worcester contributes far less than Fall River, New Bedford, Boston? We are among the very lowest in the state on this. The state average is 114%; we will be at 100.5% next year. That doesn't look good for those of us who live here, and it certainly doesn't encourage people to move here. We want this number to be higher. We can only make it higher by giving more city money to schools.

Where Mr. Kotsopoulos' sudden frustration with the School Committee and retirees has come from, I don't know. Neither group is new in making requests of the City Council, 'though in both cases, the voices have been louder and more organized this year. And surely this is precisely what citizens are to do during budget hearings: express their priorities. Perhaps they aren't shared by Mr. Kotsopoulos. That doesn't make them illegitimate.