BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, FEB. 9, 2016) — Yesterday we outlined the simple mechanics behind Pittsfield’s looming financial meltdown. The main culprit? The school department, which consumes between 70% and 75% of the entire municipal budget. Despite the cash glut, each year sees the PSD with declining performance and quality, measured in one of many ways by the $5 million loss to the city because of school choice.

Clearly, if Mayor Linda Tyer doesn’t put the reins of the near-out-of-control fiscal spiraling, Pittsfield citizens can start now learning how to play “Aloha” on the steel guitar.

Some Solutions to a Tractable Problem

Today, we offer solutions. All can be implemented with enough political will from the mayor and the council. Forget about the Pittsfield School Committee, with Lady Boots Yon walking all over taxpayers. In the 2017 municipal elections, voters must clean house at the PSC starting with Yon and elect a slate of school board candidates who will restore restraints on spending and drive quality in the classroom.

With that, THE PLANET offers several solutions to the cost-quality conundrum of the city’s public schools. This is by no means an exhaustive list. The savings are incalculable.

(1) School Uniforms — Students in the city’s two high schools and middle schools would be required to wear unis. The benefits would be immediate: Elimination of dress-related hazing, cost breaks for parents, easy identification of students, improved classroom performance, and higher morale. More than 15 million public school children in America now wear uniforms, and the data supports all of these benefits.

(2) End Open Campus at PHS — There is no benefit to academics and many costs letting students wander off campus for lunch.

(3) Health Insurance Split — Raise the contributions of the PSD’s 1,200 employees from the present 15% to — pick a number. A still-generous 60-40%, with taxpayers still picking the larger portion, would save millions of dollars.

(4) More Charter Schools — One only need look at the BART school in Adams to see what such a school can do for education. Charter schools generally result in an increase in academic performance for a much lower cost. It does this by freeing the school from the heavy hands of both administrative and iron-fisted union iron. Administrators have more freedom to implement policies that work, and teachers can be more creative in their lesson planning.

(5) Consolidation — Kill the new THS construction, remodel the current campus on Valentine Road at a fraction of the cost, consolidate all high school students there, and renovate the PHS Dome into a comprehensive city hall space the way Stockbridge did with its elementary school.

(6) Privatize Busing — What does the city of Pittsfield know about running a bus company? Next to nothing. Nonetheless, it insists on owning and running its own fleet for school children. It’s easy to see why. This allows the PSD to control more jobs, yielding more political clout. School busing in Pittsfield is all about politics, not about transportation. Privatizing busing would put the business of getting kids to school in the hands of professionals at lower costs to taxpayers.

(7) Reduce Overhead — The PSD administrative ranks are bloated. Cut at least half of the associates, assistants, deputies, assistant deputies, and assistant deputy associates. What do the “directors/supervisors” listed under “INSTRUCTION” in the PSD budget actually do? Why did the number go from 3 positions in FY12 ($256,242) to 2.35 in FY16 with the costs jumping to $388,964? With 12 principals ($1,092,349), why does the city need 8 “Dean of Students/Vice Principals” ($730,981)? Does the department actually need 45 “Paraprofessionals” at ($878,964 — up from 34.2/$566,560 in FY12)? Does it need 119 Special Ed Paraprofessionals ($2,624,662)? You get the drift. Cut, cut, cut.

(8) Cap Pensions – Pension reform is mandatory if the city is to avoid a financial meltdown. There’s no reason why pensions can’t be capped at 35% of a worker’s top three salary years. That’s how it used to be until the city council uncapped pensions in the 1980s. Today, it’s 80%. The pension liability of in the hundreds of millions. Without pension reform, this will break the city’s back.

(9) A New School Board — Despite controlling up to 75% of the city budget, each election the school committee gets in under the radar. That’s going to change in ’17. Steps will be taken to lift this race above all others. Under the spotlight, any current member who wishes re-election is going to have to sing for his or her supper. There will be a slate of fresh, intelligent, and forward thinking candidates who will have two things in mind: first, improve the performance of the schools; second, protect the taxpayers’ interests.

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There, Mayor Tyer, city council, PSC, and everyone else. That’s just some of how you get it done. Any questions?

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“The capacity to learn is a gift. The ability to learn is a skill. The willingness to learn is a choice.” — Brian Herbert.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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