NEWS RELEASE
Media Contact:
Erin Murphy, 617.557.7324
January 28, 2009
STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR PATRICK’S PROPOSALS TO RAISE CHARTER SCHOOL CAP AND STRENGTHEN RAINY DAY FUND
BY PAUL GUZZI, PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE GREATER BOSTON CHAMBER
“The Chamber applauds the Patrick Administration for working to keep Massachusetts at the forefront of education and fiscal policy.
Raising the charter school cap in low-performing districts is essential to closing the achievement gap for disadvantaged students, driving classroom innovation, and strengthening the skill set of tomorrow’s workforce. Charter schools have proven to be an effective tool in raising achievement and offering educational options to students and parents. By raising the cap, we can work to ensure that our economy leverages the educated workforce that has become the state’s
most important competitive resource.
Also, the creation of a mechanism to strengthen the Rainy Day fund with capital gains revenue and protect against future shortages in state revenues would further our leadership in the area of long-term budget planning. State rainy day funds have insulated us from far greater service cuts in past downturns, as well as in the unprecedented crisis we now face. It makes prudent fiscal sense to smooth out economic boom-bust cycles by saving money during periods of growth and
continuing to use this reserve account as a hedge against future downturns.
We look forward to working with the Patrick Administration, Senate President Therese Murray, and new Speaker of the House Bob DeLeo to advance these ideas and strengthen our economy.”