**UPDATE October 17th, 2018**
Since publishing our criticisms of the MASBO report and the conclusions Mayor Fiorentini has drawn from it, he has provided the Haverhill Education Association with the earlier draft he cited as evidence that Haverhill teacher salaries are near the state average during a recent School Committee meeting. The data cited and removed from the draft report does not match the most recent data available from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
According to DESE, the average teacher salary in Haverhill was $69,043 compared to a state average $78,708 in FY2017, the last year for which data is available. Haverhill’s average salary dropped over $3000 from the previous year while the state average increased by over $2000 over the same time. We have been unable to find the source of the erroneous data cited in the draft report but are glad to see that such misleading information did not find its way into the final document. An email request for clarification was sent to the author of the report, John Crafton of MASBO, but no reply has been received.
Mayor Fiorentini needs to stop misleading the public and take responsibility for better funding for the Haverhill Public Schools.
The following passage appears in both the draft and final reports (p. 43) and is unambiguous – the Haverhill Public Schools needs more than what Mayor Fiorentini is willing to allow for in his budget.
In summary, the MASBO team is impressed with the potential through the school district to be able to confront some very serious challenges, such as the lower than state average net school spending level; the annual loss of state Chapter 70 reimbursement due to higher numbers of school choice students leaving the district; average district per pupil costs and teacher salaries that are significantly below the state average; and a very large percentage of high needs and high poverty students.
This is not what “adequate” looks like.
October 11th, 2018
The Haverhill School Committee commissioned the following report of the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials.
Our takeaways:
- The Haverhill Public Schools spends 102% of the state minimum compared to an average of 119% statewide.
- The Haverhill Public Schools spends only $12,628 per pupil compared to an average of $15,545 statewide.
- “The district should also ensure that adequate funding is available to hire and retain appropriately qualified staff.”
- “Average district per pupil costs and teacher salaries are significantly below the state average”.
Read the final report for yourself below.
HAVERHILL FINANCIAL OP REVIEW(004) copyThe first draft is here: https://haverhill.massteacher.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/10/HaverhillFinancialOperationsReview-Draft-9-16-18.pdf
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