BOSTON — The Legislature is considering eliminating an independent state office that in the past has been critical of the Gloucester, Haverhill and North Andover school systems, but whose oversight function is lauded by some education advocates.
If not abolished, the Massachusetts Office of Educational Quality and Accountability, which is responsible for assessing the performance of local school systems, could have its authority curbed.
The office could also be transferred to the state Department of Education and report to new Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester or the new education secretary, Paul Reville.
Another option is to have an entirely new office take its place. Staff with the Legislature's Education Committee declined to comment on the record for this story.
The Legislature's education committee could make its proposal public as soon as tomorrow.
Jamie Gass, director of the Center for School Reform at the Pioneer Institute, said lawmakers would be mistaken if they eliminated or weakened the office — a critical component in overseeing the approximately $4 billion a year in education aid the state spends.
"Accountability is a key aspect of (education reform)," Gass said. "The grand bargain was state resources in exchange for accountability."
But Haverhill school Superintendent Dr. Raleigh Buchanan would be glad to see the office disappear.
"You should abolish the office as is and institute a new system that has reality to it," Buchanan said.
In 2007, the agency found Haverhill schools, while they were making progress, needed improvement or were unsatisfactory in most areas.
Buchanan said he's not against accountability, but wants fair, constructive criticism. He said the office overlooked the city's serious financial challenges, such as the $7 million a year Hale Hospital debt.
"We know what we have to do," Buchanan said. "We can't find the money."
When a state audit by the Office of Education Quality and Accountability, which reviewed the district's finances, curriculum and other areas late last year, similarly faulted Gloucester for failing to sufficiently fund its schools, the School Committee responded with a letter rejecting the criticism and saying the responsibility for underfunding rests with the state.
Spurred by their belief that state aid, not fiscal management, was at the root of the lower mark, Superintendent Christopher Farmer said in a letter to Dr. Joseph Rappa, executive director of the EQA office, that the School Committee had unanimously rejected the financial portion of the audit.
"The School Committee is not an appropriating authority," Farmer wrote in the Dec. 13 letter. "It is not responsible for the adequacy of its operating budget."
He went on to write that the committee is responsible for effectively managing the budget given, which the EQA report acknowledged it did well.
Farmer said that he copied the letter to other superintendents — many of whom replied to say "Good for the Gloucester School Committee."
The Office of Educational Quality began its examination of the Gloucester district in December 2006. The process of compiling the data was a time-consuming one, and Farmer said the district, which has had three different city and state evaluations over three years, is overtaxed by them. The high school is also beginning the self-study needed to receive reaccreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in 2009, a process that will involve the entire faculty.
North Andover Superintendent V. James Marini defended the office, which in 2007 faulted North Andover for not spending enough on its schools.
"You could say the EQA validated what was going on here," Marini said.
Although Marini wouldn't credit the state office with helping secure a subsequent override of tax-limiting Proposition 21/2 to fund North Andover's schools, he said the office has an important function.
"School systems ought to be accountable," Marini said.
Marini suggested school officials may be unhappy with the office because of all the work that goes into the audits. In Haverhill's case, it lasted four days, as auditors pored over school documents, personnel files and interviewed teachers, principals, administrators and observed classes.
"I think it's good when a school system in stress is provided help, and not a group coming in and waving its finger and putting us in an even more difficult situation," Marini said.
Since 2000, the office has audited 150 school districts, including audits of North Andover and Methuen schools in recent years. In the past four years, it has also produced reports totalling nearly 20,000 pages with ways school districts could improve.
Among the many areas the office considers is how students are prepared for the MCAS test and the school systems' financial management.
Gov. Deval Patrick, who as a candidate stressed measuring students beyond the MCAS, and as governor sought to eliminate the office in his first budget by not funding it. The House restored funding in its budget that year. A deal was struck whereby the Legislature approved $3 million for the office in exchange for considering its future.
The office has been thrown into turmoil in recent weeks.
In April, the Patrick administration removed the agency's executive director, Joseph Rappa, who is considering applying for an enhanced state pension under rules allowing greater compensation for politically motivated firings.
Joseph Esposito, a member of that board, said all of the agency's audits were completed by December 2007 and its reports written by April. At the same time, the agency's staff was drawn down. Less than half of the $3 million budget was spent, Esposito said.
If the office survives but is folded into the Department of Education, that would mean the end of the independent board that oversees it. Esposito said keeping the office independent of state bureaucracy is important.
"It needs some level of independence," Esposito said. "Otherwise it will lose its accountability function."
Given how much is spent by the state on education, formal oversights are crucial, Gass said.
The state spends approximately $4 billion on education and that's matched by another $4 billion to $5 billion locally," Gass said. "Having a modest $4 million to $5 million (spent on the office) to give feedback on performance is key not only to managing but driving student achievement."
Edward Mason may be contacted at emason@gloucestertimes.com.
