Cambridge School Committee Refuses to Reconsider Budget

The Cambridge School Committee last night refused by a four to three vote to reconsider the school budget, which it passed last week.

School Committeeman James F. Fitzgerald moved to reconsider the budget before the first agenda item had been taken up. The Committee originally passed the budget at 5 a.m. last Friday morning, after Fitzgerald had gone home.

Last week the Committee cut $2.1 million from the proposed budget and then voted to submit it to the City Council.

The Committee cut from several areas. It reduced by 33 per cent a $600,000 proposal for community workers who make security patrols of corridors and cafeterias.

Alvin E. Thompson, president of the Cambridge branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, asked the Committee last night to rescind the cuts in community patrols.

He warned that "failure to do so may very well return us to those extremely unpleasant times when our schools were torn with strife and disruption."

The Committee also eliminated an $80,000 program to hire students to paint the interiors of classrooms during summer.

Committeeman David Wylie, who supported the budget, said that school superintendent Alflorence Cheatham had cut only non-educational programs.

Donald Fantinni, one of the three committeemen who unsuccessfully moved to reconsider the budget, said that "corridor and cafeteria aids have as much educational effect as any teacher in a classroom."

Instead of the cuts made in the approved budget, Fantinni said that he favored "a moratorium on creating new high paying jobs."

The final budget does not include any salary increases for teachers. Cambridge Mayor Barbara Ackermann, who chairs the School Committee, said Friday that teachers' salaries have risen by 16 per cent over the last two years and that the schools could not afford another increase.

Committeeman Joseph Maynard expressed concern over the lack of provision for teachers' raises. He said that the negotiations now being conducted for a new two-year contract could not continue in good faith.

Except for Wylie, the members of the committee, including Ackermann, who voted against reconsideration remained silent during last night's meeting.

Wylie said that something had to be cut from the budget since the original proposal represented a 24 per cent increase over last year's budget.