Whittling away $4.5 million from the school district's $71.5 million budget seems to be the only solution. The property tax rate sits at an unchangeable 2.5 percent, leaving only hotel and motel taxes as the only base for increased revenue.
But officials said increasing taxes are not on the horizon. "We don't have any way of raising $4.5 million dollars," Rafferty says.
School and city officials have generally accepted the inevitability of spending cuts for schools as a result of Weld's plan, but have also expressed resounding disapproval at the financial aspects of the plan.
"The problem here is that the reform movement is basically focusing in on those communities having financial problems with education and which are not meeting basic standards," Giroux says.
"We feel we're being punished because we've taken the leading edge on programs and are paying more," he adds.
Both Giroux and Hall say they think Cambridge deserves additional state aid to maintain the school system's present financial level and educational offerings.
The city's cost-per-pupil ration ranked third in the state in 1989, the last time a survey of such costs was taken.
Officials in the mayor's office strongly dispute any notion that they are spending too much, stressing that education is and always has been of prime importance to the city.
"I don't think that we're spending too much, but that doesn't mean that we won't make cuts," Hall said.
Cambridge's high level spending has had a direct impact on the school's boosting standardized scores across the board, Giroux says.
"We have basically bucked the trend," he said. "We've increased [SAT scores] by 17 percent, where other schools have dropped."
Giroux also pointed to a 70 per cent increase in Basic Skills Test scores since 1981 as evidence of educational progress.
The financial constraints on education may hinder Cambridge's nationally ranked school system, but city and school leaders foresee no change in the fiscal allocation for education.
According to Hall, the formula for success is simple: "We pay more and we get more."