O.E.O. Reduces Cambridge Funds; Cut to Affect Teacher Aides, PBH

A funny thing happened on the way back from Washington. Cambridge's $480,000 Community Action Program, which includes funds for Harvard's Teacher Aide Program and Phillips Brooks House, was given a $100,000 ceiling and delayed until January.

Cambridge is expected to receive another $260,000 under the Elementary and Secondary Educational Act of 1965. The federal reduction thus amounts to 25 per cent of the total program.

An official of the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee said yesterday that C.E.O.C. may challenge the $100,000 ceiling, which is based on a formula combining population and economic need. The Cambridge program, he claimed, is exceptionally structured to spend funda efficiency and serve the people of the city.

A statement from the Office of Economic Opportunity's Northeast branch implies, though that the C.E.O.C's chances of obtaining additional funds are not good. Cambridge may get leftover money if other municipalities apply for less than they have been allotted, it states.

Must Cut Programs

C E O.C. will now ask planning teams and task forces in each of Cambridge's six neighborhoods to determine which of the educational programs should be reduced or cut. C.E.O.C's Board of Directors will submit the final budget for the Community Action Program at the end of the month.

The eight programs include the Teachers Aid Program and Tutor Plus, which PBH was to administer in three of the neighborhoods.

One PBH officer predicted yesterday that PBH will "lobby" in individual neighborhoods for the preservation of the tutoring program. PBH will begin to organize and seek a minimum of 150 student tutors, he said.

The Teacher Aides may seek private contributions to pay this semester's salary with the delay. "We were almost assured the funds for October," she explained she predicted that the aides would be funded under the Educational Act rather than the Community Action Program. She said that the Teacher Aides might also try to lobby for support from C.E.O.C.'s neighborhood planning committees.

The Teacher Aides may seek private contributions to pay this semester's salaries of the aides who had been promised financial support. A total of 40 aides are presently teaching in elementary and secondary schools of the Boston area.