A6 TheRegion The Boston Globe FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019
making training, according to
the complaint.
The authorities also alleged
that around 2005, at Hezbol-
lah’s direction, Saab tried to
murder a person he came to be-
lieve was an Israeli spy in Leba-
non, but the gun did not fire.
Federal prosecutors said his
close ties to Hezbollah, which
the State Department designat-
ed as a terrorist organization in
1997 and which wants to create
a fundamentalist Islamic state
in Lebanon, date back more
than two decades.
The FBI interviewed Saab
11 times from mid-March to
early July of this year, accord-
ing to the federal complaint. In
it, an FBI special agent as-
signed to the New York Joint
Terrorism Task Force also men-
tioned a cooperating witness
who was a former member of
uTERROR
Continued from Page A
the Islamic Jihad Organization,
or IJO, a component of Hezbol-
lah that’s “responsible for the
planning and coordination of
intelligence, counterintelli-
gence, and terrorist activities... outside of Lebanon.”
According to a statement
from the FBI Boston Division,
the photos acquired during the
investigation were taken before
2006 and “are not a result of
specific tasking by Hezbollah.”
Both the FBI and Boston po-
lice said Thursday that there
were no known active or credi-
ble threats to the city at the
time the photos were taken,
and the authorities are not
aware of any active or credible
threats to Boston.
“The Boston Police Depart-
ment has been working closely
with our law enforcement part-
ners at the FBI to ensure the
continued safety of the resi-
dents of the city of Boston,” said
Sergeant Detective John Boyle,
a department spokesman. “The
Boston Police Department has
been briefed by the FBI and we
have subsequently notified the
properties impacted by the in-
formation revealed within this
indictment as well as their re-
spective security teams of these
findings.”
State Police, meanwhile,
said in a statement that the
governor has a task force that is
looking to improve public safe-
ty “at large venues, such as are-
nas and stadiums.’’
Saab, a Morristown, N.J.,
resident who entered the Unit-
ed States legally in November
2000, was arrested July 9 in
New York City, prosecutors
said. His indictment was an-
nounced Thursday.
It wasn’t immediately clear
when Saab would appear in
court to face the nine counts,
which include conspiracy toprovide material support to the
terror group, providing materi-
al support, conspiracy to re-
ceive military training from
Hezbollah, receipt of military
training from Hezbollah, and
unlawful procurement of citi-
zenship or naturalization to fa-
cilitate an act of international
terrorism.
Saab “allegedly was trained
by Hizballah’s external terrorist
operations component in
bomb-making and conducted
intelligence-gathering in New
York City and Washington,
D.C., and elsewhere in support
of Hizballah’s attack-planning
efforts,” prosecutors said. Hiz-
ballah is an alternate spelling
of Hezbollah.
Saab allegedly joined the
group in 1996, and his first
Hezbollah operation occurred
in Lebanon, “where he was
tasked with observing and re-
porting on the movements ofIsraeli and Southern Lebanese
Army soldiers in Yaroun, Leba-
non,” according to federal au-
thorities.
He finished his Hezbollah
training, which focused on the
use of firearms, around 1999,
and in 2000 he transitioned to
membership in the IJO, offi-
cials said.
As part of that unit, he re-
ceived training in tradecraft,
weapons, and military tactics,
including how to construct and
detonate bombs and other ex-
plosive devices, prosecutors
said.
He entered the United
States in 2000 using a Lebanese
passport, the US attorney’s of-
fice said, and five years later
“applied for naturalized citizen-
ship and falsely affirmed, un-
der penalty of perjury, that he
had never been ‘a member of or
in any way associated with...a
terrorist organization.’”In August 2008, he became
a naturalized US citizen, ac-
cording to officials, but re-
mained an IJO operative while
he was living stateside. Investi-
gators allege he also continued
to receive military training in
Lebanon and conducted nu-
merous IJO operations.
Federal authorities said he
surveilled dozens of locations
in New York City – including
the United Nations headquar-
ters, the Statue of Liberty,
Rockefeller Center, Times
Square, the Empire State Build-
ing, and airports, tunnels, and
bridges — and provided de-
tailed information on these lo-
cations, including photo-
graphs, to the IJO.Danny McDonald
can be reached at
[email protected].
Travis Andersen can be reached
at [email protected].Terrorsuspectscouted3Bostonsites,prosecutorssay
arate pot of money that reim-
burses districts for some tuition
and transportation costs for
students with profound disabil-
ities who attend private pro-
grams. Those additions, law-
makers say, push the total pack-
age to $1.5 billion.
“Every single public school
district across the state will
benefit from this bill,” said
Spilka, an Ashland Democrat.
Legislative leaders, however,
did not provide a breakdown of
potential aid amounts to indi-
vidual districts under the legis-
lation. Some lawmakers
warned that it could be mis-
leading to forecast how much a
specific city or town would get,
particularly seven years into
the future.
In spite of the price tag, De-
Leo said lawmakers are not ty-
ing any new taxes to the pro-
posal, saying they “plan to stay
within the present confines of
our budget.”
Legislative leaders said the
bill builds upon recent steps to
boost school funding. For in-
stance, this year’s state budget
is providing an additional $
million in local aid to districts,
pushing the overall amount to
$5.2 billion. Lawmakers have
repeatedly described that in-
crease as a down payment to-
ward future investments that
would be made when the for-
mula is overhauled.
The bill, years in the mak-
ing, appears to be on a fast leg-
islative track, at least initially.
The Senate is poised to vote as
soon as the first week of Octo-
ber. A House vote could take
place in a matter of weeks. Any
changes to the bill made by
each chamber, however, would
need to be ironed out in a con-
ference committee, an often
time-consuming process.
Lizzy Guyton, a spokeswom-
an for Governor Charlie Baker,
said he would review the bill,
uSCHOOLAID
Continued from Page A
including to “evaluate the fiscal
impact.”
The proposal immediately
generated enthusiasm among
educators, parents, and other
school advocates who have
been pushing to change the for-
mula.
Merrie Najimy, president of
the Massachusetts Teachers As-
sociation, said an initial review
of the new bill indicates it “has
real potential of changing
school for kids who have not
had an equitable education.”
“$1.5 billion over seven
years will dramatically change
the conditions of our students’
education,” she said. “It will al-
low reductions in class sizes, in-
crease social workers and guid-
ance counselors, restore librar-
ies, and provide more courses
for students.”
But she expressed disap-
pointment that the bill doesn’t
bolster reimbursements to dis-
tricts that lose state aid when
money follows students who at-
tend independently run charter
schools. Instead, legislators are
merely recommitting them-
selves to fully funding the reim-
bursement levels specified un-
der state law — after years of
budget cutting that has short-
changed districts. For instance,
when a new charter school
opens, districts are supposed to
have 100 percent of their tu-
ition reimbursed the first year
for each student who attends.
Efforts to reshape the school
funding formula have endured
a tortured history in the ap-
proximately 25 years since it
was originally crafted. Hopes
for a legislative fix last year
were dashed after talks stalled
in a conference committee, and
then in June, parents and non-
profits filed a lawsuit accusing
the state of failing to fulfill its
constitutional duty of providing
disadvantaged students with
the same quality of education
as their affluent peers.
Meanwhile, Baker, a Repub-lican, and progressive lawmak-
ers each released their own ver-
sion of a school funding bill ear-
lier this year, albeit with vastly
different approaches to meet-
ing the recommendations of a
state legislative commission
that found several years ago the
formula was grossly underesti-
mating the cost of a public edu-
cation.
The Legislature’s Joint Com-
mittee on Education — led by
Senator Jason M. Lewis, a Win-
chester Democrat, and Repre-
sentative Alice H. Peisch, a
Wellesley Democrat — was
tasked with crafting a bill that
would be ambitious and also
had a good chance of becoming
law. Thursday’s legislation was
the result.
The bill forgoes some mea-
sures Baker had proposed —
and some advocates derided —
such as a plan to give the state’s
commissioner of the Depart-
ment of Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education the ability to
withhold some state aid from
school districts if they aren’t
making necessary changes toimprove student performance.
Instead, lawmakers includ-
ed a provision requiring offi-
cials to create publicly avail-
able, three-year plans to show
how they intend to close oppor-
tunity gaps within their dis-
tricts, including specific details
on how they would use state aid
to execute defined programs
and strategies. Those plans
would then be reviewed by the
Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education, which
could recommend changes.
However, the bill did appear
to include an aspect that was
similar to Baker’s plan, by call-
ing for the creation of a new
school improvement fund,
which would provide an esti-
mated $10 million annually to
districts to pursue new innova-
tive practices.
Beth Kontos, president of
the American Federation of
Teachers Massachusetts, ex-
pressed concerns that giving
state education officials the
ability to tell local districts how
to spend state aid would result
in a loss of local control.“To me, it’s a power grab
whether intentional or not,” she
said, while also questioning
whether the state education de-
partment had enough staffing
to review plans from more than
400 districts.
However, Keri Rodrigues,
the founder of the advocacy
group Massachusetts Parents
United, said requiring school
districts to file the plans en-
sures the system goes beyond
signing a “blank check”
“The more light we have on
this, the better shot we have at
fixing this,” she said.
The bill received a vote of
confidence from the Senate’s
former education chair, Senator
Sonia Chang-Díaz, who had
pushed a separate version of an
overhaul.
Thursday’s proposal differs
in several areas from that bill,
known as the Promise Act, in-
cluding how it approaches
charter school reimbursement.
But Chang-Díaz, a progressive
voice on education,offered
praise for the compromise.
“The bones of this bill are ex-cellent,” said the Jamaica Plain
Democrat, adding that the bill
accomplishesseveralgoals,in-
cluding an attempt to more ac-
curately count low-income stu-
dents. “This bill really hits all of
them. It’s not a difficult call for
me.”
A City of Boston official said
it would benefit under the legis-
lation because it would change
the methodology of counting
low-income students, resulting
in more per-student aid. Mayor
Martin J. Walsh said in a state-
ment that the new bill looked
promising.
Paul Reville, a former state
education secretary, said he
was pleased the legislative lead-
ers appear to be moving with
urgency — and in unison — to
address the spending inequi-
ties.
“It’s generous and progres-
sive,” he said, adding he hopes
the measure doesn’t stall.Matt Stout can be reached at
[email protected]. James
Vaznis can be reached at
[email protected]Leaders propose
overhaul of formula
on aid for schools
after year, until we were emo-
tionally satisfied and grateful
with what series creator Julian
Fellowes and international
treasure Maggie Smith had be-
queathed us.
I was terrified to find out
whether the “Downton” movie
would be the gift that kept on
giving, or whether I would
need to hang on to the emo-
tional receipt and ask for my
cherished memories back. I
love all things “Downton,” and I
didn’t want those memories
sullied.
Guess who cried with joy
when Matthew Crawley (Dan
Stevens) proposed to Lady
Mary Crawley (Michelle Dock-
ery)? This guy, that’s who. Who
dropped his Doritos with quak-
ing hands and a quivering lip
when Lady Edith Crawley (Lau-
ra Carmichael) was left at the
altar? Yes, that was me as well.
I’ve traveled to the locations in
uMUTHER
Continued from Page A
England where the show was
filmed, and I have come up
with excuses to interview the
actors and the show’s costume
designer. The technical term
for this type of behavior is
shameless.
The news of a “Downton Ab-
bey” movie stirred equal parts
terror and elation in my chitter-
lings. Everyone appeared des-
tined to live happily ever after
when the series wrapped. I did
not want to see Mr. Bates (Bren-
dan Coyle) tossed back in pris-
on or listen to patriarch Robert
Crawley (Hugh Bonneville)
sputter more outdated guff
when Mary and Tom Branson
(Allen Leech) attempt to save
the estate.
“Please!” I thought. “Leave
them be.” If we’ve learned any-
thing from years of television
and movies, it’s that exhuming
the dead can only lead to zom-
bies, or, even worse, an “Entou-
rage” movie.
Even with my deep trepida-tion, there was no question that
I would see the movie. I man-
aged to squeeze myself into an
early screening (again, shame-
less), and bit my lip as John
Lunn’s now-iconic “Downton”
theme began.
Here’s the good news aboutthe movie. The legacy remains
intact. Even better, Paul Gia-
matti does not make a guest ap-
pearance. With few exceptions,
there is nothing too damning or
outrageous that happens to our
beloved characters. I’m not go-
ing to reveal those exceptionsbecause I operate under a strict
no-spoilers policy. The film is
primarily a self-contained ca-
per surrounding a visit from
King George V and Queen
Mary. But that visit is a thin ex-
cuse to launch the action, both
among the Crawleys and the
servants.
Truth be told, I could have
sat for two hours and watched
Smith’s Violet Crawley volley
pointed witticisms while wag-
ging her chin at Isobel Crawley
(Penelope Wilton), who is now
known as Lady Merton. The
chemistry between the two ac-
tresses is as dynamic as it was
during the series.
The movie feels like one of
the cherished Christmas epi-
sodes, but longer. It’s a tidy
package with a few character
development tendrils unfurling
with the promise of new sto-
ries, new romance, and new
changes.
But wait. Does this mean a
second “Downton” movie is onthe horizon?
Fellowes, “Downton” pro-
ducer Gareth Neame, and three
actors from the show/movie
were at the screening I attend-
ed. After the movie there was a
Q & A session where the ques-
tion of a sequel was asked. Fel-
lowes shrugged and grinned,
Neame said it would depend on
how this movie did at the box
office, and Phyllis Logan (Mrs.
Hughes) and Lesley Nicol (Mrs.
Patmore) both strongly indicat-
ed that they were onboard for a
second film.
Immediately, I began to fret
again about my “Downton”
family and said a silent prayer.
“Please, no matter how many of
these movies you make, just let
Edith be happy and keep the
Dowager Countess alive as long
as possible.”Christopher Muther can be
reached at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter
@Chris_Muther.Dear‘DowntonAbbey’:Please,pleaseliveuptoyourlegend
JAAP BUITENDIJK/FOCUS FEATURES
Lesley Nicol, Sophie McShera, Jim Carter, and Phyllis
Logan are back for the movie (and maybe more).JONATHAN WIGGS/GLOBE STAFF
Senate President Karen E. Spilka (left), Senator Jason Lewis, Representative Alice Peisch, and House Speaker Robert
DeLeo were at the press conference Thursday. Efforts to reshape the funding formula have stalled over the years.