Post date: May 09, 2019 6:28:1 PM
Dear Williamstown Select Board,
At a recent meeting in Northampton with Joint Committee on Education chairs Senator Jason Lewis and Representative Alice Peisch, rural school committee members and town officials shared a list of things that keep them up at night. Most of their concerns can be boiled down to a few alarming trends for which rural communities are forced to shoulder the burden, such as rising transportation costs, increasing student homelessness, and growing charter school enrollments.
Unfortunately, these stories reveal a disturbing part of the Commonwealth’s history--we have regionalized at the behest of state leaders for decades, and yet the state hasn’t kept its promise to our communities.
For example, while approximately 100,000 students are enrolled in our state’s regional PK-12 public school districts, these districts receive 27% less state funding for transportation than they did 15 years ago. Due to this and other non-reimbursed costs, such as homeless student transportation and charter school enrollment, our districts and taxpayers are struggling to maintain the high level of education standards for which we’re known nationally. It’s getting more expensive to invest in a high-quality education for our students, and we’re getting less state aid to do it.
Thankfully, increased advocacy last year resulted in renewed attention to this issue, and the State House responded by increasing earmarks for regional transportation. But the final state budget did not meet the funding levels we need. The reality is that we must increase and maintain public pressure on legislators if we hope to see promised state funding levels restored, and relief for our local budgets. This is a priority not just for our schools, but for our communities writ large.
So this is where you come in. We need your help with the following three action items right away:
Submit an op-ed or letter to the editor to your local paper and the Boston Globe by Friday, May 17 outlining the impact of the regional transportation funding shortfall and the need for a Regional School District Review Commission to study this problem and make recommendations. The Senate will debate the budget in coming weeks, then make its final budget recommendations to the Governor for approval.
Contact your State Senator (see attached spreadsheet for contact information) by Friday, May 17 and ask that they support 100% regional transportation funding in this year’s budget and the appointment of a Review Commission. Also, ask your constituents and local town leaders to do the same.
Participate in and promote “Fund Our Future” rally on Thursday, May 16 at 4:30pm in Springfield, MA (Springfield City Hall, 36 Court Street) or in Boston at 5pm (Boston State House). This rally is to demand that legislators support the Promise Act and Cherish Act, two pieces of legislation that would increase $1.5 billion in state funding for education.
We don’t need to tell you that it’s time for our regional school districts to get the help they’ve been promised by law. Our public schools’ funding has continued to decline as our communities’ resources and populations shrink. We have legislators who support change, but we must show them that we’re serious about these needs and commit them to passing fully funded budgets this year for the sake of our children and our communities.
Please contact Anastasia Ordonez at ordoneza@arps.org or Peter Demling at demlingp@arps.org if you have any questions or need assistance with any materials. We’d be happy to assist you.
In solidarity,
Eric Nakajima
Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, Chair