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Lawmakers Hear Urgent Appeals to Boost Funding for Rural Schools
Summary
At a Joint Committee on Education hearing, students, school officials and municipal leaders urged support for H517/S314, which would increase and stabilize state aid for rural districts, citing large per-student costs, rising fixed expenses and losses of programs and staff.
The Joint Committee on Education heard more than three hours of testimony urging lawmakers to report favorably on H517 and S314, “An Act to Provide a Sustainable Future for Rural Schools,” with students, school committee chairs and municipal officials warning that current funding formulas and unreliable rural aid are forcing program cuts and staff reductions.
Amherst Regional High School freshman Ella Bradbury told the committee, “We are facing the budget crisis because we are a rural school,” and described a projected $1,400,000 deficit for her district’s middle and high schools and shortages that threaten special-education services. Rose Collins, a tenth grader from the same district, said cuts already have removed electives and left counselors and paraeducators at risk of losing their jobs.
Those student accounts…
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