ORANGE — Parents, educators, students and others are invited to attend a community forum next week to discuss public education funding.
The discussion will be at Mahar Regional High School in the library on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m.
State Rep. Susannah Whipps and Senators Anne Gobi and Jo Comerford will be attending to hear concerns of residents and educators and to learn more about the Fund Our Future initiative.
People from several districts have been invited, including Athol-Royalston, Mahar, Orange, Petersham, New Salem-Wendell, Erving, Gill-Montague and Pioneer school systems.
Mass. Teacher’s Association Field Representative Maryelen Calderwood said the forum is a way to reach out to the community at large to listen and speak about their experiences.
“We’re hoping to have a cross section of community members to tell their stories about how the lack of funding has impacted their children, families and communities,” Calderwood said. “We wanted to make sure we cast a large net over these local legislators’ districts. It’s a regional forum because it affects everyone.”
Calderwood said the state is underfunding schools in these communities by at least $5 million each year, according to estimates based on the non-partisan Foundation Budget Review Commission.
“That loss impacts the region’s ability to provide small class sizes and adequate art and music, librarians, counselors, academic support for struggling students, asbestos and mold remediation and a host of other issues,” Calderwood wrote in a press release.
She added her son, who is entering his senior year of high school, has never had adequate funding at the schools he’s attended.
“That’s why we’re trying to capture local legislator’s districts — we wanted to target rural areas, areas that are struggling,” Calderwood said.
At this meeting, MTA Vice President Max Page will describe the Fund Our Future campaign, which is a coalition effort to pass legislation in 2019 to substantially increase funding for public schools, colleges and universities.
The campaign, which started last October, aims to win “significant new funding in the Legislature for both pre-k to grade 12 schools and public higher education,” according to the MAT website.
The event is being organized by the Athol Teachers Association and Orange Elementary Teachers Association.
“We don’t plan on stopping until we have adequate funding,” Calderwood said. “We encourage people to come listen. Everyone from people with children in pre-k to people without kids, people in higher education and interested stakeholders.”