Big thanks to the Greenfield Recorder and Daily Hampshire Gazette for continuing coverage of the rural school funding crisis in western Massachusetts. Shutesbury’s event on Tuesday, March 10 highlighted our community action that was part of a weeklong effort by the 109 rural hill towns to raise awareness on Beacon Hill. Our small towns are struggling mightily to manage the inflation spikes in health insurance, school transportation, and special education costs in town budgets after multiple years of virtually flat state education aid.
The pressure to provide for our schools — budgets that are labor intensive and serve all our children — has drained cash reserves, frozen spending in other departments, and rapidly increased local property taxes to fill in the revenue gap. These outcomes are disheartening to all who work to keep the town afloat.
We invite readers to become involved in bringing this message to Beacon Hill. For more information, please go to RuralSchoolsMa.org.
Susie Mosher
Shutesbury