Whereas, the Student Opportunity Act of 2019 acknowledged the need for the state to examine educational equity in rural regions of the Commonwealth in detail and established the Commission on the Long-term Fiscal Health of Rural School Districts for that purpose; and

Whereas, wages remain depressed, employment opportunities are limited, property values have stagnated, and the general population and student enrollment has declined significantly in the Commonwealth’s rural regions, resulting in many rural schools receiving fewer resources necessary to providing a breadth of opportunities compared to other regions of the Commonwealth; and

Whereas, rural school districts in Massachusetts struggle with a set of challenges that have left many students with less than they need and deserve, including fewer opportunities for Advanced Placement (AP) courses, business programs, fine and performing arts offerings, social studies electives and world languages; and

Whereas, support specialist positions across K-12 grade levels, such as counselors, nurses, and librarians, have been eliminated disproportionately in rural schools; and

Whereas, when fewer courses, programs, and extra-curricular activities are offered, it creates a cycle of impoverishment as students leave public rural schools to attend charter or private schools, further displacing rural school funding, which depends on enrollment; and

Whereas, in July 2022, the Commission on the Long-term Fiscal Health of Rural School Districts identified a need to increase funding for rural education by $60 million in order to reduce the gap between spending on rural and non-rural schools; and

Whereas, the budget proposal currently under consideration by the legislature includes no more than $15 million in Rural School Aid.

Therefore, be it RESOLVED that the 2023 Massachusetts Democratic Convention calls on the Healey-Driscoll administration and our elected state legislature to pursue the following actions to improve equity for rural education across all regions of the Commonwealth:

1. Fully fund Rural School Aid at $60 million;

2. Revise the rural aid formula to more accurately address the fiscal challenges of rural schools, including Regional Transportation reimbursements;

3. Revise the formula by which charter schools deplete rural public school funding; and

4. Increase special education reimbursement rates for rural public schools.