Advocates push federal funding for rural schools

For the third time in as many years, advocates for rural schools and counties—including CSBA—are fighting to stave off devastating losses in federal funds that have shored up education budgets in timber communities since 2000.

When members of CSBA’s Federal Issues Council travel to the nation’s capital later this month, they will once again stress the importance of reauthorizing the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act—Public Law 106-393—to compensate impacted schools and counties for declining logging revenues.

The act provides federal funds to 39 counties and 4,400 schools in California, which—after Oregon—receives the largest allocation in the nation. Last year California received more than $66 million in PL 106-393 funds—money that has helped counties like Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama keep small schools open, provide buses to transport students over icy mountain roads and repair bridges and roads.

But in budget proposals for fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2008, President Bush recommended dramatically cutting Secure Rural Schools funding and eliminating the program altogether by 2011. He also calls for the sale of U.S. Forest Service land deemed “surplus” to raise money for rural schools and communities while the program is being phased out. The proposal has generated fierce opposition from a number of powerful elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

“Members of Congress must be urged to not walk away from their longstanding obligation to protect the U.S. National Forest counties from this economic devastation,” said Erika Hoffman, CSBA principal legislative advocate. “Forest county citizens are asking that the current Congress fulfill its obligation by reauthorizing and fully funding the act.”

Hoffman said the president’s 2008 budget proposal would cut PL 106-393 funds by half. Instead, CSBA and other advocates for rural communities are asking Congress to reauthorize the act for another six years with full funding.

Mike Chelotti, superintendent of the combined Plumas County and Plumas Unified districts, said federal PL 106-393 funds make up about one-third of his discretionary budget. If Congress fails to reauthorize the act by March 15 (the deadline for warning employees that they face possible layoffs), Plumas will send notices to nine of its 16-member administrative staff ; and between 25 and 30 teachers—more than a quarter of the district’s faculty. “We’d have to close our school libraries and close cafeterias or reduce food services,” he said. “Geographically, the district is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. With schools located so far apart, we can’t realistically consider closing schools.”

The act expired last year, but federal lawmakers approved stop-gap legislation to keep payments to affected schools and counties on schedule through the federal government’s 2006 fiscal year, which ended last Oct. 1. As a result, California counties received their allocation for the 2006-07 school year in December as scheduled. But funding for the 2007-08 school year is in limbo.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has recommended setting aside $69 million in next year’s budget for short-term loans to keep rural districts afloat. California Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, has authored legislation (Senate Bill 133) to authorize such loans to rural schools. CSBA has taken a “support if amended” position on the bill and recommends a number of specific changes (see “Under the Dome,” page 4).