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Majority-Black, rural school districts in Mississippi like the one where Jacqueline Brown has taught for 17 years cannot afford budget cuts.
As a result, rural communities in over 700 counties will lose millions of dollars, forcing counties to delay road improvements and school districts to consider staff layoffs and cuts to extracurricular activities or after-school programs. Education advocates worry the lack of resources could further deepen existing disparities, especially for Black rural communities that often are invisible to policymakers.
For decades, the bipartisan Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act has compensated county governments surrounded by a large share of non-taxable national forest land. The system was originally designed so that certain communities received a share of timber sales generated from national forest lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
“It is unfair to put superintendents and schools and communities in this position of where they’re constantly fighting for what, frankly, they deserve,” Thomas said. “This isn’t a handout. This isn’t someone … being reliant on the federal government. This is something that they are owed because they are unable to generate revenue any other way because of the federal government.”
Despite this push, Brown, the educator in Mississippi, urged legislators to “look at funding through the eyes of what type of society am I trying to build” when making crucial decisions that impact students and their communities.
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