Contributed Article by Sean Rickert, Superintendent, Pima Schools
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, Oct. 20, a small group of Pima High School students participating in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program will meet with Speaker of the House Michael Johnson in Washington. They will be part of an 11-state contingent traveling to D.C. to highlight the importance of federal funding authorized under the Secure Rural Schools Act to rural communities.
Over the past 10 months and for years leading up to the 2024 election, there has been a running debate over SRSA. Some argue it is a federal subsidy to prop up obsolete communities in areas where federal forests used to provide jobs but didn’t generate property tax revenue. SRSA was set up as a payment instead of a tax program to ease the budgetary hardships for schools in these locales. As many elected officials in Washington, D.C. have worked to streamline government spending by eliminating unproductive subsidies, SRSA has failed to be reauthorized. The funds, used to offset the large swaths of untaxable federal lands in most western states, have not been available, putting programs supported by those funds in jeopardy.
At Pima High School, we have used the money received from SRSA to support students taking college classes while in high school. Every May, as students walk across the stage, the principal reads their name, their ambition for the future, and the number of college credits they have completed before graduation. Most students graduate with some credits, and many have completed more than the number needed for a 2-year degree. SRSA has funded the tuition for all those credits. If SRSA isn’t supported and Pima has to start asking students’ parents to foot the bill, it will force many parents to limit their child’s access to college-level learning and credits. Those most likely to lose out will be the many students from families of limited means who cannot afford to pay for the classes. Many of these kids are the first in their families ever to earn college credits. SRSA funding is opening a world of opportunities, reshaping their lives and the lives of future generations
This is the story Pima High School students will deliver to Speaker Johnson and our congressional delegation, as we ask them to reauthorize funding for the Secure Rural Schools Act. Hopefully, our elected leaders in Washington are willing to listen.
