Take Advantage of Congressional Break to Contact Representatives


Last Updated: August 26, 2010
 

This article appeared in the August 2010 Rural Policy Matters.

The Congressional recess means that most U.S. senators and members of the House of Representatives are in their home districts. It’s a great time to contact them and tell them that they should fix the formulas that distribute Title I funding so that all poor children get equitable access to federal funding, no matter where they live.

You don’t have to be an expert on Title I issues to contact your representative.

Here’s what you need to know: Title I is the main federal program that provides funding to school districts to improve education opportunities for disadvantaged children and youth. Beginning in 2002, the formulas used to distribute funding to school districts were changed to provide more money for each poor student in larger districts than in smaller districts. Because of these “number weighting” provisions, high-poverty smaller districts are losing funding to low-poverty larger districts. That’s not fair and Congress should make it right by fixing the formulas.

You can find contact information for your U.S. Senators and Representative and more information about what to say at the website of the Campaign for Formula Fairness at www.formulafairness.com.

If you want to learn more about Title I, how districts in your state are faring as a result of number weighting, or what else you can do, you will find plenty of information on the Formula Fairness website.

It’s easy to make a positive difference by exercising your responsibility as a citizen.

Get involved today!

Read more from the August 2010 Rural Policy Matters.