Pima High School Students Travel to DC to Pitch for Federal Funding

by Sean Rickert, Superintendent, Pima Schools

On Monday, October 20, a small group of Pima High School students participants in the Future Farmers of America,or FFA program will meet with Speaker of the House Michael Johnson in Washington DC, they will be part of it at eleven state contingent traveling to DC to highlight the importance to rural communities of federal funding authorized under the Secure Rural Schools Act

Over the last 10 months and for years before 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 in lieu of taxes program to ease the budgetary hardships for schools in these locales. As many elected officials in Washington DC have worked to streamline government spending by eliminating unproductive subsidies, SRSA has failed to be reauthorized.The funds which used to offset the large swaths of untaxable federal lands in most western states have not been available and programs supported by those funds are 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. The tuition for all those credits has been funded by SRSA. If SRSA isn't funded 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 simply cannot afford to pay for the classes. Many of these kids are the first in their families to ever 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.