National Forest Counties & Schools Coalition Call for One-Year Reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools Act

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 200 school board members, school superintendents, county commissioners and other local leaders from 23 states around the country today rallied on Capitol Hill to call on Congress to pass a one-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Determination Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-393) before it adjourns for the year.

"Without reauthorization of the Act, many rural communities and school districts will face a huge fiscal crisis that will likely result in drastic cuts to school budgets and necessary government services and, in some cases, bankruptcy," said Robert E. Douglas, president of the National Forest Counties & Schools Coalition, an organization representing 1500 local, state and national organizations around the country. "The Secure Rural Schools Act has been a vital safety net for 800 rural counties and 4,400 rural school districts and has helped these communities remain viable entities. Congress needs to get creative to find funding for this important legislation."

When Congress created the Forest Service earlier in the previous century, one of the side effects was that it denied many rural communities a significant portion of their potential tax base that they used to fund public roads and schools. To solve this problem, Congress mandated that 25 percent of all revenue generated from the national forests would be shared with the counties where those monies were generated. This historic compact is one of the first revenue sharing project approved by Congress. However, beginning in the 1980s, the amount generated by these forests began to decline -- dropping more than 85 percent between 1986 and 2005. This created a financial crisis for many rural forest communities around the country.

In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Determination Act to provide a safety net for these communities. Over the past six years, this Act has provided billions of critical dollars to support rural education, search and rescue organizations, road maintenance and the development of community fire plans. However, the Act expires at the end of the fiscal year, with final payments going out beginning in October.

"Many Members of Congress like to talk about the importance of education," continued Douglas. "This is an opportunity to match their rhetoric with action. As an educator in Tehama County, California, I see this as an issue of equity; providing rural students with the same opportunity to learn as their suburban and urban compatriots. Without this funding, No Child Left Behind becomes an empty campaign slogan, not a promise."

In addition to Douglas, Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Representatives Greg Walden (R-Oregon) and Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), several local government officials from around the United States also spoke at the rally about the importance of reauthorizing the Act.

"The $300,000 in funding we receive each year from the Secure Rural Schools Act is vital because it allows us to address the needs of the children so we can ensure their success," said Dr. Timothy Creal, superintendent of the Custer School District (South Dakota) and a member of the Forest Counties Payments Committee. "We have had to cut our budget over the past 7-10 years to the tune of approximately $700,000. We have cut everything to the bare bones and have no other areas to cut without impacting programs and staff. Should we lose the Secure Rural Schools funding, we would be looking at cutting programs that are not necessary for graduation requirements and increasing elementary class sizes. In all, we would need to reduce our staff by cutting approximately 10 teaching positions or a combination of teachers and paraprofessionals."

"Approximately 70 percent of the land in Montgomery County, Arkansas is federal forest land," added Donald Henley, superintendent of the Caddo Hill School District in Norman, Arkansas. "The $1 million our county receives each year makes up a significant portion of our school budget. We have also used the monies to work with the Forest Service to maintain some of the forest recreation areas in the county. This has allowed us to keep these recreation areas open and available to thousands of Americans."

"If the legislation is not reauthorized by Congress, my county will be bankrupt in five years," stated Rita Windom, commissioner of District 1, Lincoln County (Montana) Board of Commissioners. "In addition to maintaining our schools, we use these monies to conduct snow removal on roads on federal lands in our county that are primarily used by nonresidents for recreational purposes. Without these federal dollars, we will be unable to main those schools and roads."

  Other local officials speaking at the press conference included:

  *  Grace Gonzalez, Treasurer, Otero County, New Mexico
  *  Robert Hill, Clerk of the County, Liberty County, Florida
  *  Travis Udall, District Superintendent, Round Valley USD #10 Arizona
  *  Chris von Doenhoff, County Judge, Houston County Texas

Over the life of the legislation, the Act has provided more than $2 billion to rural communities and school districts since 2001.

About the National Forest Counties & Schools Coalition

The National Forest Counties & Schools Coalition is an organization representing 1,500 local, state and national organizations around the country. The mission of the National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition is to actively initiate, coordinate, and monitor activities regarding the multiple use management of public and private lands that affect their health, productivity, and sustainability; and which also affect the economic and social vitality of forest and rural county communities, families, schools, and local governments. This includes monitoring and supporting full implementation of the counties and schools safety net legislation and actively engaging in those activities which support and enhance the implementation of the legislation. The Coalition is headquartered Red Bluff, California.