Fighting for our Schools
 
“Our generation’s greatest challenge is financing the first-rate education that our kids deserve and the Massachusetts economy demands without relying on property taxes.” - Rep. Atkins 
 
You hear it all the time – “Our children are our future.” 
 
In Massachusetts, our children are more than our future – they are the Commonwealth’s best natural resource.  Texas exports oil, Idaho exports potatoes.  Here in Massachusetts, we export knowledge.  Each of our top industries – health care, high tech, biotech, financial services – is knowledge intensive. 
 
Unless we address the inequities in the funding of public education, the future won’t be bright for anyone in this state. 
 
“Both federal and state governments have increased programmatic demands on schools without backing up those demands with adequate funding,” said Rep. Atkins.  “Each year my communities, which traditionally have some of the state’s best public schools, face an ever-increasing budget gap created by under-funded government mandates.” 
 
As a result, the burden of funding our schools falls onto the property tax, making our towns increasingly unaffordable.  This is NOT the solution. 
 
In the last ten years, property taxes in Acton, Carlisle, Chelmsford and Concord have skyrocketed.  The average homeowner has faced tremendous property tax increases.  Such increases can put devastating financial pressure on senior citizens and those living on fixed incomes. 
 
“We have a responsibility to keep the fabric of our communities intact, while giving our children a first-rate education,” said Rep. Atkins. 
 
Inadequate funding forces the Commonwealth’s schools to move to a policy of education a la carte.  Many parents pay more than $1,000 each year in fees for their children’s classes and activities that used to be included in free public education.  Parents should not have to pay because the state isn’t living up to its funding responsibilities. 
 
“Every child in Massachusetts deserves the best education we can offer at a rate that won’t bankrupt our communities,” said Rep. Atkins. “I am working to make sure that the state stops tying towns’ fiscal hands by demanding services and testing without providing full funding.”