School Committee members Geoff Swett and Rhonda Veugen, along with Superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch visited the State House in Boston on March 29 to participate in a day-long lobbying effort for school funding.

The 26th annual Day of the Hill sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) focused on the current state of the economy, its impact on public elementary and secondary education in districts across the commonwealth, and the fiscal year 2012 budget negotiations that are now being debated on Beacon Hill.

Participants also had the opportunity to reinforce School Committees’ legislative priorities including: adequate and equitable Chapter 70 funding; local and regional transportation funding; charter school finance reform; full funding of the special education circuit breaker; and RTTT fund distribution directly to school districts.

Keynote speakers at the event included both legislators and education leaders: House Majority Leader Ronald Mariano; Senate Ways & Means Chair Stephen Brewer; Senator Katherine Clark, Chair, Committee on Public Service; Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Co-Chair, Committee on Education; and Representative Alice Peisch, Co-Chair, Committee on Education. Participants also received an update on current legislative issues from MASC General Counsel Stephen Finnegan, Esq., MASC President Dorothy Presser (Lynnfield) who is also President of the Suburban Coalition, and MASC President-Elect Penny Blackwell (Upper Cape Cod Regional Vocational Technical).

Following the morning program, Veugen and Rabinovitch met with State Rep. Susan Williams Gifford (R-Wareham) and State Senator Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) to discuss adequacy of Chapter 70 funding.

If you have any questions about the Day on the Hill event, please call the School Department at 508-291-3500 or e-mail Rabinovitch at rabinovb@wareham.k12.ma.us.