WASHINGTON, DC- More than 1000 professional educators from across the country today called on the President to end the link between funding for rural schools and logging on the National Forests.

According to the letter, released by the budget watchdog group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, “Rural schools should be able to depend on guaranteed stable payments from the treasury…our children’s future should not depend on the fluctuation of timber markets and the future variability of public land logging.”

Teachers from Alaska to Florida signed the letter, which is released as the U.S. Senate prepares to take up legislation on rural school funding later this week. S. 1608, sponsored by Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), would perpetuate the association between school funding and logging, and would escalate the dispute over the management of National Forests.

“Diverting educational funding to pay for logging is detrimental to children, teachers and taxpayers alike. It’s a sneak attack by western senators to increase subsidies to the timber industry,” according to Jonathan Oppenheimer, Director of the Forest Campaign at Taxpayers for Common Sense.

The link between logging and education dates back to 1908, when the federal government mandated that 25% of all revenue generated from public lands would be returned to the counties in which the lands were located. Initially designed to compensate counties for lost tax revenue, the program has provided incentives for logging on public lands in order to fund education.

The Craig/Wyden bill would guarantee payments to rural schools, but would rely on the uncertain congressional appropriations process to ensure suitable funding for education. S.1608 would also force rural counties to turn over 15% of their payment to fund additional logging projects in National Forests. Critics charge that in doing so, the legislation would embroil counties in the debate over the management of public lands.

According to Michael Dombeck, the Chief of the Forest Service, “There’s no reason the richest nation on earth should be funding the education of rural kids at the expense of our National Forests.”

If passed, S. 1608 could result in a loss of educational funding in the following states: Mississippi, Minnesota, Arkansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and North Dakota (states listed according to losses).

Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) is a non-partisan advocate for American taxpayers. We are dedicated to cutting wasteful spending and subsidies in order to achieve a responsible and efficient government that lives within its means.

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