Mark Kelly: “I rise to urge this House to correct a broken impact aid formula that unfairly limits the Federal funding received by…”

“I rise to urge this House to correct a broken impact aid formula that unfairly limits the Federal funding received by local school districts in military communities. A significant portion of the students I represent in Highland Falls- Fort Montgomery Central School District are children of military families living at West Point. Impact Aid funding complications have Highland Falls struggling to preserve its full curriculum for students. The Impact Aid funding shortfall leaves the local community surrounding West Point facing major property tax increases. This is not the way the Federal Government should be treating the families of Highland Falls and West Point. Impact aid schools need and deserve consistent Federal support. They are not getting that through the current Impact Aid formula. I urge this House to pass the Impact Aid Update Act, a bill I introduced to correct the outdated cap that is restricting Impact Aid funding to Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District and other Impact Aid schools. I also call on this House to pass H.R. 390, a bill I am cosponsoring to improve the Impact Aid program. This Congress needs to permanently fix Impact Aid funding formulas so that local school districts like Highland Falls throughout the country have the full resources they need to teach our children.”