Larry Pressler: “I am proud to coauthor this amendment with Senator Ford. This small change in the impact aid formula corrects a large…”

“I am proud to coauthor this amendment with Senator Ford. This small change in the impact aid formula corrects a large discrepancy in the program. Current law discriminates against small districts, which are often located in rural areas. Districts can be eligible for impact aid based on the number of civilian b kids in the district. These children have parents who either work or live on Federal land. A district is eligible for impact aid if it has at least 2,000 students and 15 percent of the students are civilian b children. The amendment before us today would allow districts to qualify for the program if the district has at least 1,000 children or 10 percent of the students are civilian b children. Changing 'and' to 'or' is an important distinction for small districts. Mr. President, few school districts in South Dakota have 2,000 students. Small districts are no less federally impacted than large ones. They are equally deserving of impact aid funds. This amendment would allow additional districts into the program, but it would not decrease payments to current section 8003 schools.”