{"id":1535,"date":"2024-11-13T23:27:24","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T23:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/?page_id=1535"},"modified":"2025-04-01T02:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T02:09:08","slug":"restorethejobs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/restorethejobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Join the SOS Movement to Fund the Schools!"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo-18x12.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>Our Funding Fight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>If you believe that public education should be a priority in Northampton; if you believe that all children have the right to a high quality education; if you believe that public education is critical for a democratic society<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\"><strong>Join Support Our Schools (SOS) in fighting for a school budget that meets the needs of all students<\/strong>.<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\"><strong>What You Can Do<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\"><strong>Help SOS elect local leaders who fund public schools!<\/strong>  <\/mark> <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.actblue.com\/donate\/support-our-schools-and-services-political-action-committe-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Contribute<\/strong><\/a> to the SOS Political Action Committee. SOSPAC believes public education and essential services are a priority for Northampton, and we will support candidates for all offices who believe the same and will act on that belief. For more information, see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/restorethejobs\/sospac-fact-sheet\/\"><strong>SOSPAC Fact Sheet<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Write a letter to the Mayor, School Committee, and City Council.  <\/mark>You can use our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/2025\/02\/19\/email-template\/\">email template<\/a> as a start point.<\/strong> There is much more to do to repair the damage done to the schools in the last decade by continual defunding. Support Our Schools (SOS) wants the city to use some of its multi million dollars in extra funds RIGHT NOW to restore the recently lost jobs and to start funding the long-neglected needs of students. This is just a first step to repairing the damage and providing an excellent education to our students.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Show up to School Committee and City Council meetings to make a public comment! <\/mark><\/strong> We are turning out to tell our city government that we want money allocated to the schools now. Sign up for public comment begins at the start of the meeting. Each speaker is allowed 2 minutes.&nbsp;  A list of upcoming meetings is located on this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/calendar-of-meetings-and-events\/\"><strong>Calendar<\/strong><\/a> page.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Contact SOS to join a committee<\/mark><\/strong>.  SOS is a growing group of parents, students, teachers, and community members.  For more information about supporting school funding advocacy by participating on an SOS committee, email:  <em><strong>sosnorthampton@gmail.com<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\"><strong>Want to know more about the current budget situation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Everyone knows: always pay your bills before you put money in the bank!<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Northampton has a <\/em><em>surplus of $11 million<\/em><em>. The mayor will put this money into various savings accounts and funds instead of \u201cpaying her bills\u201d and fully funding our schools.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Schools are chronically underfunded in Northampton. Over the last two years, 35 positions have been cut, with more cuts coming next year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Our schools need more interventionists, special education teachers, paraeducators, classroom teachers, librarians, and office workers to meet students\u2019 needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Class sizes across the city are too big. We know this negatively impacts student learning and safety.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Even if your child is doing fine, there are many who aren\u2019t getting what they need. These are often our most vulnerable students who need and deserve our advocacy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the Mayor\u2019s argument?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Mayor Sciarra repeats several talking points about school funding, but presents <\/em><em>no real arguments<\/em><em> for continually defunding schools. Here are her common sound bites and our responses:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">The Mayor claims the schools have a \u201cdeficit.\u201d<\/mark><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Our schools are part of the city budget. The city enjoys a generous surplus of cash every year. It\u2019s impossible for the schools to have a deficit when the city has so much extra money. The \u201cschool deficit\u201d is a myth and a scare tactic to make people think the schools present a drain on city resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">The Mayor claims state funding is the real problem.<\/mark><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While state funding <strong>is<\/strong> a problem, our city is not doing enough to maintain quality schools, compounding the problem. Advocates will continue to work for more state funding alongside our efforts to secure stable city funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">The Mayor touts \u201cFiscal Stability\u201d and Invisible Fences&nbsp;<\/mark><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While the mayor often speaks as if placing money into untouchable savings and stability funds is required, extra revenue is completely under city control. The mayor and city council can vote to reallocate funds at any time with a 2\/3rds vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">The Mayor argues regular folks just don\u2019t understand budgets.<\/mark><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We are informed citizens living in a democracy. We understand that our city is doing well financially, but our mayor is choosing savings over students. We want city officials to collaborate with citizens about where to spend our tax dollars and city revenue. We can fund the schools (not to mention, fire, ambulances, and infrastructure!) and still be fiscally responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXc47Kgz56owelQ__HVRP-9bcnG3-QuNbinWvlAxmg7UeUDcLh2u8Gz1XuqW6qcVb6zSYCNr_IRhNmGedKSVn2u1De9QNT4LxsZ_vmpUR_zL9_nAw-zw-AyVtyctDXFBqc-8Hwvn5w?key=rhObcfv2_xOzyqi0fuLQfml_\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/2024\/08\/02\/stabilization-funds\/\">Stabilization Funds<\/a><\/strong> are savings accounts used for certain city expenses at the city\u2019s discretion. <strong>Certified Free Cash<\/strong> is extra money that is undesignated. Northampton currently boasts over 40 million dollars in free cash and stabilization funds!    Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/dlstab.dor.state.ma.us\/views\/MunicipalFinancialSelf-Assessment\/FinancialReserves?%3Adevice=tablet&amp;%3Aembed=y&amp;%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y\">MA Dept of Revenue<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Questions?  Email <em><strong>sosnorthampton@gmail.com<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Funding Fight If you believe that public education should be a priority in Northampton; if you believe that all children have the right to a high quality education; if you believe that public education is critical for a democratic society Join Support Our Schools (SOS) in fighting for a school budget that meets the [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1535","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2232,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1535\/revisions\/2232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}