Impact Aid: a Lifeblood for School Districts

by Robert "Bob" Lewandowski

It is true that Impact Aid is the lifeblood of many districts in the United States. Impact Aid is the funding that districts receive in lieu of tax-exempt lands on Indian reservations and military bases. These lands are not taxed locally to pay for public education; however, the federal government pays the local school districts dollars for these federally impacted lands. Without these funds, many school districts would not be able to function. In essence, the more federally impacted land, in a district, the more the district relies on this funding because these lands are taken out of local tax revenues.

With minimal taxable properties on reservations and military bases, the district can have a very low tax valuation. It often results in higher taxes for fewer people. It also limits the amount that may be levied by the district to provide for its students. For example, in Montana, districts outside the reservations often put additional tax levies to a vote in order to provide for the quality of education that the people within its boundaries choose for their community. The opportunity to successfully run levies is a foundation of local control. You will often see districts running levies to pay for technology as well as building and ground improvements because the funding provided by the State of Montana General Fund is not sufficient to provide for all the needs of a school district; therefore, if a district chooses to fund expectations beyond the Montana General Funding Model, they have the local control to pass a levy in order to do so.

With all of this being said, what about school districts like St. Ignatius?

St. Ignatius is very dependent upon impact aid. It is our source to pay for all of our operational expenses. It is also the funding that pays for major technology as well as building and ground improvements. As stated in the U.S. News and World Report: Brent Gish, the executive director of the National Indian Impacted Schools Association calls Impact Aid "a lifeblood for our school districts" (Michelson, March 20, 2015). 

Why all the attention on Impact aid?

According to Gish,:“At a time which school reform is being implemented, school improvement, school restructuring — Impact Aid is a critical funding source to make this happen."  In addition, John Forkenbrock, executive director of the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools says that districts need to keep Impact Aid on their congress representative's radar as it can make a difference as to whether a district can pay the bills and its employees (Michelson, March 20, 2015).

The problem is that Impact Aid funding has significantly decreased in the past several years here at St. Ignatius. For example, last year we had a 39% drop in Impact Aid funding and have received less than our full allotment.  The last several years, the government is only paying 85% of full allotments. This type of loss in revenue affects our educational programs.

What can we do to make a difference in Impact Aid appropriations?

Montana has two senators on the Impact Aid Appropriations Committee: Senator Steve Daines and Senator John Tester. Please encourage our representatives to support funding for the entire Impact Aid Program. Let them know that Impact Aid is not only the Federal Government's obligation, but vital to the quality of education of our students. For many districts, this funding is the lifeblood that allows our school systems to operate.