Putnam Resident Brought Parental View To State School Funding Committee

One Putnam County resident has been giving a parent’s perspective as the state finalizes a new funding formula for public schools.

Baxter Primary PTO Vice-President Wendy Jarvis has served on the Parents Choice and Voice Subcommittee since October. Jarvis said she worked with a wide variety of political leaders, school officials and other parents.

“I’m kind of new to the school system since my oldest is just in first grade, so I had very little opinion at the time on this, but once I started reading the other parent’s concerns, I felt like I was able to convey and be an advocate for them,” Jarvis said. “That was part of the best part of this.”

Jarvis said the current funding formula needs revision since it has not been updated for over 30 years. Jarvis said she wants a more sustainable and flexible formula that emphasizes teacher pay.

“With the new draft that was just released, I would truly like to see more information on that,” Jarvis said. “I know they’re trying to move more to a student based formula. Thirty-nine states have already moved to a student based or a hybrid student based formula, so that would be interesting to see if they bring that alongside.”

Jarvis said she participated in six meetings since November. Jarvis said the subcommittee would review public feedback from local town halls, work sessions and email submissions. Jarvis said she feels like state officials were receptive to her perspective as a parent.

“I’ve had to learn a lot in a short amount of time,” Jarvis said. “So, I’m very happy that I was asked and to be a part of this. The state actual wants to hear a parent’s perspective, so that was very encouraging.”