In our county, the superintendent of the largest school district has resigned. The superintendence of the second-largest municipality has also stepped down. This isn’t just a local issue; you can look across Massachusetts and see the same pattern. Public education top leaders are walking away from jobs that have become nearly impossible to sustain.

Superintendents today are expected to manage shrinking budgets, raise student outcomes, navigate political and bureaucratic pressures, collaborate with disjointed school boards, and respond to crises in mental health and staffing, often all at once, and under relentless public scrutiny. In rural areas like ours, these challenges are magnified by low educator pay, limited transportation, and scarce access to essential services. And behind it all lies one of the biggest, yet most overlooked issues: the state’s deeply flawed education funding system, Chapter 70.

Until we address how our schools are funded at the state level, superintendents will continue to resign, and our most vulnerable students will remain at risk of falling through the cracks.

A strategy employed by school districts in rural communities to mitigate budget shortfalls and to pool resources is regionalization. I’ve participated as a former school board member in a substantial conversation on a local school district that didn’t move forward with this idea. In my current home school district, our community is navigating a critical vote on whether to regionalize, which has been presented as a proposal framed as a solution to our existing budget challenges. But regionalization, while sometimes helpful in streamlining operations, is not a cure-all. I am still seeking evidence that this approach leads to better outcomes for children in rural communities. At best, it’s a short-term budget fix dressed as innovation. At worst, it delays the deep, structural reforms our education system so urgently needs.

So, what would it look like to stop patching the cracks and start investing in a system that truly supports all schools, students, and educators, rural or urban, large or small communities?

Here are three steps we can take as a community:

1. Re-engage county civic leaders in a dedicated task force focused on education, to assess needs and propose real solutions.

2. Hold our state legislators accountable and demand that equitable school funding becomes a top priority in the State House, not just a one-off engagement on their agenda.

3. Elevate community advocacy and participation by organizing to advocate for increased state funding, particularly for rural and under-resourced districts.

Our children and our schools deserve more than temporary fixes; they deserve bold, informed, and sustained action, especially in rural communities. To achieve this, our leaders require viable solutions, meaningful support, and favorable working conditions to deliver the best educational opportunities for our children to achieve their best academic and life success in our region.

Francia E. Wisnewski, M.Ed, is an educator and national advocate for education as well as an appointed and elected official in Montague.