Times have changed, but the formula remains stuck in 1949. The wealth disparities between neighboring towns simply did not exist at anything like their current scale. The founders of the regional school system could not have foreseen the inequity their formula has imposed on most towns today.
"Once we started doing our work, a clear consensus evolved that the one-district option presented the best opportunities for education and improved financial sustainability for the school districts." --John Hockridge, chair of the Berkshire County Education Task Force
Clearly, consolidation did nothing to control taxes in Great Barrington. And, based on the Egremont In her letter to the editor, Susan Bachelder writes: "Finance Committee's evaluation of the SBRSD budget, closing the Egremont village school will have no effect at all on SBRSD escalating school taxes either."
