SOS = Save Our Schools!
This image was generated as an example of a possible action.
Week of Action (March 9-13) Toolkit
Across the Commonwealth, educators, students, administrators, administration officials, municipal officials, community members, and more are joining together to send an SOS to Beacon Hill and the Governor, calling attention to the ongoing plight of underfunded rural and declining enrollment schools.
Goal: To open the hearts and minds of state decision makers so that they
Increase funding for rural schools and other critical education line items for schools with declining enrollments (via the Fair Share supplemental bill and FY27 budget),
Pass legislation to launch a foundation budget review commission,
Pass key provisions in the rural schools bill, and
Work for advances in the target local contribution study
Strategy: Build public pressure and political power by executing creative breakthrough actions which are held in unison, unite districts across the state, vividly display the hardship of underfunding, and issue meaningful calls for help.
SOS Action
Between March 9 and March 13, rural and declining enrollment schools and school communities are urged to organize and document coordinated activities such as creative SOS signaling, rallies, sign making, letter writing, and more. These actions should be as public as possible to attract media attention. (We’ve already done letter campaigns and petitions and they didn’t work.)
Organizing checklist
Choose a date/time within the week of action (between March 9 and 13, 2026)
Choose an SOS action(s) (see below for ideas) to tell the story of fiscal hardship, a loss of educational opportunities, and more in your schools
Recruit for and publicize your action via media, social media, listservs, and more
Send a local media release. Copy our template here.
Take photos and other documentation from your action (see below for instructions)
Ensure that you have all necessary releases/permissions for photos/videos. If you feel that verbal informed consent is insufficient for your situation, you can copy our template here.
Questions?! Email info@ruralschoolsma.org
Four action ideas (public ones to attract media attention)
Gather local stakeholders to create a physical embodiment of an SOS signal (using objects or people to “spell out” SOS, like above ^^)
Organize a speak out and/or press conference
Create a short video, enumerating significant losses/inequities
Create signs/graphics enumerating and detailing the losses in your district, especially since 2019, e.g., number of lost positions, courses and/or electives lost, and more.
Messaging ideas
Click here to view and download a PDF of eleven ready-to-print signs in support of Rural Aid. Click here to view it on Canva, where you can make a copy to edit.
Some of the best messaging is customized to your school. How many positions have you had to cut? What programs have been eliminated? What’s on the chopping block this year? What can’t you afford? Below are some more generic messages to consider.
Fund Rural Aid
$60 million and not a penny less!
We are one Commonwealth
Rural kids matter
Rural teachers matter
Equity for Rural Schools
[school name] needs Rural Aid
We’re worth it
SOS/Save Our Schools
Help us
Rural Equity Now
Don’t forget about us
Chapter 70 doesn’t add up
Chapter 70 needs a sparsity factor
[school name] students matter
Send in photos and action documentation
By noon on March 14th, please send:
Any photos (horizontal/landscape orientation preferred)
Any videos (horizontal/landscape orientation preferred, please be concise)
A brief description of your event and participants
Any relevant links (media coverage, social media posts, school website news, etc.), if applicable
Your own quote about the consequences of underfunding and hardship in rural and declining enrollment schools
Please send these components to info@ruralschoolsma.org. Please note that it is your responsibility to verify that photo and video permissions have been procured for any identifiable individuals in your media content.
Questions?! Email info@ruralschoolsma.org
