Despite easily meeting the 10-percent threshold of Federally owned land, Swain County has been precluded from receiving Impact Aid Funding under section 8002 due to technicalities in the law.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, recently sponsored the corrective language to include Swain County in the Impact Aid Funding section 8002. Burr was able to include the language changes in the Every Student Achieves Act, which was recently passed by both Senate and House chambers and signed into law by President Obama.

As a member of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions committee, which was responsible for introducing Every Student Achieves Act, Burr was on the conference committee that worked out the differences between Senate and House versions of the bill. As such, Burr and his Deputy Legislative Director Chris Toppings worked to see that the Swain language was included in this bill for passage.

The passing of the Every Student Achieves Act, and language addition to Impact Aid funding in section 8002, is a landmark accomplishment for Swain County. It opens up funding potential for Swain County Schools that has never been available before now. It is important for the people of Swain County to keep in mind that despite being included in this bill, the funding for the bill can vary from year to year and budget to budget.  

Initially Swain County will be eligible for around $500,000, but in reality will only actually receive a fraction, if any, of this amount. There are existing provisions to keep the same funding level for counties across the country who already receive Impact Aid from section 8002.

In an age where budgets are routinely cut, it is crucial that funding for Impact Funding and the education of young people not be a causality of budget cuts. Swain County Schools would like to express our heartfelt and sincere appreciation to Senator Richard Burr and his staff for their tireless work on our behalf.