A B.M.C. Durfee High School student who lives in the Heritage Heights housing complex is a nine-minute, 2.5-mile bus ride away from school, regardless of whether their bus travels on New Boston Road, President Avenue or Elsbree Street. State funding covers none of the costs associated with their transportation. 

A student who lives at Heritage Heights but who attends Diman Regional Vocational Technical School travels a little over 2 miles, either by Bedford or Locust streets, for a 9-minute trip to school. Almost all — 90% — of that student’s transportation costs get state funding. 

The example is hypothetical. But according to Mayor Paul Coogan, it helps illustrate some of the entrenched inequities within state school funding.

See more at heraldnews.com.