2024 Program:
Rural and Small Town Strategies

Public school systems across the country have long been a battlefield for competing visions of society. Recent attacks on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and LGBTQ+ people in schools are part of a well-funded, long-term effort to discredit, dismantle and privatize public education and with it, the very notion of public goods. Extremists and their wealthy backers want to destroy public schools because, if they are thriving and equitable, this challenges white supremacy and elite power.

Public School Strong (PSS) is a national campaign that builds power starting locally, so that every student – regardless of zip code, race, gender, or ethnicity – can have equitable access to quality, fully funded public schools. Initially developed by HEAL Together North Carolina in the spring of 2023, PSS has expanded to have participants from all 50 states and statewide organizing committees in more than a dozen states. This interactive session is designed for individuals, grassroots groups and allied organizations to explore this model and how to plug in.

The Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Direct Pay program allows tax-exempt entities including states, counties, cities, tribes, schools, houses of worship, and non-profit organizations to receive tax-free cash funding. This comes in the form of a refund covering 30–70% of the cost of renewable energy projects like solar, wind, EV chargers, commercial EV vehicles like EV, batteries, and more.

Imagine solar panels on every public building lowering energy costs with publicly-owned clean energy or EV school buses that clean up diesel emissions and reduce childhood asthma or EV chargers that help neighbors access EV vehicles and fund community initiatives.

This funding can supercharge publicly-owned power, community institutions, good green jobs, and community-led demands—but only if communities are in the driver's seat. Big corporations are already lined up to take advantage of free federal funds, and greedy for-profit utilities are digging in their heels.

Join the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center (CPCC) and the Missouri Workers Center for an interactive workshop to imagine how your community can pull tax-free cash funding out of the federal government for sustainable energy projects—and leave with a plan to make it happen. We’ll share lessons from communities across the country, break down this new opportunity, and explore how sustainable energy can help us dismantle systemic racism—if we do it right.