​​​​​​​Since participating in DEI Workshops and unconscious bias trainings at Heaven Hill, Select Division Sales Manager Rachel Machkowsky has felt inspired to advocate for principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in her local community.

Today she is leading the charge in her local school district outside Boston, Mass. to bring more fairness to the way PTO-raised funds are distributed across schools.

“The city I live in has a very large school system (over 9K students), and they use a school choice system at the elementary level to try to equal out the demographics,” Rachel said. “It doesn’t work as well as intended. There still is a wide disparity in the economic make up at each school.”

Fairness in Fundraising

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Rachel began learning more about Framingham Public Schools, while readying her four-year-old for attendance to public school next year.

“I also have a lot of teachers in my family – some in this district where I live and some in others,” Rachel said. “My mother is a school teacher, and she was talking about how her district operates on a Fund Sharing Model.”

In a Fund Sharing Model, when a school PTO raises money, the district diverts a percentage of funds raised to a central pot of money to be dispersed equally (based on a formula) to schools with the highest needs across the district. As she learned about fund sharing models that promote equity, she felt most inspired by the model used in Portland, Oregon public schools.

Ripple Effect of Funding Disparities

Fundraising disparities often are felt by the entire school community – parents, teachers and students, Rachel said. “For example, some schools may be able to bring in more outside programs or assemblies for students and do more for teacher appreciation than other schools,” she said. “Some schools have very elaborate fifth grade graduation ceremonies with parties and gifts, where others have very small ceremonies.”

PTO funding can also impact a school’s resources for bussing for field trips, playground equipment and other aspects of children’s experience that enhance learning and enrichment.

Moved to Action

Inspired by the opportunity to create more fairness in Framingham schools, Rachel first voiced her proposal to the local school committee. Since then, the school superintendent has formed a task force to study the issue and discuss Rachel’s proposal with PTO members to gather their initial thoughts. The task force will also look into how much PTO organizations across the district commonly raise and how dollars are spent.

Scholastic Book of the Month

Another initiative Rachel is passionate about is Scholastic Book of the Month. Over the past couple of years, Rachel has sponsored her sister’s first grade classroom with a Scholastic Book of the Month. For each month during the school year, every child in the classroom will get their own Scholastic book at no cost to them.

Community Policing

As Rachel has become more involved in issues of equity and fairness in her community, she has also felt moved – in light of the death of George Floyd and ensuing social justice protests – to advocate for fairness in local policing.

“Watching the events of the past year, it was so scary to me,” said Rachel. “When I grew up, I saw the police as heroes and protectors. I want my son and all children to have that same perception and comfort as I did. My son’s multi-racial, and I understand more now how that perception changes for someone of color.”

Rachel said she began her outreach to local police by becoming more active and using her voice. She wrote letters to the local police advisory committee in response to events that were taking place nationally.

“I’ve just been asking questions,” she said, “not coming down on them. I feel I have a responsibility to my son to advocate concerns and be part of the change I hope for.”

DEI at Heaven Hill​​​​​​​

“Those trainings were the first time I had participated in any kind of structured learning on DEI,” Rachel said. “My eyes were opened wide to a lot of things. I love that Heaven Hill was opening the door for this at work.” Rachel said her participation and learning inspired her to get more involved in her community and helped her feel confident about her advocacy work.