A group of community leaders has sounded a battle cry against how the state distributes money for schools.

The group -- comprising superintendents, school committee members, finance committee members, and selectmen from several suburbs west and northwest of Boston -- is demanding that the state revamp the formula for the Chapter 70 program.

This year's per student aid ranges from a low of $576 per student in Dover to a high of $9,917 per student at Greater Lawrence Technical School.

''We can't just complain," said Mark Masterson, superintendent of schools in Maynard, which receives $1,683 per student. ''There is a general agreement that [Chapter 70] is broken. The question is how to fix it. This is a step in that direction, a proposal that is more fair in a time of diminished resources."

Last week, Maynard's selectmen, School Committee, and Finance Committee threw their support behind an effort initiated by Acton officials that calls for a $2,000 per student minimum.

''There has been a groundswell of support because the superintendents involved in this all agree that we have to start somewhere," said Masterson.

''We are one failed override away from drastic cuts in services," said William L. Ryan, school superintendent in Acton.

Ryan, along with Peter Ashton, chairman of the Acton Board of Selectmen, and Marie Altieri, chairwoman of the Action School Committee and a member of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee, proposed that the state's Joint Committee for Education modify the complex Chapter 70 funding formula.

Their plan would boost payments to about a third of the 351 municipalities in the state. Poorer communities would still receive more per student, with wealthier communities clustered at the minimum.

They estimate that it would increase the $3.3 billion Chapter 70 budget by 5 percent.

''The state is starving those of us who have been succeeding," said Altieri. ''It seems as though communities that have been performing well get less and less state aid over time. That's not right."

In Acton, four years of decreasing state aid have meant a greater dependence on revenues from property taxes.

After passing tax-limit overrides exceeding $3 million over the last two years, Acton is facing another bleak fiscal year.

''You can't keep asking the residents to increase their property taxes year after year to sustain the town and the schools," said Ryan.

''This is something that needs to be addressed at the state level."

After the Acton officials presented their plan to the Committee for Education, other cities and towns rallied around it.

''We're trying to support the schools at the same time we are trying to keep the towns alive," said Mary Brannelly, a Maynard School Committee member, at a recent meeting. ''We are being decimated across the board. We need some relief."

Masterson said officials in Bedford, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Harvard, Lincoln, Littleton, Nashoba Regional, and Sudbury school districts have each voiced support of the $2,000 baseline.

''There is strength in numbers, and these smaller communities must come together to pressure the Legislature to take action," said Masterson.

''This puts a concrete proposal in their hands. We have to begin somewhere, and if this proposal morphs into a redraft of Chapter 70, so be it. You can't change things if you don't start somewhere."

On Jan. 30, the supporters of the proposal will meet at the R.J. Grey Junior High School in Acton to speak to legislators about their ideas.

Chapter 70 aid

The following shows state aid to the school districts in the Globe West coverage area for fiscal year 2006.

Community	Aidper pupil
Ashland	$1,110
Assabet	$3,436
Bellingham	$2,864
Berlin	$2,275
Berlin-Boylston	$1,961
Bolton	$5,341
Boylston	$1,125
Dover	$576
Dover-Sherborn	$1,122
Framingham	$1,070
Franklin	$3,729
Holliston	$2,084
Hopkinton	$1,467
Hudson	$2,101
Lincoln	$713
Lincoln-Sudbury	$1,181
Marlborough	$1,306
Maynard	$1,683
Medfield	$1,580
Medway	$2,264
Milford	$2,385
Millis	$1,498
Natick	$903
Needham	$817
Newton	$846
Norfolk	$3,050
Northborough	$1,384
Northborough-Southborough	$1,326
Plainville	$2,928
Sherborn	$698
Shrewsbury	$2,477
Southborough	$1,685
Stow	N/A
Sudbury	$1,155
Upton	$6,880
Waltham	$1,251
Watertown	$1,004
Wayland	$850
Wellesley	$719
Westborough	$795
Weston	$652
Wrentham	$2,910
State average	$3,442

SOURCE:State Department of Education