Luna Wins Idaho Primary

A few weeks ago Mr. Rural ED reported that former Rural Education Task Force Director Tom Luna was running for Idaho State Superintendent. Although he has won the Republican primary, his record as the Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Education's Rural Education Task Force is starting to catch up with him.

The Ridenbaugh Press comments on Mr. Luna's tenure with the Rural Education Task Force:

Luna was a Bush Administration official from early in 2003 into 2005, and one online resume lists him as senior advisor to Secretary of Education Rod Paige, director of the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities (2003-04) but primarily, apparently, he was executive director of the U.S. Rural Education Task Force. One might expect Luna to speak at length about these experiences; instead, they tend to get perfunctory mentions. Why?

Could it be because there’s not much to tell? Or because the telling might make for some uncomfortable juxtapositions?

An editorial in the Idaho Statesman puts Mr. Luna's candidacy into a larger perspective.

Luna wants to encourage next-generation charter schools for students who are struggling to learn English or falling behind in math and reading. Jones wants to go slower, to ensure the state can provide fledgling charter schools with the technical help and legal counsel they need.

Luna supports a dramatic tax shift favored by many Republican legislators — shifting the public schools' maintenance and operations levy from the property tax to the sales tax. [Democrat Janet] Jones worries that the schools would lose a stable source of money.

Luna opposes an Idaho Education Association-backed voter initiative to raise the sales tax by a penny, pumping $200 million into schools. Jones supports the initiative.

The initiative may be a boon to Jones, a relative unknown running against an experienced Republican candidate. Teachers and public school supporters may be galvanized by an Election Day twofer: voting for the initiative and voting against Luna.

Senator Kent Conrad on Rural Schools

This continues Mr. Rural ED's look at congressional perspectives on rural schools. The quote below is from North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad. Senator Conrad is a fifth generation North Dakotan and is the ranking member of the Budget Committee and as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee. As the representative of one of the most rural states in the nation, Conrad also serves as a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

One of the most important education priorities for Senator Conrad is preserving the quality of education in North Dakota’s rural schools. Almost 80 percent of North Dakota school districts have 600 students or less. These are unique schools and the challenges for these districts are unique as well. Senator Conrad responded to these concerns by authoring legislation to create the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP). This landmark, bipartisan legislation was enacted in 1999. Under the REAP program, many small, rural school districts are entitled to consolidate funding from certain federal education programs to make more efficient use of the funds. Senator Conrad's legislation is critical to giving rural schools the flexibility to use federal education funding wisely. The school districts are also eligible for grant assistance that may be used to improve student achievement or provide professional development for teachers.

In the first three years of the REAP program, more than 120 North Dakota school districts received $4 million in funding. Senator Conrad will continue to fight for adequate funding for this critical rural education program.

Rural Education Dissertation Award

The National Rural Education Association is soliciting applications for the Edward W. Chance Memorial Rural Education Dissertation Award. The award recognizes doctoral research that makes a significant contribution to rural education and addresses issues of current concern. The winner of the award will be invited to present the results at the 98th Annual NREA Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 23-25, 2006. The award includes a $500 stipend. The due date for applications is June 15, 2006. For more information contact Executive Director Bob Mooneyham.

Whatever Happened to Tom Luna?

A few of us have been wondering about whatever happened to Tom Luna. Some of you will remember him as the Director of the U.S. Department of Education's Rural Education Task Force. Word out of Idaho is that Tom is running for State Superintendent in Idaho and touting his accomplishments at the U.S. Department of Education. You can learn all about them at his website.

Brzezinski Rural Education Research Award

The National Rural Education Association is seeking applications for the Stanley A. Brzezinski Memorial Rural Education Research Award. Deadline for applications is June 15, 2006. The award includes a $500 stipend. Contact Executive Director Bob Mooneyham for more information.

In order to recognize outstanding, high quality research in the field of rural education, the National Rural Education Association sponsors the Stanley A. Brzezinski Memorial Rural Education Research Award. This award, funded by the Brzezinski Family, will be awarded for education research which addresses significant rural issues and makes notable contributions to the knowledge base of rural education. Research addressing rural education issues is paramount to the selection process. All rural education researchers are eligible for the award. The research could include, but not be limited to, issues of rural school efficiency and effectiveness, financing rural schools, rural poverty, the rural economy, student/rural community expectations, understanding the diversity of rural administrators, or
alternative instructional and organizational patterns for rural education. The research project judged most meritorious will receive the award and the author will be recognized at the 98th Annual NREA Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 23-25, 2006.

Putting Rural Education Issues in Perspective

One way to put the issues facing rural schools into perspective is to look at what's happening with rural health care. A report in today's Denver Post paints a disheartening picture of health care for some of Colorado's rural communities.

Staff writer Karen Auge describes the situation where three Colorado counties have no full-time physician, and eight have only one.

In Crowley County in southeastern Colorado, people die in traffic accidents at a per-capita rate nearly four times that of Denver residents, according to the Colorado Health Institute.

In Baca County in southeastern Colorado, people died of diabetes at more than twice the statewide rate in 2004.

In Gunnison County on the Western Slope, 18.5 out of every 1,000 babies born in 2004 died before their first birthday. That's nearly triple the statewide rate - and higher than that of Sri Lanka and Uruguay.

Health insurance is also a problem for rural Americans.

Most people in Brush (Colorado) work. The county's 4.9 percent unemployment rate is lower than the state average of 5.5 percent.

But they earn less. The median income in Brush is $31,000 - a third less than the typical Colorado household.

And, like rural residents everywhere, people in Brush are less likely to have health insurance.

In Morgan County, 20 percent of the population had no health insurance in 2003 - the state average was 15 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In seven rural counties, the number of uninsured is nearly 30 percent, the Colorado Health Institute says.

Putting the challenges facing rural schools in the context of the rural health care crises should give us pause. There aren't any rural counties in Colorado that don't have licensed teachers and they don't have to face life and death situations everyday. That said, rural schools should be part of the solution to rural health care problem.