Mr. Rural ED

Jeff Arnold on No I in Team

2011-03-02T10:49:00.003-07:00

Another gem by the great Jeff Arnold,

There is no I in team, but there is in whiner. Jeff Arnold, 2011

Self Reliance in Rural Colorado

2009-04-17T09:20:00.018-06:00

What would you do if your school's 60-year-old coal-fired furnace quite working, and you couldn't transport students to other schools because of often snowed-out mountain passes? If you're from Silverton, Colorado you have to rely on yourselves, something rural people know a lot about.

Ellie Gober, 7, keeps her hat on during class at the Silverton School. After the school's boiler gave out in November, students donned snowpants, gloves and layers in the thick of winter, soldiering on with the help of space heaters. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post )

The Denver Post's Nancy Lofholm reports,

When the coal-fired boiler in the 98-year-old school ruptured and wheezed out its final burst of heat in November, the reaction in this San Juan Mountain town of roof-high snows and deep-freeze cold was unusual, to say the least. The 55 hardy K-12 students and their eight teachers layered up and kept at their studies — for an entire winter.

Parents and community member brought in space heaters, which were replaced after Christmas by garage-strength heaters situated in hallways and new space heaters in classrooms. The school's electrical system had a tough time keeping up and teacher sometimes had to choose between heat or using computers and audio visual devices.

In an editorial the next day, the Post reported:

The [Colorado] Department of Education and the Governor's Energy Office are helping Silverton install a new, $1 million heating system the district hopes will be more environmentally friendly than that old coal boiler.

Well done to the good people of Silverton, the Colorado Department of Education, and the Governor's Energy Office. Nice job to Nancy Lofholm, Hyoung Chang, and the editors at the Denver Post.

Contracting Services

2009-04-13T09:19:00.004-06:00

When school finances get tight contracting services invariably comes up as a way of saving money. While contracting makes sense for short-term services, school boards should be wary of contracting for regular operations.

For example, a school board wouldn't hire a company to supply their superintendent because the superintendent's loyalty would lie with the board of the company rather than with the district. The interests of the business trump that of the school.

By all means contract with a consultant to help you develop and implement a comprehensive teacher recruitment and retention strategy. But hiring someone to run your organization who doesn't work for you could turn out to be disastrous and not be any cheaper.

Creating Positive Perceptions

2009-04-06T10:29:00.007-06:00

A key component of recruiting effective teachers is creating positive perceptions about your district. What are teacher educators saying about your district? What are teachers and administrators from other districts saying about you? What are your own teachers saying?

Creating positive perceptions is a three step process. First, make sure you have something positive to communicate. You don't have to be perfect, but there has to be something that people can cite as evidence of your success.

Second, tell people about that success. Have a 30 second commercial about your district that you can give when someone asks, how are things in your district?

Repeat the commercial to people in your district regularly. That way they have something positive to say when they're asked, how's it going?

Rural Education SIG 2009 Program

2009-03-31T09:55:00.005-06:00

The Rural Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association has put together a great program from their annual meeting. The program includes 5 paper sessions, 2 paper discussions, a symposium, and the SIG business meeting. Congratulations to the Rural SIG officers for a job well done. You can search the online program here.

Quality Program at a Reasonable Cost

2009-03-28T10:09:00.016-06:00

A few weeks ago I blogged on the low turnout at rural conferences. There is some good news on that front from Missouri. Ray Patrick, Executive Director of the Missouri Association of Rural Education, reports that attendance at their 2009 conference was up a bit from last year and they had 10% more exhibits. Ray credits MARE's success to their ongoing goal of providing a quality program at a reasonable cost. He has some good advice for anyone organizing a conference.

Quality Program. Our program presentations suggestions go through a committee who select who will present. Our breakout sessions are divided between those presented by our Associate Members and those with educational programs backgrounds. The main thing we tell Associate members is that their program presentation can NOT be a "selling a product" program.

Reasonable Cost. Our registration rate for the conference is $115 for the first two and $100 for all additional attendees from the same district. This rate includes three meals at no additional charge. We also work with the hotel to make sure the rates are as reasonable as possbile. This year's rate was $76 per night double or single.

Value for Presenters & Exhibitors. For presenters, we do not charge the registration fee (unless they are attending the entire Conference as a participant) but there is a meal package for those wanting to have their meals on site. For the exhibitors, the registration rate is $200 per booth with the exception, if the exhibitor is a MARE Associate member whose annual dues ($275 yearly) is up to date, there is no additional charge for the booth.

Keeping these three things in mind when planning your conference will help maintain, and possibly even increase, attendance levels during a down economy.

Free Instructional Materials

2009-03-25T11:01:00.011-06:00

With schools facing tighter budgets, a terrific resource for free instructional materials is the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence website. FREE has more than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources from dozens of federal agencies like the Library of Congress and the National Science Foundation. Topics include Arts & Music, Health & Physical Education, History & Social Science, Language Arts, Math, and Science.

One that caught my eye is American Journeys - Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement: A Digital Library and Learning Center.

Rural Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy 6.0

2009-03-23T17:09:00.002-06:00

While rural districts may not have the resources to provide higher salaries or more lucrative benefit packages, they can create more positive work environments. A first step is finding out how teachers feel about their work environment. Teachers may be reluctant to provide honest responses to district personnel, so administrators should consider having an external person gather and analyze the data. That person should also be able to help administrators process that information for planning.

Rural Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy 5.0

2009-03-19T16:40:00.002-06:00

A common strategy identified by experts for addressing the rural teacher shortages is to develop local teaching talent. Often referred to as growing you own teachers, developing local talent may reduce the likelihood that teachers will leave one district for another. Teachers with close community ties are less likely to accept a position in another. Paraprofessionals can be a good source for teacher candidates, but administrators have to be careful about creating unrealistic expectations about employment opportunities.

Rural Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy 4.0

2009-03-17T09:14:00.002-06:00

Since the number one reason rural teachers change schools it to work closer to their home, helping teachers find a place to live close to their work improves the changes of retaining them. School boards can create savings programs that encourages teachers to save money for a down payment on a house. Boards might also create a matching fund to motivate teachers to buy a home in the district.

Rural Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy 3.0

2009-03-16T04:12:00.003-06:00

Helping teachers integrate into the school and community increases satisfaction and effectiveness. It can be particularly important for teachers who have not lived in a rural area since they may not have experienced living in a small community. Mentor selection and training is key to success. A teacher who says, “I hate this district, I hate this community,” is not going to be a good mentor. Districts that neglect mentor training miss an opportunity to increase the skills and commitment of both new and experienced teachers.

Rural Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy 2.0

2009-03-15T10:41:00.003-06:00

The earlier a district can hire, the better opportunity to find a good fit for a teaching position. To do so districts have to be proactive in identifying potential retirements and resignations. Financial inducements for early notification of an intent to leave encourages teachers to inform administrators of their plans earlier rather than later. Districts may have policies that unintentionally discourage early notification by teachers. For example, a teacher who faces a gap in their health insurance if they resign early may wait until the last minute to do so.

Rural Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy 1.0

2009-03-13T06:31:00.005-06:00

The most important thing a district can do to reduce teacher turnover is to have a coherent teacher recruitment, hiring, and support system that aligns with district goals and priorities. Putting the time into attracting applicants, evaluating their fit with school and community needs, and providing ongoing support is far superior to a piece meal approach that may neglect critical aspects of the process. Doing an audit of the system will identify gaps in the process.

Striving for Excellence/Maintaining Balance

2009-03-12T09:11:00.005-06:00

It's state basketball tournament time in Colorado so what's on the front page of the Denver Post sports page? The music program at Kit Carson High School (and the boys basketball team). With an enrollment of 113 students in grades pre-k through 12, Kit Carson placed 3 of its starters from the 21-1 basketball team on the all-state band and a fourth player player as an alternate. Center Joe Jolly earned first chair euphonium for the second consecutive year in the 112-member symphonic band, which is like winning the 100-meter dash two straight years against all the runners across the state, according to Ken Singleton coordinator of all-state bands.

My old college friend Jim Trahern is the basketball coach and athletic director:

"Perhaps it's because we're a smaller community, but we like the idea of our kids being well-rounded and taking part in a lot of different activities."

If having high expectations are important to student success, then Kit Carson can teach big and small districts a thing or two.

"The people here only expect the best from us," [Charles] Johnson said. "They probably wouldn't be too thrilled with being runners-up."

Bad Economy Affects Rural School Conferences

2009-03-11T09:56:00.005-06:00

The economic downturn being felt across the country is having an effect on rural schools and the organizations that support them. A case in point is that the Center for Rural Education and Small Schools at Kansas State University cancelled one day of their 28th Annual Rural and Small Schools Conference due to low registration. I've been to their conference several times and I know that attendance wasn't down because of the quality of the program. Bob Newhouse and Barbara Havlicek always put together a terrific event. It surely must be due to economic pressures being felt by school administrators.

One wonders how the economy will affect the National Rural Education Association Convention in October.

Rural Education Equality and Improvement Act of 2009

2009-03-10T11:51:00.003-06:00

The title of House Resolution 825 introduced by Representative Jim Marshall (R-GA) caught my eye. What will the Rural Education Equality and Improvement Act of 2009 do for rural students?

If the Secretary of Education takes any action (whether by regulation, guidance, or otherwise) to authorize increased flexibility for any category of rural local educational agencies, the Secretary shall extend the same level of increased flexibility to all rural local educational agencies.

That means Secretary Arne Duncan can't authorize flexibility in implementing statutes for only certain types of rural districts, instead he has to give it to all rural districts as defined in the Rural Education Achievement Program. I guess that means that if Secretary Duncan wanted to give some flexibility to rural districts with fewer than 600 students to address a problem related to the interaction of small size and geographic isolation (e.g., highly qualified teachers), he'd also have to give it to "rural" districts with 5,000 students.

The Key Idea

2009-03-09T20:29:00.006-06:00

Columnist Kathleen Parker visits a rural district in South Carolina. I'm not sure what to think of the concluding paragraph.

What happens in rural South Carolina may not be of paramount importance to people elsewhere, who are facing their own economic challenges. But what's true here is true in rural communities across America, and our choices are pretty simple. As Ferillo put it: "We either educate the child or we jail the adult."

While it may be true that we either educate the child or jail the adult, I'm confident that's not the key idea the majority of rural educators want to emphasize.

Reducing Teacher Turnover Costs in Rural Districts

2009-02-18T10:13:00.005-07:00

School districts can realize cost savings by minimizing the amount of teacher turnover they have each year. A study from the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future estimates the cost of replacing a teacher to range from $4,300 per year in a small rural district in New Mexico to almost $18,000 in Chicago.

Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Hobart Harmon and I identify seven strategies rural districts can use to reduce teacher turnover:

Implement an aligned teacher recruitment, hiring, and support system.
Hire early.
Implement a mentoring program for new teachers.
Help teachers find a place to live in the district.
Develop local teaching talent.
Create positive workplace conditions.
Find out why teachers leave.

Email me if you'd like a copy of the Reducing Teacher Turnover Costs in Rural Districts policy brief.

Obama Administration Discontinues Rural Education Task Force & Center for Rural Education

2009-02-10T15:06:00.006-07:00

A U.S. Department of Education spokesman confirms that the Obama administration has discontinued the department's Rural Education Task Force, and the Center for Rural Education. What are they going to do for the unique needs of rural schools? Something tells me not much. Not that the Bush administration did much of anything. Where's the outrage?

What Happened to the Secretary's Rural Education Task Force?

2009-02-10T09:11:00.007-07:00

I just sent a message to the U.S. Department of Education asking them for an update on the Secretary's Rural Education Task Force. From what I can tell the Task Force held 4 or 5 meetings, the last of which was December 14, 2006.

Since the purpose of a task force is to do a task, the question becomes what task did they accomplish. My sense is it just sort of drifted away without having completed a specific task, or at least a meaningful one. Will the Obama administration reconstitute the task force and assign it important work? I'm not hopeful.

NREA's New Website

2009-02-10T08:34:00.004-07:00

The National Rural Education Association has a nice new design for it's website.

2000 Population Distribution in the United States

2008-11-17T21:42:00.009-07:00

The U. S. Census Bureau's "Nighttime Map" illustrates how the east and midwest are more densely populated than the west. It provides insight into why there are different perceptions about what is rural among regions. From the Census Bureau:

The 2000 version of the Population Distribution in the United States map reflects population data from the 2000 Decennial Census. The U.S. land area is shown in black against a midnight blue background in which the population locations are shown as if lights were visible during the night sky. White dots coalesce to form the urban population concentrations. On the wall-sized version of the map, each white "dot" represents 1,000 people. On the page-sized version of the map, each white "dot" represents 7,500 people.

Click on the map to enlarge it.

Jeff Arnold on Football

2008-11-17T12:06:00.007-07:00

With the high school football season winding down, a quote for my football coach friends:

There's no crying in football! There's only quietly sobbing into your pillow late at night when no one can hear you.
Jeff Arnold, 2008

National Rural Teacher of the Year Award

2008-11-17T11:53:00.006-07:00

From John Hill, Executive Director of the National Rural Education Association:

Lois Gray, New Harmony School in New Harmony, Indiana, was presented with the National Rural Teacher of the Year award at the 100th NREA Convention in San Antonio. Fox 7 in Evansville, Indiana, featured Lois in one of their telecast. To view the segment click here. (The segment begins with a 30 second commercial).

This Was a Big Election

2008-11-14T10:18:00.006-07:00

An excellent point from Obama pollster Joel Benenson on election day as reported in Time:

This was not a small election. This was a big election. But McCain talked about earmarks instead of about changing the tax code. When the issue was energy independence, his focal point was drilling instead of getting us off this addiction to oil.

Barack Obama spoke to a kind of change that resonated with Americans. They have grown weary not just of the type of politics we've seen but also of how politics has gotten in the way of solving real problems. In this campaign, voters have always known the stakes were very high.

The stakes are large for rural schools and communities. Are we going to continue down the path of suburbanizing rural schools or are we going to solve the real problems facing rural schools. It will take a clear vision of what rural schools can be, a comprehensive plan for achieving that vision, and a organized effort to achieve it. Anything is possible in America.

Webconference on the Changing Context of Rural Schools

2008-11-13T17:40:00.011-07:00

On November 19, 2008 Edvantia will he hosting a webconference titled Cultivating Success: The Changing Context of Rural Education. The webconference runs from 2 pm - 3 pm est. I believe it's free but you do have to register to participate. From the description it looks to be an excellent program:

Rural schools and districts are changing. Student enrollment in small rural communities increased by 15% between 2003 and 2005, and rural students now make up 20% of the total student population. The percentage of rural minority students has grown dramatically, such that nearly half of all English language learners (ELL) live in rural places. But despite the advantages rural schools offer—meaningful family engagement, community support, and close-knit relationships—they continue to struggle with resource constraints, recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers, and implementation of robust ELL programs. Tune in to “Cultivating Success: The Changing Context of Rural Education,” the first in a series of three webinars sponsored by the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) that explore how states and districts can help rural schools meet their changing needs. Our presenters will be Marjorie Rosenberg, Senior Research Associate for CEEE, Maria Helena Malagon, Senior Research Associate for CEEE, and Donna Bell, Senior Program Manager for NCFL. This event is hosted by Caitlin Howley, Associate Director, ARCC at Edvantia and Donna Carr, No Child Left Behind/Title I Specialist, ARCC at Edvantia.

What Happened to Rural at NWREL?

2008-11-12T16:35:00.006-07:00

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory used to be a leader in rural education research. A visit to their website shows that they've given up their rural emphasis. Searching the Products Catalog for "rural" produces zero publications. The message that comes up reads:

Sorry, I didn't find any matches for "rural" in the title, year, author, or description of products in our online catalog.

A search of the full NWREL website for "rural" produces 703 hits. The most recent year for a publication is 2005.

What is NWREL doing with the millions of dollars it is supposed to be allocated over the past 3 years researching issues affecting rural schools? Do any rural educators or policy makers in the region care that NWREL doesn't have a rural focus anymore? It is truly a sad thing to see.

Obama's Success Among Rural Voters

2008-11-08T08:23:00.008-07:00

Barack Obama may not have won the rural vote in this year's election, but he was able to close the gap significantly. In 2004, John Kerry lost the rural counties in battleground states by 15 percentage points. Obama was able to narrow that deficit to seven. Nationally, John McCain won 56.2% of the rural vote compared to Obama's 43%. The proportions reversed in urban areas with Obama receiving 57% of the vote and McCain 42.5%.

I'm not sure why McCain was more popular among rural voters. Anyone have any ideas about that?

See the full report from the Daily Yonder here.

I Was Wrong

2008-11-08T07:46:00.003-07:00

Even though there are some elections still to be decided, it's clear that I was wrong about Tuesday's election. I predicted Barack Obama would receive 378 electoral votes. Right now he's only got 364. If he picks up Missouri's still undecided 11 electoral votes, he'll only have 375.

I also predicted that Democrats would pick up 29 House seats and they only picked up 17. Democrats will not achieve the 60 seat threshold needed for a filibuster proof Senate, gaining only 6 seats. Even if Al Franken pulls out a come from behind victory in the Minnesota Senate recount, I still won't get to 60.

No one can say I don't admit when I'm wrong.

Which Way will Rural America Go?

2008-11-03T09:10:00.006-07:00

Tomorrow's election is going to be tough for my Republican friends. I agree with George Will — Barack Obama will receive 378 electoral votes. I also think Democrats will pick up 29 House seats and gain enough Senate seats for a filibuster proof Senate.

Reflecting the diversity and independent mindedness of rural Americans, the polls show conflicting perspectives. An Associated Press-GfK poll conducted in October found that McCain had an 18 point lead over Obama among rural voters. On the other hand, a nonpartisan poll of rural voters in 13 swing states from October 1-21 found a statistical dead heat between McCain and Obama. Commissioned by the Center for Rural Strategies on behalf of the National Rural Assembly, the poll found Obama leading McCain 46 to 45 percent, which is within the poll's 3.38 percent margin of error.

To my Democrat friends, be gracious in victory.

Presidential Election Profile: Missouri

2008-10-20T09:21:00.008-06:00

From the Almanac of American Politics via the New York Times:

Missouri’s peculiar balance of North and South, urban and rural, has helped to make it a presidential bellwether and explains its one deviation in the 20th century, in 1956 when it voted for Adlai Stevenson. He capitalized on farmer discontent and his lukewarmness on civil rights helped him carry traditional Southern Democrats. In the 1990s Missouri saw the two countervailing national trends—toward Democrats in major metropolitan areas, toward Republicans in rural areas—but in different proportions: the rural areas count for more here. In addition to registering voters in urban areas, Barack Obama also is hoping to find support in rural stretches to cut into Republican strongholds.

No Satisfactory Way of Measuring Rural

2008-10-17T09:55:00.006-06:00

From In the National Interest: Defining Rural and Urban Correctly in Research and Public Policy by Andrew W. Isserman, which appeared in the October 2005 issue of International Regional Science Review:

We presently have no satisfactory way to measure rural for the study of rural economic or the assessment of rural conditions. Key economic and demographic data are not available for urban and rural areas, and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan commingle urban and rural, leaving us unable to separate them. Yet getting rural right is in the national interest. When we get rural wrong, we reach incorrect research conclusions and fail to reach the people, places, and businesses our governmental programs are meant to serve. [emphasis mine]

8th Annual Rural Education Working Group Meeting

2008-10-17T09:43:00.006-06:00

The Rural School and Community Trust will convene its 8th annual meeting of the national Rural Education Working Group on April 19-21 at Kanuga Conference Center, near Hendersonville, North Carolina.

The gathering supports the work of rural citizens as they seek to strengthen their schools and communities by improving educational practice, learning about policy, conducting action research, organizing, and supporting each other. Visit the Trust's website for more information.

Rural Schools: Here to Stay

2008-10-16T08:13:00.006-06:00

From Leadership for Rural Schools by E. Robert Stephens & Walter G. Turner, published in 1988 by the American Association of School Administrators:

Many states will always have large numbers of rural small school districts. The creation of larger schools districts that make good educational sense should and will receive pubic support, but further use of this policy will be limited. First, the massive school reogranization that touched virtually every state in the immediate post-World War II period rested on a research base that is now widely acknowledged to be flawed. Second, rural interests in many states are better organized today than in the past to resist indiscriminate use of mandated school district consolidation. Third, continued consolidation of districts will be difficult and not cost-efficient in many areas because of the distances involved. And last, alternative ways to provide a good education in rural areas, such as telecommunications, lessen the need for reorganization.

I'm not sure what to think about the statement that the use of consolidation will be limited since the Rural School & Community Trust is holding a School Consolidation webinar on October 22.

QZAB Extension Passes

2008-10-14T11:14:00.004-06:00

From the Organizations Concerned About Rural Education:

As part of the rescue package enacted to meet the financial crisis, the U.S. House and Senate approved the so-called “tax extenders” bill that included a two-year, $800 million extension of the Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) program. QZABs allow local districts to finance school improvments or renovations at no interest cost by giving bond buyers federal tax credits in lieu of interest. The U.S. Treasury allocates the bonds to the states based on their low-income school population and state education agencies assign the bonding authority to their local school districts. The bill also removes an arbitrage modification of the original Act which has negatively affected the ability of school districts to use the bonds.

John Hill on the NREA Listserv Problems

2008-10-14T10:55:00.003-06:00

This message came in this morning from John Hill, NREA Executive Director about the problems with the NREA Listserv:

The nrea-l list was captured by a spammer. Many of the reply emails you are receiving are not coming from this office. It is critical that you do not reply to those emails for the spamming to come to an end. I am sorry this has happened and I am more frustrated than you. Your help in not replying will help end this mess.

I appreciate John's efforts in correcting the problem. These things happen to the best of us.

Thanks to Kristi Smalley & Emily Welch Boles

2008-10-13T15:37:00.003-06:00

Everybody on the NREA listserv owes a huge thanks to Kristi Smalley and Emily Welch Boles for posting directions on how to unsubscribe from a listserv. Before they posted the directions in separate emails there we so many posts to unsubscribe that I lost count. What's truly disappointing about the situation is that some people became so upset that sent threatening emails to the entire list. Fortunately Kristi and Emily provided some calm directions to those who are incapable of figuring out how to unsubscribe to a listserv.

New York State Center for Rural Schools

2008-10-12T20:46:00.009-06:00

In September, New York Governor David Paterson signed a law creating the New York State Center for Rural Schools. From the Education Commission of the States:

Establishes the New York State Center for Rural Schools to operate the state rural education program. Eliminates the authority of the commissioner of education to run such program; expands the membership of the rural education advisory committee. Provides that the program is to disseminate research findings, information, materials and best practices. Directs the committee to promote community and school involvement and collaboration in the development and implementation of policies and activities, and to prepare an annual report, as well as special focus reports that may result from specific research and other activities.

Economic Development Funding

2008-10-12T20:28:00.005-06:00

From the Center for Rural Affairs:

Since 2002, nearly every federal program that funds economic development and asset-building in rural communities has been cut, some by as much as 60 percent. With the notable exception of rural single-family housing loan programs, most rural development and rural asset-building programs witnessed significant reduction in Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005 after spending increases from 2002 to 2003.

Bob Schaffer on Rural Colorado

2008-10-09T19:48:00.006-06:00

Colorado is in the midst of a hotly contested Senate race pitting Republican Bob Schaffer against Democrat Marc Udall. I've pulled out the references to rural places from the Bob on the Issues section of Mr. Schaffer's website:

Utilize beetle-killed tree waste to produce energy. Federal policy should aggressively encourage private removal and use of trees lost to infestation and other vestiges of poor forest-management practices. An opportunity exists to use this biomass for distributed energy production providing economic incentives for Colorado’s rural and mountain communities.

I guess that says it all.

Everybody Take a Deep Breath & Relax

2008-10-09T19:03:00.005-06:00

There was a bit of a glitch today with the NREA listserv with responses to the original message being sent to everyone. These things happen, so lets refrain from sending snotty emails that end up going to everyone. On the bright side everyone used their words share their feelings. To subscribe visit the NREA website

Healthy Snacks for Schools

2008-10-09T10:54:00.006-06:00

As a parent of 3 school-age swimmers, I understand the importance of good nutrition. Having healthy snacks available throughout the school day is important to learning because without good nutrition students aren't as alert. We try and send healthy snacks with our kids everyday but sometimes we forget or run out.

One solution is for schools to offer healthy snack options. YoNaturals, Inc. gives schools the opportunity to own their own Healthy Vending machines. The program provides healthy snacks while generating revenues for the school:

For the first time, your school can receive 100% of all profits generated while providing students with a full range of natural and organic snacks and drinks supplied to you via an easy to use online ordering system and delivered to your school FREE.

The program may be well suited for rural schools since the items are delivered for free. It may not be a fit for every school, but it's worth considering.

Senator Max Baucus on the Secure Rural Schools Program

2008-10-08T16:35:00.006-06:00

Montana Senator Max Baucus gets it! The Secure Rural Schools program should not be funded by selling off public lands. From his Senate website:

The Secure Rural Schools program, which expired last year, is a critically important program for Montana. It provides funding for schools and road improvements that keep schools open and teachers employed in many Montana Communities. I will continue to cosponsor and fight for an extension of this important program.

Other proposals to fund the Secure Rural Schools program would sell off public lands to do so. I think that is an unacceptable solution, and I strongly oppose it. Public lands are important to our outdoor heritage and conservation legacy in Montana. We hunt, fish, and camp with our kids. The public lands we enjoy should be well managed and passed on for future generations to enjoy. We can find a better way to keep the Secure Rural Schools program running than selling off those lands.

You can make a donation on his campaign website.

Covering the Cost of School Lunch Programs

2008-10-08T11:47:00.014-06:00

I found this report on balancing nutrition, participation, and costs in the national school lunch program interesting. At the beginning of the article are listed the following key points:

Schools face the dual constraints of meeting nutrition requirements and covering costs.
The free-meal subsidy covers most of the per meal cost, but the price paid by most paying students covers only half of the per meal cost.
School foodservice managers say that to appeal to students and raise revenues, they need to offer less nutritious a la carte foods and vending snacks.

I wonder why the editors left this item of the list:

A clear way to increase revenues relative to costs is to get more students to join the lunch line. Following the lead of successful schools, an important change is to offer freshly made, healthful meals that students help to choose and that they have time to enjoy. Whether this is accomplished by completely revamping the program, by making it more efficient, or by raising prices charged to paying students, schools have shown that providing quality, nutritional meals can be done, and it can lead to higher participation rather than lower.

If you just read the key points, the implication is that schools have to offer less nutritious food in order to raise revenues. Why didn't they highlight offering freshly made, healthful foods? Maybe they didn't read the last paragraph.

The Rural Compact

2008-10-08T11:14:00.005-06:00

The Rural Compact is a set of principles for building stronger rural communities and a stronger nation. Here's what they have to say about education:

Every child should have an equal chance to learn, excel, and help lead America to a better, brighter future. Education policy should recognize the distinctive challenges and opportunities for rural schools and reflect the unique needs of those students, families, and educators.

I'm trying to figure out whether I agree with the statement that "ever child should have a equal change to learn," or whether every child should have a fair or equitable chance. Other than that, I am in total agreement.

No Rural for Libertarians

2008-10-07T16:52:00.003-06:00

I didn't expect to find a lot mention of rural areas on the Bob Barr Presidential Campaign website, but I expected to find at least one! I visited all 16 issues sections and there is no (none, zero, nil) mention of rural.

I don't agree with much on the Education & Homeschooling section, but I do agree with this:

Public schools should be managed locally, increasing accountability and parental involvement.

What a kooky idea!

It's hard for me to believe the Libertarian agenda would help rural schools and communities, but I could be wrong. No, I'm right.

School Consolidation Webinar

2008-10-07T13:35:00.006-06:00

From the Rural School and Community Trust:

School Consolidation is the topic of the October 22, 2008, Rural School Innovation Network (RSIN) Webinar. The event will begin at 2 pm EDT. Across the nation, states are considering arguments for and against school closures. The key questions to be addressed include where this is happening and why, and what does current research say regarding the impact on students and rural communities. Learn what is driving these efforts and how to respond when state policy makers decide for you that your school is too small. The presentation and discussion will be led by the Rural Trust's Director of Policy, Marty Strange.

Two things about the webinar. First, we've got to get past consolidation if we want to transform rural schools and communities. Second, $45 for a webinar for nonmemebers?! Are you kidding me?

Rising Energy Costs Harm Rural Communities

2008-10-07T13:03:00.007-06:00

From Amy Glasmeier on the Daily Yonder:

Since the 1950s, cheap energy enabled mobility through the Interstate Highway System, and the ensuing decentralization of people and economic activity benefitted rural areas. While there are no definitive studies that calculate just how much American rural development of the last 50 years owes to the low cost of transportation, nonetheless we can and should consider how today’s drastically changed circumstances will affect the potential for future economic growth of rural America.

We also need to consider how these circumstances will affect rural schools. I'm just guessing, but I don't think it's going to be pretty.

Obama On Rural Communities & Schools

2008-10-06T16:32:00.004-06:00

From Barack Obama's offical website:

Rural communities are often left behind: Rural communities often struggle to attract capital because of lack of infrastructure and remote distances. There is less access to quality doctors, and schools have trouble recruiting teachers.

Specifically about rural schools:

Improve Rural Education: Obama and Biden will provide incentives for talented individuals to enter the teaching profession, including increased pay for teachers who work in rural areas. Obama and Biden will create a Rural Revitalization Program to attract and retain young people to rural America. Obama and Biden will increase research and educational funding for Land Grant colleges.

Prosperity for Rural America: What About Rural Schools?

2008-10-06T15:50:00.005-06:00

From John McCain's offical website:

As President, John McCain will address the key issues facing agriculture and rural America:

Establishing a comprehensive energy strategy
Controlling taxation and regulation
Judicial restraint and preserving property rights
Providing a sustainable, market-driven risk management system for farmers
Promoting agricultural markets and reducing trade barriers
Improving incentives to invest in technology and rural infrastructure
Encouraging common-sense conservation and food safety measures
Securing America's borders and implementing a fair and practical immigration policy
Recognizing the role of agriculture in national security
Strengthen America's economic competitiveness by eliminating wasteful government spending

Nothing about rural schools? Why not?

Ralph Stanley on Barack Obama

2008-10-06T11:13:00.008-06:00

Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley endorses Barack Obama in a radio ad. The money quote:

He understands that our kids shouldn't have to leave our communities to find work.

Sustaining Rural Schooling through Place-consciousness in Teacher Education

2008-10-04T19:23:00.009-06:00

There is some nice rural education work coming out of Australia. The most recent piece, by Simone White and Jo-Anne Reid, looks at the need for teacher education institutions to incorporate place-conscious pedagogies into the teacher preparation curriculum. Placing Teachers? Sustaining Rural Schooling through Place-consciousness in Teacher Education has been released by the Journal of Research in Rural Education. Here's the abstract:

This paper explores two seemingly disparate areas of social inquiry: teacher education and the sustainability of rural communities in Australia. It suggests that these may be usefully understood in close connection with each other, and that healthy rural communities may be supported via reform of the ways in which teacher education prepares graduates for teaching in rural schools. In making this argument we claim that consideration and consciousness of place are important for all teacher education curricula, not merely that on offer in rural and regional centers. We call for metropolitan-based teacher education institutions to consider curriculum practices that take a more active role in fostering healthy and productive rural communities through place-conscious approaches to pedagogy (Gruenewald, 2003). At the center of this call is a concern to ensure the provision of high-quality education for children in rural families and the need for well-trained teachers who are personally and professionally equipped to address the educational needs of their communities.

By the way, I've been really impressed by the job that Kai Schafft has done as editor of JRRE. We're fortunate that Kai has taken over so ably from Ted Coladarci. Ted would be a tough act for anyone to follow, and Kai has done a terrific job!

Harry Truman Address at the 1948 National Plowing Match

2008-09-13T21:56:00.013-06:00

The following is an excerpt from President Harry Truman's speech at the National Plowing Match in Dexter, Iowa on September 18, 1948.

I wonder how many times you have to be hit on the head before you find out who's hitting you? It's about time that the people of America realized what the Republicans have been doing to them.

Why is it that the farmer and the worker and the small businessman suffer under Republican administrations and gain under Democratic administrations?

I'll tell you why. It is the result of a basic difference in the attitude between the Democratic and the Republican parties.

The Democratic Party represents the people. It is pledged to work for agriculture. It is pledged to work for labor. It is pledged to work for the small businessman and the white-collar worker.

The Democratic Party puts human rights and human welfare first.

But the attitude of the Republican gluttons of privilege is very different. The bigmoney Republican looks on agriculture and labor merely as expense items in a business venture. He tries to push their share of the national income down as low as possible and increase his own profits. And he looks upon the Government as a tool to accomplish this purpose.

Rural Teacher of the Year

2008-09-11T14:47:00.004-06:00

A teacher in New Harmony, Indiana has been named Rural Teacher of the Year by the National Rural Education Association. Lois Mittino Gray, a science teacher at New Harmony Junior/Senior High School, will be honored at the National Rural Education Association's 100th convention in San Antonio October 27-29.

Gray teaches six lab classes, supervises the daily care of 22 assorted lab animals, and teaches a gifted and talented program. She also is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Indiana after her regular school hours.

She has taught at New Harmony since 1987, starting as a biology teacher educating students from the seventh to 12th grades. She serves on the New Harmony Parks and Recreation board and the New Harmony Garden Club, while promoting science education throughout southern Indiana. She created a senior level human biology class from which students can earn college credits at University of Southern Indiana.

The Rural Teacher of the Year Award is sponsored by the John Deere Co. Honorees receive a $2,000 honorarium ,and the school district receives $1,000 to purchase instructional materials and school supplies.

Very Difficult to Fill Teacher Vacancies

2008-09-09T09:20:00.007-06:00

Rural districts had a more difficult time than nonrural districts hiring teachers in 7 out of 12 subjects examined by the National Center for Education Statistics. In 2003-2004, a higher percentage of rural schools reported it was very difficult to hire teachers in:

English as a second language (37.5%)
Foreign languages (35.2%)
Physical sciences (27.4%)
Special education (27.0%)
Music or art (20.5%)
Computer science (17.7%)
English/language arts (10.9%)

The statistics were reported in the Status of Education in Rural America, Table 3.11.

One-Size-Fits-All Policies & Practices Disadvantage Small Rural Schools

2008-09-03T12:09:00.015-06:00

Principals of small rural schools face distinctive challenges that are not addressed by one-size-fits-all policies and practices according to a study from Australian researchers Karen Starr and Simone White. Results of the study, The Small Rural School Principalship: Key Challenges and Cross-School Responses, are reported in the Journal of Research in Rural Education.

What's Happened to the Center for Rural Education?

2008-09-02T09:36:00.011-06:00

I hadn't heard anything for awhile from the Center for Rural Education at the U.S. Department of Education so I checked the website. The most current meeting summary available is from December 14, 2006. Does anybody know if the Center is still functioning?

Find the Rural in the REL Rural Education Project

2008-08-14T09:28:00.013-06:00

I'm exited to see the great rural education projects the Regional Educational Laboratory System has produced with the $40 million they've spent over the past 2.5 years. This description of Effects of Odyssey Math® Software on the Mathematics Achievement of Selected Fourth Grade Students in the Mid-Atlantic Region: A Multi-Site Cluster Randomized Trial shows the commitment the Institute of Education Sciences has toward addressing the unique needs of rural school:

This study will examine the effectiveness of the CompassLearning Odyssey Math® software in 4th grade classrooms throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. The intervention group will use the Odyssey Math® package for 60 minutes per week within the school's standard Math instructional time, and have access to the developer's professional development training; the control group will use the school's regular curriculum. Key research questions to be addressed are:

Do Odyssey Math® classrooms outperform control classrooms on the mathematics subtest of the Terra Nova CTBS Basic Battery?
What is the effect of Odyssey® Math on the math performance of male and female students?
What is the effect of Odyssey Math® on the math performance of low and medium/high achieving students (as measured by the pretest)

Intervention:CompassLearning Odyssey Math® software and related training is a commercially available product and several schools in the Mid-Atlantic region either use it or expressed and interest in doing so. The software engages students in their own learning through challenging, interactive, computer-based activities that promote exploration, individual and cooperative learning, problem solving, reflection, and real-world connections. Teachers will use the software as a supplement, as opposed to a full curriculum package, and have access to a professional development package that entails summer training and follow-up coaching throughout the year. Software access is controlled via password access and the training scheme represents the standard approach the developer offers to schools.
Design and samples:The study is a multi-site cluster randomized controlled trial, where approximately 124 classrooms will be assigned to treatment and control conditions within schools (approximately 31). Schools will be recruited from the Mid-Atlantic region and preference will be given to buildings with at least four classrooms. Schools that already use Odyssey Math® in the third and fourth grades are not eligible to participate in the study.
Outcome measures:Math achievement will be measured during the 2007-08 school year using the 4th grade mathematics subtest of the Terra Nova CTBS (Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills) as pre and post-tests. The test vendor's scoring service will be used to make allowances for special education students and English language learners. To address the research question on whether there are differential impacts of the package on high/medium versus low math achievers, a series of secondary analyses will split students into groups based on pretest performance.
Study period:Recruitment and initial teacher training will take place during the 2006-2007 school year. Data will be collected during the 2007-2008 school year.

Did you see what's rural about the project? Neither did I. I'm sure it's a fine study otherwise.

America's Two Backyards

2008-08-13T09:29:00.006-06:00

Tim Collins used to be the Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools before it was eliminated by the U.S. Department of Education. Tim reflects on the economic gap between rural and urban Illinois in a piece from the Daily Yonder:

Today, I am riding on Amtrak from Macomb (population 20,000 or so) to Chicago (incredibly large) to testify to a legislative committee about broadband policy. ... Railroads tend to run through the nation’s back yards, offering a different perspective on towns and cities you may have driven through before. There is no doubt that the Illinois landscape is beautiful on this fine day, but my eye for rural community development cannot miss some distressing sights.

Increasingly, there are two backyards in America. One set of backyards includes the so-called urban ghettos of the 1960s and many rural areas, including small towns that don’t seem to be benefiting from this time of relatively high prices for agricultural commodities. The other set of backyards includes suburbs and vital business districts such as Chicago. The contrasts between these two sets of backyards are stark.

Rural slum seems a cruel and pejorative term to describe a rural town on this bucolic day. After all, romantic images of small-town America still linger deep in our cultural memories. But many of our rural towns are deteriorating, suffering from long-term effects of population loss, limited employment opportunities, growing poverty, and an aging population. Many young people go to the suburbs and downtowns where money, people, and opportunities reside.

...

The quick take of this essay is one word: inequality. I have lived and worked in and studied rural areas for much of my adult life. Although I know the long history of rural and urban inequities all too well, entering the vibrant suburbs and business district of Chicago is still something of a shock when compared with my home in Western Illinois, which is, from time to time, dubbed “Forgotonia.”

Rural School Leadership Lessons: Becoming a Great Leader

2008-08-08T09:38:00.004-06:00

Bo Shembechler on seeking a mentor:

One of the biggest mistakes I see young coaches make—and young businessmen and doctors and lawyers, too, for that matter—is thinking their first job should make them rich or famous. When you're in your twenties, those things shouldn't matter. They didn't to me. Maybe they never should. They didn't to me. But especially when your're young, big money doesn't matter. Big names don't either.

Good organizations matter. Good bosses matter.

If you want to be a great leader, you need to prepare yourself to be a great leader, and the best way to do that is to study great leaders. (Bo’s Lasting Lessons,p. 7-8)

McCain & Obama on Broadband Access in Rural Communities

2008-08-06T11:28:00.010-06:00

What role should the federal government play in bring broadband access to rural communities? Using National Public Radio interviews with advisors to the McCain and Obama campaigns, the Daily Yonder highlights the differences between the candidates.

NPR: What role should the federal government play in guaranteeing broadband access, particularly in rural communities?

Michael Powell, technology advisor to the McCain campaign:

I think, actually - and he would agree - the government has an important role to play in broadband access in rural communities. In fact, the senator is promoting a program called People Connect, in which he would hope to provide tax benefits and financial benefits to companies who would provide those services to low-income users and rural users.

I think the problem in rural parts of America are that the economics are not nearly as compelling as they are in metropolises like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles, and it may require some government assistance, either through financial subsidy policy or other kinds of creative tools like community or municipal broadband services that help bring those people into the cosmos of technology and connects them to the wonderful benefits that the Net provides.

William Kennard, technology advisor to the Obama campaign:

Well, there again you have a stark difference between the two candidates. Senator McCain has not been supportive of the universal service fund in the country. That is a mechanism that we've used for decades in this country to get phone service into rural areas. Senator Obama embraces it. Because the reality is if we rely simply on the free market, there will be many people in this country that will have to do without. And Senator Obama believes that this is not just a question of access to technology. This is fundamentally about economic development. It's about making sure that people in rural areas can participate in the Information Age.

Rural AmeriTowne

2008-08-04T10:13:00.012-06:00

Rural AmeriTown is a resource for schools in northeastern Colorado, northwestern Kansas, and southwestern Nebraska. It offers a hands-on introduction to basic principles of our economic system by allowing students to run their own rural town.

At school, students engage in a variety of interactive lessons that focus on banking, civics, free enterprise, advertising, laws, philanthropy, job interviews and more. Students prepare for their opportunity to run a life-size town by interviewing for jobs, conducting employee business meetings, and attending job-training sessions.

During a day-long field trip, the students move into the town of 10 businesses and transform from students of economics to citizens of Rural AmeriTowne.

Rural AmeriTowne is modeled after Young AmeriTowne, and has been adapted to a rural economy. It is a project of the Young Americans Center for Financial Education

Rural School Leadership Lessons: Passion

2008-07-21T14:43:00.005-06:00

In his book Bo’s Lasting Lessons, which was published after he died in 2006, Bo Schembechler discussed the importance of passion:

Let’s start with first things first: passion. Because without that, nothing else I’m going to tell you in this book is going to be worth a damn. It just won’t do you any good,

Because the fact is, you’re never going to be able to lead others effectively unless you put your whole heart into what you’re doing. If it’s just a job to you, it’s going to be just a job to them. And trust me: You’re not going to fool them. (p. 3)

For rural school leaders that means having passion for children and education. It also means having passion for the community in which they work. If you’re more interested in making money than you are about being part of a community, you probably won’t be successful in a rural school.

NREA Convention Destination: San Antonio

2008-07-16T14:25:00.010-06:00

The 100th Annual Convention of the National Rural Education Association will be held at the Omni Hotel at the Colonnade in San Antonio, Monday, October 27 through Wednesday, October 29.

The first NREA Convention I attended was in San Antonio in 1996. Two things I remember most are that they served chicken at every meal (and the same dessert) and that none of the other people from Regional Educational Laboratories went to the meals. On the plus side, it's where I first met great people like Barbara Havlicek, Bob Newhouse, Paula Hodges, and Hobart Harmon.

REAP Reauthorization

2008-02-22T09:40:00.010-07:00

Last September, Senator Kent Conrad introduced a bill to reauthorize the Rural Education Achievement Program. A key element of that legislation involves a change in how rural is defined. What effect, if any, will this change have on districts?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, some districts change classifications under the new classification systems. In Colorado, the following districts go from rural to nonrural:

Archuleta County 50 Jt

Aspen 1

Buena Vista R-31

Garfield 16

Lone Star 101

Pueblo County Rural

Districts moving from non-rural to rural are:

Eagle County Re-50

Falcon 49

Lewis Palmer 38

Sargent Re-33J

The change from what are known as the Metro-centric Locale Codes to the Urban-centric Locale Codes will have almost no effect on SRSA participation among Colorado district. Lone Star 101 is the only district that would have been eligible for the Small Rural Schools Achievement program of REAP that could lose eligibility because of it's change in locale. States can request waivers to included districts as rural if a state agency classifies them as rural. Can we all agree Lone Star is rural? I thought so.

Sargent is the one district that becomes eligible for the SRSA program that wasn't eligible before. All the other districts have more than 600 students making them ineligible for the SRSA program. They could be eligible for the Rural Low-Income Schools program if they meet poverty thresholds.

The next question is what effect, if any, will there be on eligibility for the Rural Low Income Schools program? Another question is whether all of the districts participating in RLIS program are really rural. That'll be fun to figure out.

Ordering Information for the NREA History

2007-09-28T21:17:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I mentioned the NREA history book edited by Paula Hodges, but I neglected to mention how to order it.

To order, send $34.00 plus $7 for shipping and handling (and a note telling them what it's for) to:

National Rural Education Association
112 Fourth Street — Box 2
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK 73019

You can save $7 if you pick the book up at the NREA Convention in November.

NREA Celebrating 100 Years: 1907-2007

2007-09-27T15:50:00.000-06:00

My copy of the the official history of the National Rural Education Association arrived today and I have to say that Paula Hodges did a tremendous job of putting it together. Rather than a dull recitation of the history, Paula pulled together commentary, photographs and old publications to tell the story of the association

I've only skimmed through it but my first impression is the photographs themselves are worth the cost. Also of particular note are mentions of Bill Clinton and Howard Dean addressing the annual convention. I didn't see any mention of President George W. Bush speaking at the convention, but I may have missed it.

If you are a long time NREA member, you might want to buy a copy and have people sign it like a high school yearbook (Hobart Harmon's picture is on page 102). If you're a new member you'll want a copy so that you'll better understand the association.

Well done to everyone who contributed to National Rural Education Association: Celebrating 100 Years 1907-2007 !

Yes Virginia, There are Excellent Rural Schools

2007-09-26T08:51:00.000-06:00

We take pleasure in answering the email below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of Mr. Rural ED:

Dear Mr. Rural ED—

I am 8 years old. Some education experts say there are no excellent rural schools. Daddy says, “If you see it in Mr. Rural ED, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, are there excellent rural schools?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, those education experts are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge and No Child Left Behind.

Yes, Virginia, there are excellent rural schools. They exist as certainly as love and generosity and the Rural Educaiton Achievement Program exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no rural schools! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no six-man football then, no superintendent who knows every student's name, no school breaks during hunting season to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would not make adequate yearly progress.

Not believe in excellent rural schools! You might as well not believe in standards-based education. You might get Margaret Spellings to hire desk-jockeys to watch all the schools to find excellent rural schools, but even if they did not see one, what would that prove? Desk-jockeys don't see excellent rural schools, but that is no sign that there aren't great rural schools. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies scoring Advanced on the math section of the Colorado Student Assessment Program? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, and Vice President Cheney, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No excellent rural schools! Thank God! they exist and always will. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, rural schools will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

How to Effectively Involve Parents in Schools

2007-09-25T10:47:00.000-06:00

Research has repeatedly confirmed that parent involvement is a key component of school improvement. But developing and implementing a successful parent involment strategy can be tricky.

A new book by Hobart Harmon and Ben Dickens helps teachers and administrators overcome that problem by providing practical advice on how to involve parents in a positive and meaningful way.

In Creating Parent and Family Involvement: 101 Ideas for Teachers Who Care Hobart and Ben explain:

how parent and family involvement creates student success.
how to use a five-step process and simple self-assessment tool to create meaningful parent and family involvement.
how to implement 101 parent and family involvement ideas.
over 50 tips teachers can give parents in helping their child be successful in school.

Hobart and Ben also offer workshops aimed at helping schools more effectively involve parents in their children's education. Visit the PCRS website for more information about the book and workshops.

An Open Letter to John Edwards

2007-04-24T15:11:00.000-06:00

Dear Senator Edwards,

Your Rural Recovery Act proposal is an important first step toward addressing the issues facing rural Americans. The only issue it fails to address is that federal agencies tend to operate in their own silos rather than collaborating with other agencies working on related issues.

For instance, there is ample evidence that the U.S. Department of Education lacks an understanding of rural schools and communities. As a result, rural schools have been forced to adopt educational reforms that were designed for urban schools, while the needs of rural communities have gone largely unnoticed.

A solution to the problem is to use an interagency approach that brings together the Departments of Education, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, and others to develop policy initiatives that improve outcomes for students and communities. Bringing these agencies together to address the needs of rural Americans will be more successful than the piecemeal laundry lists proposed by others.

Michael

John Edwards' Rural Recovery Act

2007-04-23T21:24:00.000-06:00

In the 2004 presidential election, John Edwards was the only candidate in either of the two major parties to talk coherently about how to address the challenges facing rural America. Edwards has taken the lead again with his Rural Recovery Act proposal. You can find the full plan on his website, but here are some highlights of what the plan will do:

Restore economic fairness to rural America by helping small businesses thrive and grow.
Create a new energy economy in rural America by establishing the New Energy Economy Fund to jumpstart renewable energies.
Create fairness for family farmers by supporting strong antitrust enforcement, capping farm subsidies for corporate farms and supporting the packer ban and a national moratorium on new and expanded hog lagoons.
Strengthen rural schools by improving pay for teachers in rural and other hard-to-staff schools to help attract quality new and experienced teachers, and by creating digital learning opportunities.
Improve health care in rural America by rewriting the unfair Medicare and Medicaid funding formulas that punish rural states and communities, and supporting investments in telemedicine.
Rid rural America of methamphetamines by investing in the enforcement of drug laws in rural areas, help states make meth ingredients more difficult to get and expand programs that successfully treat addicts.

Regardless of your party affiliation, you should take a close look at Edwards' ideas. If you're not inclined to support him after reading them, you'll at least have some ideas to suggest to the candidate you support.

Kooky Idea #1: Rural School Data on the Rural School Data Website

2007-04-21T16:14:00.000-06:00

This post kicks off an occasional series on kooky ideas to help rural schools.

Kooky Idea #1: The National Center for Education Statistics should put data on its Navigating Resources for Rural Schools website that disaggregates data by locale. NCES generally does this, but there are some exceptions. Two examples are found on the Teacher Section of the site:

Average salaries for full-time teachers in public and private elementary and secondary schools, by selected characteristics: 1999-2000, and

Estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by state or jurisdiction: Selected years, 1969-70 to 2002-03

If NCES is going to have a site devoted to rural education statistics, the data ought to be about rural schools. Disaggregating salary data by locale would be particularly helpful since it is commonly claimed that teachers leave positions in rural schools to take higher paying jobs in nonrural schools. A first step in testing that claim is knowing the degree of pay differential between rural and nonrural schools.

Lesson 1 for Rural Superintendents: Think Different

2007-03-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

It wasn't long ago that Apple's prospects didn't look so good. You knew they were in trouble when they started giving their computers numbers instead of names. I still have my old 660AV.

So what can rural superintendents learn from Apple's experience? The first lesson is to "think different." To clarify, "different" is not modifying the verb "think." Rather it is the object of the verb think. In other words, the phrase isn't asking people to think in a different manner (think differently) but is urging them what to think (think apple pie or think big).

The challenge for rural superinedents isn't in changing the process they use for thinking about their schools. The challenge is to break out of traditional views of public schools to think about how to respond to economic and demographic changes. Some rural districts have "thought different" by using technology to expand enrollment by offering online courses.

Most rural district aren't ready to think different. But if you are and want some help, give me a call.

Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act

2007-03-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

A report from National Public Radio examines the impact the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act is having on California's rural schools. Could they come up with a more ridiculous title?

The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act provided funding to rural schools to replace lost revenus from the logging industry. To make up for these lost funds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture sold off smaller parcels of land that were not contiguous to larger parts acreages. President Bush proposed selling 300,000 acres of national forests as a way of funding rural schools, but that proposal was defeated. It's now back, as part of the president's recently released budget, and the White House is withholding that funding for rural school districts unless the forest sale goes through.

I have mixed feelings about the proposal. On one hand, the NPR report shows how the loss of this revenue is hurting rural schools and communities. Why not let the Forest Service would sell off land that isn't connected to larger pieces of land land and give the proceeds to rural schools?

On the other hand, why can't the Bush administration budget money for rural schools that is not linked to selling off public lands? Another consideration is where those public lands are located. I'm familiar with one piece of land the Forest Service tried to sell. A big multi-million dollar house built on that land would not benefit the community, let alone make it more secure.

Hey New Administrators, Listen Up!

2007-03-04T14:57:00.001-07:00

An important skill for new adminstrators to have is the ability to listen more than talk. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden noted the importance of listening in a recent Denver Post article. "If you want to be heard you have to listen.... It reminds me of a little verse I heard when I was in grade school in the 1920s. It said, 'A wise old owl sat in an oak. The more he heard, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard. Now wasn't he a wise old bird?"'

I've known many administrators who never learned that lesson. Indeed, it's too often quite the opposite. I recall one administrator who spent his first day with teachers lecturing them on his philosophy of education. He didn't last too long.

For rural administrators the importance of listening is critical because the more an administrator listens to the concerns of those in the school and community, the more likely those people will be to listen to her when the time comes for important action. Rural people differ from nonrural people in that the position a person holds is less important than who that person actually is—it doesn't matter that you're the superintendent, but I trust you because I know you're heard my perspective.

The lesson for adminstrators new to a district is that if your goal is school improvement, spend more time listening and less time talking. If you goal is to show people how smart you are, keep talking. They'll figure it out.

How Do You Rate Your Community?

2007-02-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

The vast majority of rural Americans rate their communities as being a good place to live according to a survey from the Pew Research Center. A nationally representative sample of 2,000 people were asked to rate their community. Among rural respondents, 34% rated their community as being excellent places to live, 30% rated it as very good, and 26% as good. Only 10% rated their community as being a fair/poor place to live.

In contrast, only 20% of Small City or Town residents rated their community as being excellent places to live, while 15% rated their community as fair/poor.

The results of the survey are published in Americans and Social Trust: Who, Where and Why.

How is Rural Different? Social Trust

2007-02-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, rural people have more social trust than those who live in cities and towns. Social trust is a belief in the honesty, integrity, and reliability of others.

In a nationally representative survey, Pew asked 2,000 people to respond to three questions to measure their social trust. Rural people had the highest social trust on the index (43) followed by those from Suburbs Near a Large City (39), Small Cities or Towns (35), and Large Cities (23). Social trust was rated on a three-item index with respondents split into three groups: high, moderate and low levels of social trust.

Of particular note is that Rural people are more trusting than those from Small Cities and Towns. Some education reports combine Rural and Town schools into a single category. The results of the Pew survey suggest there might be differences between these groups and that analysts should consider whether or not aggregating data for them is appropriate.

Americans and Social Trust: Who, Where and Why is published as part of the Pew social trust reports.

Senator Lincoln Selected Chair of Rural Outreach

2006-11-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

On November 14, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that Blanche L. Lincoln (D-AR) will continue to serve as Chair of Rural Outreach for the Senate Democratic Caucus. In announcing the Senate Leadership for the 110th Congress, Reid noted Senate Democrat's commitment to rural Americans: "As she did in the 109th Congress, Senator Lincoln will again serve as Chair of Rural Outreach. This position was created in the last Congress as a sign of the Democrats’ strong commitment to aggressively engage and communicate with rural Americans. In this post, Senator Lincoln will continue to guide rural outreach for the Caucus and find new ways to reach rural, suburban and exurban American communities."

“Rural America provides us with the safest, most abundant, and most affordable food supply in the world as well as renewable sources of energy with the potential to significantly reduce our country’s dangerous dependency on foreign oil,” Lincoln said. “Rural America is critical to this nation and such an important part of the fabric of our great country. I look forward to working with my colleagues to address the challenges and obstacles rural Americans face so they are able to enjoy every blessing and opportunity our nation offers.”

Research on Teacher Recruitment, Hiring & Support

2006-11-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

The Connecticut Center for School Change has released a report I did with Robert Reichardt on teacher recruitment, hiring and support. Although the report isn't specific to rural schools, it provides insight into strategies superintendents and principals can use to find, hire and keep effective teachers. An Executive Summary and a Technical Report of In Search of Quality: Recruiting, Hiring and Supporting Teachers are available on the CCSC website.

Learning from Business

2006-10-09T13:24:00.000-06:00

I'm a big believer in learning from the successes and failures of organizations whether they're public schools are other types of businesses. Today's lesson comes from WEASEL Corp.

About a year ago, an upper level manager at WEASEL Corp. decided to let the worker bees in her division decide an issue by voting. There were two perspectives on the issue and both sides presented their case.

After the vote, the WEASEL manager wanted everyone to agree that there wouldn't be any complaining about the decision since there was a vote. Those on the losing side objected since they knew problems would arise as a result of the decision.

Sure enough six months later there were complaints, but not from the opponents of the decision. The complaining came from the people who had voted for the decision and now had buyers remorse. Those who orginally opposed the decision weren't complaining because things turned out exactly how they expected.

One of the lessons learned from this story is that some people support a position in deferrence to authority at the peril of the organization. In this case, people voted for the option favored by the WEASEL manager because they didn't want to be seen as opposing management. Those types of people are dangerous for school administrators because they may not raise issues that turn out to be problems later on.

School administrators should surround themselves with people who will tell them when they're about to make a mistake. That's not to say that administrators have to always follow their advice. What it means is that administrators should gather information from diverse perspectives to base their decisions.

It takes a confident administrator to listen to those who disagree with them and then use their counsel to make decisions.

Emergency Preparedness

2006-09-28T13:23:00.000-06:00

The shooting at Platte Canyon High School yesterday is a sobering reminder that rural schools are not immune from violence. One of the more troubling aspects of the incident is that it appears the killer didn't have any connection to the school.

This is a good time for school administrators to review their emergency preparedness. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools has excellent resources to assist in that task including Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities.

Teacher Recrutment & Support

2006-09-25T13:19:00.000-06:00

Mark your calendars to attend my session Twenty Strategies for Hiring and Keeping Effective Teachers at the National Rural Education Association Convention in Kansas City on Tuesday, October 24 at 10 am. Hobart Harmon and I will be discussing strategies that schools are using to hire and keep effective teachers.

This session will go beyond the same old tired strategies that have been reported over and over again. Instead, our focus will be on strategies that aggressive recruiter districts use to find and keep good teachers. Our session won't be very helpful if you're looking for solutions that don't take any effort. But it will be worth your time if you're willing to put forth the energy needed to improve teacher quality and ultimately student outcomes.

To learn more visit the NREA website or contact Hobart or myself.

Football on the Great Plains

2006-09-03T13:17:00.000-06:00

It's football season for high schools all across the country. In Colorado the new season provides fresh evidence of continued population loss on the Great Plains, and how rural schools and communities are adapting.

Writing for the Denver Post, Robert Sanchez tells the story of the newly combined Sedgwick County Cougars football team, which is in its first year as an athletic cooperative between Julesburg and Revere High Schools. Reaction to the new arrangement is understandably mixed.

A majority of school board members pushed for the agreement and got the backing of students and their parents.

Without the sports cooperative, they say the two school probably would have lost their football programs, driving yet another stake through the heart of rural America. ...

But allegiances die hard, and several longtime alumni from Julesburg and Revere see the freshly minted agreement as akin to kissing an ugly cousin. ...

"When you discard 100 years of history and tradition, it does get people's attention," Julesburg resident Jim Kontny wrote in a letter to the town's newspaper late last year.

It's hard for people who've never experienced rural schools first-hand to understand the importance of maintaining rural schools and all that comes with any sort of consolidation. For them the school mascot is the hardest animal to kill.

The effect of populations declines can also be seen in the change in distribution of Colorado's rural schools playing 11-man, 8-man, and 6-man football between 2005 and 2006.

1A 11-man (Colorado's smallest classification out of five)
2005: 40
2006: 36

8-man
2005: 38
2006: 49

6-man
2005: 20
2006: 22

Sedgwick County lost its first game 19-16 to Creek Valley High School (Nebraska), which is in it's third year as a consolidated school.

Linda Hall Leaving Center for Rural Education

2006-08-31T13:16:00.000-06:00

Earlier today Linda Hall announced her departure as the Director of the Center for Rural Education. The announcement was made on the U.S. Department of Education's Rural Education listserv.

To ListServ subscribers:

Today marks my last day as the owner of the Rural Education listserv here in the Office of Vocational and Adult Education of the U. S. Department of Education. My assignment ends tomorrow and I will return to Federal Student Aid, another of the Department's operating units. Thank you for all of your comments as we established the Center for Rural Education. Richard LaPointe will assume the leadership role for the Center until the Director's position is filled.

Linda W. Hall

Rural Task Force July 2006 Meeting

2006-08-24T13:14:00.000-06:00

Minutes from the July 17, 2006 meeting of the Secretary's Task Force on Rural Education have been posted on the Center for Rural Eduction section on the U.S. Department of Education's website. Of particular interest was a presentation by Phoebe Cottingham, Commissioner, Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences on the rural work of newly funded Regional Educational Laboratories. Dr. Cottingham reported that:

• Six of the startup Fast Response projects being conducted by the labs focus on rural education policy issues.

• Fourteen Fast Response projects have explicit analysis of rural education status or progress.

• Two major experimental tests of using virtual technology to improve middle school math teaching in rural schools.

• Six rigorous studies of state programs to improve science-math learning will include rural schools.

• About a third of the new work conducted by the labs is about rural education.

The next meeting of the Rural Education Task Force is scheduled for October 2006.

Take Me Away

2006-08-18T13:12:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it's easy to take for granted how fortunate we are to live in wonderful rural places. My high school classmate Cowboy Brad Fitch recorded a song that reminds me of that every time I hear it. Take Me Away was written by Brad's brother Doug and describes what it's like to live away from the mountains.

Here are the lyrics:

Not long ago, seems like yesterday, the mountains were my home, I thought I'd always stay
Summer days of blue, and nights of shining stars, lately I can't take the sight of city lights and cars

There were times before, times I'd wish away, up among the peaks, beside a glacial lake
Living in the sky makes it hard to leave 'cause the city's got me down, down where I can't breath

To purple mountains majesty even for a day, not so very far from here, just a world away

Looking out my door this is what I see, houses row by row, planned so expertly
But the wind and rock and snow are calling out to me, it's the summits that I know where I long to be

Take me away, far far away from here,take me away, bring me home, the mountains are my home
Far away from here, send me on my way, take me home

Eleanor Roosevelt on the first White House Conference on Rural Education

2006-08-08T13:11:00.000-06:00

I ran across an interview with Eleanor Roosevelt in which mentions the first White House Conference on Rural Education that was held October 3-5, 1944. This I Believe About Rural Schools was originally published by Chari Ormand Williams in The Nation's Schools 45, no. 3 (March 1950): 31-36.

You were responsible for making possible the first White House Conference on Rural Education ever held. What do you think are some significant outcomes of this conference, which rural educators believe has charted the course of rural education in this country for the next 50 years?

There were a number of worthwhile outcomes: the reawakening of public interest in rural education; the organization of similar conferences on the state level; nine regional conferences on rural life and education held annually under the auspices of the department of rural education of the N.E.A.; organization of the National Conference of County and Rural Area Superintendents of Schools; the rapid increase in the reorganization of rural school districts in the last five years, and many others of equal importance, it seems to me.

Luna Wins Idaho Primary

2006-05-31T13:09:00.000-06:00

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

2006-05-18T12:58:00.000-06:00

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

2006-05-10T12:57:00.000-06:00

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?

2006-05-08T12:55:00.000-06:00

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

2006-05-08T12:52:00.000-06:00

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

2006-05-08T12:49:00.000-06:00

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.

Senator Burns on Montana's Rural Schools

2006-04-27T12:47:00.000-06:00

Mr. Rural ED's series on congressional perspectives on rural schools continues with comments from Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana).

One of the greatest challenges we have is to revolutionize education in rural areas such as Montana, where current technological capabilities may be lacking. There is nothing more important to me than making sure our kids have the education they need to get ahead in today’s competitive world. I have always championed programs such as E-Rate, which ensure that our schools have access to up-to-date technology.

While I understand the importance of ensuring that America’s young people have a strong educational foundation, I am aware that when the No Child Left Behind Act is applied to rural schools, it is not a perfect law. I have spoken with many educators around Montana and heard their concerns about Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements, Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) requirements, the assessment of special education students, and finally, funding issues.

I have always said that if the federal government is going to continue setting requirements and educational standards, we have to be prepared to adequately fund those rules so states like Montana can meet those challenges and continue to support the teachers and the students. Rules that make sense in New York or California are often cumbersome and expensive for rural states like Montana. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have worked hard to secure funds for a variety of critical education programs. However, funding cannot be our only focus. Presently, I am working with the Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Montana’s education community to improve various aspects of NCLB. It is imperative that local schools are granted more flexibility in deciding the educational needs of Montana’s students.

Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act

2006-04-26T12:45:00.000-06:00

Should the federal government sell off land to support rural schools? That's the issue behind legislation co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-Montana) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) to fund the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act without selling public lands.

The bill will raise $2.6 billion over the next ten years for the rural schools program, commonly known as the county payments law, by closing a tax loophole that allows some government contractors to avoid their tax obligations. In 2005, Wyden, along with Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Baucus, introduced a bill to reauthorize the county payments law for another seven years. The original law is due to expire at the end of this year.

The bill is in response to the Bush Administration's proposal to sell as many as 300,000 acres of Forest Service lands to raise about $800 million for the program. The legislation would provide a steady revenue stream for the county payments law by closing a tax loophole in Federal contracts. Under current law, the Federal government does not withhold taxes owed from government contractors that provide goods and services to the Federal government. As a result, some contractors don’t comply with Federal tax law.

“Our bill will fully fund the rural schools program without selling even one acre of our prized public lands,” said Baucus, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy. “Our public lands shouldn’t be put up for sale to the highest bidder. The Administration challenged congress to find a way to fund this program -- Ron and I just did.”

“Rural communities throughout the country rely on these payments for top quality schools and infrastructure year in and year out,” said Wyden. “We cannot abandon them, and this legislation finds a fiscally responsible way of extending this successful law.”

The county payments law, first enacted in 2000, established a six-year payment formula for counties that receive revenue sharing payments for the USFS and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. Based on historical timber receipts, the formula established a stable source of revenue to be used for education, roads and various other county services in rural areas.

Senator Baucus, along with Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colorado), was one of the first members of Congress to condemn the land sales proposal.

Rural Students & Reading

2006-04-26T12:43:00.000-06:00

Rural 12th grade students who were eligible for free and reduced priced lunches scored higher on the 2003 NAEP Reading Assessment than did those from central cities and urban fringes. Ok, rural students scored only 1 point higher than urban students, but it was 9 points higher than city students. This is good news for rural students and those who believe rural schools have inherent strengths.

The bad news is that rural students as a group scored the same as city students but were 5 points below their urban fringe counterparts. The moral of the story is that rural schools can do great things but there is room for improvement.

Click on the thumbnail below to see the full-size table.

NREA Mini Grant Program

2006-04-18T12:41:00.000-06:00

This just in from the National Rural Education Association home office in Norman, Oklahoma:

Please be reminded the deadline to make application for the 2006-2007 NREA Mini Grant Program is May 1, 2006. The NREA Mini Grant Program is sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. The generous contribution made by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association funds ten NREA Mini Grants for rural school districts served by rural electric cooperatives.

NREA CARES Award

2006-04-17T12:35:00.000-06:00

This announcement is from the National Rural Education Association.

Great American Financial Resources Incorporated has entered into a partnership with the NREA to sponsor the NREA CARES Award. This award will be presented to a rural school district in recognition of outstanding effort to build strong ties between the school district and the community it serves.

The $5000 award will be presented to a NREA School District Member at the 98th Annual Convention in Kansas City on October 23, 2006.

The receiving school district must be a NREA School District Member.

Senator Baucus on Rural Education

2006-04-14T12:33:00.000-06:00

Max Baucus (D-Montana) is one of the few U.S. Senators who has something specifically to say on his website about rural schools:

Rural Education: I'm very proud of Montana's schools, and I've always worked to ensure that all of our schools receive the funding and assistance they need in order to provide a high quality education for our kids. I've been especially vocal about the unique needs of our rural schools during my time in the Senate. I pushed for the creation of the Rural Education Achievement Program to provide additional federal funds to rural schools, and I'm currently fighting to expand funding for the program to assist rural schools even more. In addition, I joined Senators Enzi and Conrad in forming a new Senate Rural Education Caucus in January 2003, and we are working hard to highlight the needs as well as the strengths of America's rural schools.

Local Control

2006-04-13T12:31:00.000-06:00

One value that seems to be common among rural educators is the belief in the local control of schools. I'm not quite sure what that means in practice, particularly given the plethora of federal and state education mandates.

Senator Wayne Allard, Republican of Colorado, is clear about his position on local control:

It is important that education remain locally controlled. Those closest to the students are in the best position to know their educational needs. Parents and school boards should be able to tailor educational curriculum to local needs. Federal financial support should not encumber local programs with federal mandates. After all, the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow and it is essential that we prepare them for what lies ahead. We must continue to search for ways to make a good system of education even better. more

Of particular note is the senator's position that parents and school boards are responsible for school curriuculum. The idea that parents have a role in curriculum decisions will come as news to many parents and educators.