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Rural schools are a vital
part of the American public education system,
serving over 30 percent of the nation’s
students. The National Rural Education Advocacy
Coalition strongly encourages Congress to take
into consideration the unique needs of rural
schools as one-size-fits-all policy can often
have devastating effects.
NREAC believes funding America’s
public schools directly is an integral component
to improving student learning and outcomes.
Federal funding should flow directly to local
school districts, bypassing the state wherever
possible.
Elementary and Secondary
Education Act
NREAC advocates a fundamental
transformation of the federal role in education
as defined by the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act. NREAC believes that the primary
responsibility for determining educational
methods and strategies should reside at the
local level, consistent with the U.S. Department
of Education Organization Act. That flexibility
is necessary in order to increase student
achievement.
NREAC supports a federal role
that is consistent with both the intent of the
2001 reauthorization of success for each child
and the original 1965 statute to improve
outcomes for low-income children.
NREAC believes that the role of
the federal government in education is to help
ensure access to equal educational opportunity
for each child by helping states and school
districts develop capacity, providing leadership
and providing resources. The federal government
should supplement and support rather than
dictate state efforts in education.
Title I
NREAC believes that in order to
help clarify the federal role in public
education, students served by Title I programs
should be considered as a separate subgroup and
schools/ school districts should be held
accountable to the terms of the contract with
the federal government for their success with
these students. In the case of school wide Title
I programs, schools would be responsible for the
performance of all of their students.
NREAC believes federal efforts
should focus on program improvement for schools
and districts that need assistance rather than
on one-size-fits-all sanctions that do not meet
the unique needs and challenges of rural
schools. There should be maximum flexibility to
ensure that options for rural schools are
crafted to meet their unique circumstances.
NREAC believes that poverty has
an impact student achievement. Schools are
partners in the effort to overcome and help
mitigate the effects of poverty by working with
other agencies and efforts, such as health care
and housing.
NREAC recommends that the
reauthorized law require the Department of
Education to develop rules that guarantee states
and school districts consistency of application
and transparency of administration, with an
emphasis that the federal government’s role is
not to set curriculum or make local education
decisions, which should be left to states and
school districts.
NREAC recommends an emphasis on
formula rather than competitive grants. Formula
grants, especially when used with guaranteed
minimum allocations, are the only way to ensure
that rural school districts receive their fair
share of assistance.
NREAC urges caution in the use of
data and calculations under the reauthorized
law. Small numbers of students, present in many
rural communities, can have dramatic impact on
averaged test scores and other calculations.
Small, rural school districts must receive fair
treatment due to their circumstances.
Accountability and Assessment
NREAC believes states are
responsible for determining the type and
frequency of assessment, including the use of
growth or progress models. Federal requirements
should not override these state decisions.
Students should be treated as individuals under
such assessment systems and with an emphasis on
growth, improvement and closing achievement
gaps. NREAC supports the use of federal
incentive money to encourage states to develop
formative and summative assessments.
NREAC believes the Individualized
Educational Program team should make the
determination of how special education students
are assessed and their measurable results
reported. Assessment opportunities for students
with disabilities should not be limited by
arbitrary caps and grade-level requirements.
NREAC believes states and school
districts have the responsibility for
identifying, assessing, and evaluating English
Language Learners based on their individual
needs and reporting the results.
Collaborative Leadership
for Improving Student Outcomes
NREAC believes that excellent
teaching is essential and that the states are
better able to set appropriate teacher standards
than the federal government. States are more
aware of the unique circumstances teachers face
when teaching in multiple subject areas or when
teaching students with special needs in rural
settings.
NREAC strongly recommends that
Congress authorize and fund a NAEP oversample of
rural schools. This oversample will help provide
useful insight into the performance of students
in rural America.
Focus on Rural Schools
NREAC is concerned that current
policy targets Title I funds to concentrations
of poverty based on large numbers of students,
not merely percentages. This clearly
disadvantages poor children in rural areas.
NREAC encourages all Title I funds to be focused
on percentages of students in poverty. All
school districts participating in Title I should
receive a minimum amount of assistance under
Title I.
NREAC believes that the federal
government should support states in their
ongoing high school improvement efforts and
recognizes the important role of career and
technical education in preparing students for a
competitive economy.
Recommendations for other Titles
of ESEA
Title II Part A
NREAC supports the role of
federal government in increasing and assisting
the recruitment and retention of teachers in
rural and/or geographically isolated districts.
This could be accomplished through tax credits,
incentive pay and loan forgiveness among other
options.
NREAC recognizes the proven
relationship between competent, well trained
teachers and student achievement. The
demonstrated impact of teacher preparation on
student achievement necessitates increased
support of teacher recruitment and financial
support for qualified teachers.
Title II, Part D
NREAC believes education
technology funds should continue to be
distributed on a formula basis to ensure parity
for rural schools. NREAC recommends that a
minimum guaranteed grant size be established.
Title III: Bilingual, Immigrant
and English Language Learner Students
NREAC believes it is the state’s
responsibility to determine the assessment tools
and requirements for bilingual, immigrant, and
English Language Learner students.
NREAC believes the role of
federal government—as it pertains to bilingual,
immigrant and English Language Learner
students—is limited to supporting states and
districts with rapidly increasing diversity.
This could include support for local
instructional methods, financial assistance for
tutors and help in recruiting ELL instructors
and tutors for geographically isolated areas.
Title IV
NREAC supports the role that Safe
and Drug Free Schools plays in fighting ongoing
and new challenges in rural America, such as
methamphetamine labs. Safe and Drug Free Schools
funding at the school level is critical to
leveraging additional dollars to ensure a safe
learning environment. NREAC supports the
maintenance of Safe and Drug Free Schools as a
formula grant. The office of Safe and Drug Free
Schools should only exist if there are funds and
those funds are formula driven. NREAC believes
that 100 percent of the funding under Safe and
Drug Free School Act should flow directly to
local school districts to ensure the maximum
benefit at the local level.
Title V
NREAC was concerned with the
elimination of the Education Innovative Block
Grant under the FY 2008 appropriations bill.
This is a critical source of flexible money for
local districts to nurture new programs and test
new ideas. NREAC recommends the continuation of
this program under ESEA and increasing the
percentage of funding that goes directly to
school districts under the Education Innovative
Block Grants and recommends establishing a
minimum guaranteed grant size.
Title VI
NREAC supports the expansion of
transferability to 100 percent of federal
formula grants to better serve children.
However, NREAC would oppose being allowed to
take money out of Title I; rather, districts
should only be permitted to add funding to Title
I.
Title VI – Rural Education
Achievement Program
NREAC applauds the enormous
success of REAP and the role it plays in
targeting resources to meet the needs of rural
schools. Given the decline in funding to rural
districts, NREAC supports increased funding for
REAP to continue to support students in rural
America.
NREAC supports the Rural
Education Achievement Program Reauthorization
Act (S 2051 and HR 3545). We oppose the
limitation of eligibility under the Rural and
Low-income Schools Program that would eliminate
funding for many rural districts. In addition,
NREAC supports increasing the average daily
attendance eligibility requirement under the
Small and Rural Schools Achievement Program
provided that there is a substantial increase in
funding to help offset funding shifts.
NREAC opposes the narrowing of
eligibility for the program
NREAC supports the increased
average daily attendance requirement, provided
that there is increased funding (contingent
funding)
Additional Legislative Areas
of Interest
Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act
NREAC strongly supports the
fulfillment of Congress’ promise to pay 40
percent of the National Average per Pupil
Expenditure for every child in special
education. Mandatory funding of IDEA is the only
way to ensure that Congress reaches this goal.
Higher Education Act
NREAC supports efforts to
increase the number of quality teachers in rural
schools. Therefore, Title II of the Higher
Education Act should encourage best practices to
attract teachers to rural settings.
Additionally, NREAC supports the creation of a
tax-credit incentive to encourage teachers to
work in rural settings.
NREAC supports the expansion of
the definition of a high-need school district to
include rural school districts in addition to
high-poverty districts, recognizing the unique
staffing needs and shortages of geographically
isolated districts.
NREAC supports a national pilot
effort for grow-your-own teacher programs to
improve efforts to recruit and retain high
quality teachers in rural schools. NREAC
encourages proactive partnerships between LEAs
and degree-granting institutions in teacher
training, recruitment, and retention efforts.
NREAC supports leadership
development activities aimed at developing the
unique skill sets school administrators in
geographically isolated regions will need.
E-Rate
NREAC strongly supports
maintaining E-Rate as an element of the
Universal Service Fund. The E-Rate serves an
important role in increasing the connectivity of
rural schools to the internet and helping to
bridge both the digital and geographic divides
that impact rural schools.
NREAC supports a streamlined
application process that encourages more rural
school districts to apply for E-Rate support.
NREAC believes in accountability within the
E-Rate program but opposes any changes to the
program that would increase participation costs
to local school districts. Increases in
paperwork within the application process often
prevent rural districts from applying. School
districts already have fiscal accountability
requirements that they must meet for their
states.
NREAC believes the Universal
Service Fund should be permanently exempt from
the Anti-Deficiency Act.
NREAC believes success in the
program should focus on the level and quality of
the connectivity. Connectivity is important but
so is the speed and reliability of the
connectivity in order to ensure access for the
end result of high-quality distance learning
services.
Technology
NREAC supports the expansion of
broadband into rural America.
Secure Rural Schools and
Communities Self-Determination Act
NREAC recognizes the challenges
of rural school districts located in federal
forest counties and urges the continuation of
the safety-net legislation to ensure a
consistent funding stream for affected school
districts nationwide. Until a full
reauthorization can be passed, NREAC urges
Congress to pass a temporary emergency extension
of the program to provide the impacted school
districts the certainty they need to continue
their work. In addition, NREAC strongly believes
that any full reauthorization of the Secure
Rural Schools and Communities Self-Determination
Act should treat all states slated to lose
funding fairly, allowing for an equal ramp down
in all impacted states.
Medicaid Claiming
NREAC believes that rural
districts should be reimbursed for medical,
administration and transportation expenses
attributed to Medicaid eligible students. The
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services should
work with rural districts to make reimbursement
more feasible for geographically isolated
districts. NREAC strongly opposes the steps that
CMS has taken to eliminate school-based
administrative and transportation Medicaid
claiming. Until a suitable solution can be
found, NREAC supports the extension of the
moratorium that would protect schools from any
changes being proposed by CMS.
NREAC supports the Protecting
Children’s Health in Schools Act, which would
include expansion of Medicaid claiming to 504
students. NREAC also supports a more streamlined
application process and uniform methodology
resulting in a consistent set of rules across
all states. NREAC supports the Protecting
Children’s Health in Schools Act.
Child Nutrition Programs
NREAC supports efforts to develop
a new definition of nutritional value in
conjunction with appropriate exceptions for
fundraising, school-sponsored events and
classroom celebrations.
Children’s Health Care
NREAC supports efforts to expand
health insurance to all children and pregnant
mothers up to 300 percent of the poverty line.
Health care has a direct impact on student
achievement.
Vouchers
NREAC strongly believes that
public funds should be used to fund only public
schools. Federal funds should not be used to
fund private schools through any form of
vouchers, scholarships or tuition tax credits.
With limited funding available, dollars should
be focused on the public districts that must
face public accountability.
Qualified Zone Academy Bonds
NREAC recognizes the success of
the QZAB and other school construction programs
in addressing some school facility needs. NREAC
supports the expansion of these programs to
include new construction and additional
resources.
NREAC believes that the role of
federal government in QZAB is to assist in the
financing and building of schools that meet the
needs of local communities.
Early Childhood
NREAC believes that maximizing
children’s learning requires equal measures of
high expectations, appropriate instruction,
early developmental activities and early
education. The federal government has a
responsibility to address this array of social
factors, especially in rural areas, but not at
the detriment or expense of K-12 education.
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