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Invest in Rural Communities

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Strengthen Public Schools and Education

Rural communities depend on public schools and colleges so that students can acquire the skills and knowledge to be ready to seize their future. In the face of attacks on public schools, teachers, students, and parents, we need to support our schools to be successful hubs for learning, care, and engagement for the entire community.

  • Provide Universal Pre-K.
  • Provide critical funding for public schools and ensure students have properly funded schools regardless of their ZIP code.1 Ensure kids receive critical speech services, reading support, and other assistance. Quality public education must be accessible for kids with disabilities.2
  • Stop the giveaway of public resources to private schools. Voucher programs add stress to public schools and force these community institutions to spread the same costs for facilities, transportation, administration, and instruction over a smaller revenue stream. Furthermore, voucher programs don’t meet the accountability, transparency, and community-input standards of public schools.3
  • Fund educator recruitment and retention in rural communities to address the significant staff shortages.4
  • Schools are central hubs for rural communities and serve more than just students. Funding Full-Service Community Schools is an effective way to expand community resources and opportunities.5
  • Make it more affordable for students in rural communities to access and succeed in college and in-demand vocational career pathways — including students who are the first in their family to attend. Support rural colleges and universities and provide rural development grants.6 Provide direct support to students by funding federal student loans, affordable repayment and forgiveness plans, and Pell grants.

Notes

  1.  See the Secure Rural Schools Program. Also, fully funding Title I offsets costs for our school districts, so every public school receives adequate funding to educate all students.
  2. Fully Fund Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Schools need federal funding to meet federal mandates, such as Individualized Education Programs, to ensure quality public education is accessible for all kids with disabilities.
  3. See the National Coalition for Public Education resource: Vouchers Don’t Work in Rural Areas
  4. See Preparing and Retaining Education Professionals (PREP) Act and the Grow Your Own program. The Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) provides dedicated federal funding to our rural schools to address the teacher shortage, purchase education technology, expand extra-curriculars and more.
  5. See the Full-Service Community School Expansion Act.
  6. Appropriate full funding for Act Q under title VIII of the Higher Education Act.