More than one in five US kids attends rural schools

June 27, 2024 9:13 AM

This money is an absolute lifeline,” said Jaime Green, superintendent of Trinity Alps Unified in Trinity County, where more than 70% of the land is owned by the U.S. Forest Service. “If it doesn’t get renewed, thousands of people in rural communities will lose their jobs, thousands of children will be harmed. It’s mind boggling to me that we’re in this position. The Secure Rural Schools program, [see USFS payment history] which brings extra money to counties with large swaths of untaxable public land, faces an uncertain future in Congress as it awaits renewal. Despite bipartisan support, the program has yet to pass on its own or as part a larger funding bill. If it doesn’t pass, it will expire.

An interview with the Director of the Rural Schools Collaborative, Taylor McCabe-Juhnke:

"In many rural communities, public schools are the largest employers, and, often, these schools are the last vestige of public infrastructure that engages the people of a given community. Therefore, the role of the teacher in a small town is often outsized. We believe that rural America is approaching a very tough intersection—a crossroads where the undermining of public institutions meets what is a very real rural teacher shortage."

The National Rural Education Association is proud to release Why Rural Matters 2023: Centering Equity and Opportunity — the 10th in a series of reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states [and source of post-title statistic.]

There are many faces of rural: from remote Indigenous reservations in the West, to small towns in the Great Plains and Midwest, to the Mississippi Delta and Southern “Black Belt,” to Appalachia and New England. Rural can look different in each state: a town of a few thousand people, or tiny communities located several hours or even days from the nearest city, as is the case in parts of Alaska. Meeting the needs of nearly 10 million children is a challenge and an obligation that demands and deserves collective attention across the United States. Fulfilling that obligation requires educators, policymakers, caregivers, students, citizens, and employers to deepen our understanding of rural education issues and to move beyond simplistic and often harmful notions about rural schools and their communities.

posted by to wound the autumnal city (5 comments total)

the role of the teacher in a small town is often outsized
this reminded me of another thread previously mentioning "Harlan County, particularly those in two small Appalachian coal towns, Lynch and Benham."
posted by HearHere at 9:31 AM on June 27

I grew up in a small town, and my mom was a teacher. The school district was also the largest single employer, and the only one that paid a decent salary. My district did not have large amounts of public land, so I don't think we got any of this money, but it was 65% subsidized by the richer and larger school districts.

The teachers we got were a mix of lifers and rookies straight out of college, and 65%/45% brand new grads, probably part of some program (IDK I was a kid), which I always liked, because you can get jaded teaching and new grads were always willing to try new stuff and they were young enough to seem like 'us' rather than 'old'.

I thought my education was fine in a rural school, and my kids go to a giant school, so there are differences, mostly in the amount of extra-curriculars you get to do. I acted, played sports, band, academic competitions, etc, because if almost everyone didn't, then it had to be dropped.

Also at my kids' school, for sports and academics, they really lean on private tutoring for extra-curriculars and sports, where as our coaches and teachers literally taught us how to play or act. I prefer the rural way there. IMO it built up comraderie vs playing up class distinctions.

I know in many states across the US, the charter/'school choice' nonsense trend is growing, and rural schools used to be a wall against that, but it's starting to fracture as political affiliation allegiances comes at the expense of education. That's a dreary future if it finally succeeds.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:25 PM on June 27 [2 favorites]

I know in many states across the US, the charter/'school choice' nonsense trend is growing, and rural schools used to be a wall against that, but it's starting to fracture as political affiliation allegiances comes at the expense of education.

That's certainly true here in Alaska. Back in March, our governor vetoed the state school funding bill because it did not include measures he wanted to make it easier to organize charter schools. His administration did not have an alternative they preferred ready to go in the wings, they just vetoed school funding right before the end of the legislative session.

As of late May, as the end of the school year approached, the situation remained unresolved, resulting in the school district where I live (~2100 students) having to issue around 50 layoff notices before the end of the school year, as without the state contribution to funding the school district doesn't have enough in the budget next year to fully staff the schools. They announced at the time of the layoff notices that they expected they would be able to rescind most of them if/when the state reached a funding plan, but it's no way to run a system if you want to keep your best staff.

(This is the same governor, incidentally, whose career before politics was as a school administrator, back when Alaska schools were pretty well funded. Consequently he enjoys, in addition to his gubernatorial salary, a generous lifetime retirement pension and benefits that are no longer available to current teachers joining the system.)
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:07 PM on June 27 [5 favorites]

The US system of having local governments fund schools via property taxes is so incredibly fucked up.
posted by Literaryhero at 1:22 PM on June 27 [7 favorites]

Nerd of the North, the report from the Fairbanks chamber of commerce meeting this week was that someone asked the governor straight out if he was going to veto the school funding that’s in the budget, and he said he wasn’t. We’ll see if that’s what actually happens.
posted by leahwrenn at 3:40 PM on June 27