Guest Viewpoint: Rural school issues need to be addressed

While the NREA focuses its efforts on rural education issues and NSBA serves the interests of boards of education across the nation, both organizations thrive on teamwork.

The NREA is one of the oldest education organizations in the nation. Founded in 1907 as a division within the National Education Association, it has been seldom in the national spotlight.

This is not the case today. The NREA has embarked on a new, aggressive direction to advance its efforts to preserve, promote, protect, and improve the quality of education in rural America. Colloquially, “the NREA is an old kid, but new on the block.”

The NREA, like NSBA, believes that equitable, accessible, adequately funded educational opportunities for all children -- rural, urban, and suburban -- are fundamental to their quality of life.

The problems we face in rural education today are easily traced to the lack of fairness, accessibility, and adequacy that result from legislation and public policies that do not address the specific needs of rural children and rural schools.

The No Child Left Behind Act is a perfect example of a new dynamic in education -- the rural school legislation syndrome. In many cases, rural schools are being left behind by state and federal legislation.

When NCLB was enacted, Congress targeted perceived problems in urban schools without much forethought to the impact this law would have on rural schools.

No community or neighborhood wants its school identified as “failing.” But NCLB will ultimately cause many effective rural schools to be identified as failing because its regulations set up rural schools, as well as other public schools, to fail.

The goal of universal proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014 as defined and mandated by NCLB is unrealistic, if not impossible, because NCLB is based on high-stakes testing and does not recognize differences among children or different approaches to teaching and learning.

The impact of universal proficiency as defined by NCLB raises three important questions for rural schools: Is there a correlation between an effective rural school and universal proficiency? Can you have an effective rural school without universal proficiency? Can you have universal proficiency without an effective rural school?

NREA’s position papers on rural education issues reveal our concerns about NCLB are similar to NSBA’s.

Both organizations realize NCLB creates philosophical and governance issues that challenge the fundamental rights and privileges rural schools currently enjoy in the name of local control of education.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) also has expressed concerns about NCLB, including the critical issue of states’ rights, the usurpation of state authority, and the failure to provide adequate funding.

The federal government, through NCLB, has elected to leverage 7 percent of the total funding for public education to establish 100 percent control of public education. Based on 2006 budget projections, federal control of public education will continue to increase while the federal percentage of total funding for public education will decrease.

While the U.S. Department of Education has made attempts to help rural schools implement NCLB, most of these efforts have missed the target. The department, for example, failed to identify any rural schools in some predominantly rural states because those schools were included in countywide administrative units.

NCLB is only one of the dilemmas faced by rural schools. Forced school district consolidation, which is happening on a large scale in Arkansas, and adequate funding for rural schools are additional priorities for NREA at the local, state, and national levels.

The problems inherent in NCLB are not mutually exclusive from forced school consolidation. It is possible the requirements in NCLB will mislead or force communities to consolidate many rural school districts to address NCLB issues. Do not be surprised if some effective rural schools are forced to consolidate, yet continue to be listed as failing schools under NCLB.

The NREA believes school consolidation should be a matter of local control. NREA’s Rural School Consolidation Report identifies the following position statements:

• The educational and financial results of state-mandated school district consolidations do not meet legislated expectations.

• There is no “ideal” size for schools or districts.

• “Size” does not guarantee success. Effective schools come in all sizes.

• Smaller districts have higher achievement and better social outcomes.

• The larger a district becomes, the more resources are devoted to secondary or non-essential activities.

• Local school officials should be wary of merging several smaller elementary schools, at least if the goal is improved performance.

• After a school closure, out migration, population decline, and neighborhood deterioration are set in motion, and support for public education diminishes.

• There is no solid foundation for the belief that eliminating school districts will improve education, enhance cost-effectiveness, or promote equality.

• Students from low-income areas have better achievement in small schools.

• School closure or consolidation often has a negative impact on rural communities.

• Small rural schools tend to have lower dropout rates.

• Students in small rural schools often perform better academically, socially, and have a more positive attitude toward school.

• Interpersonal relations among parents, students, teachers, and administrators are more positive in small rural schools.

NREA’s third priority issue is adequate school funding.

Rural educators readily admit educating children is cheaper by the dozen, thus adequacy, not equity of funding, is the real school finance issue for rural school leaders.

Geography, student transportation costs, instructional delivery systems, per-capita instructional costs, technology, and the need to educate children where they live are some of the research questions the NREA plans to address in its efforts to better define adequate funding for rural schools.

Obviously, rural schools face numerous predicaments that will require aggressive leadership and well-thought-out strategies. The NREA, an organization dedicated to rural children, welcomes the challenges.