[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 14, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE IMPORTANCE OF RURAL EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL BARRETT

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 14, 2000

  Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Rural 
Caucus, I would like to share my strong support for one of the most 
vibrant sectors of rural America--our rural schools. Out in my part of 
the country, schools, along with churches, are at the heart of a 
community. And, rural administrators, teachers, and school boards 
should be commended for the educational opportunities they work to 
offer rural school students.
  Rural schools offer students the types of educational experiences we 
hope all students can have--small classes, quality basic academic 
programs, personal relationships with teachers and administrators, 
hands-on vocational education opportunities, and the chance to 
participate in a variety of quality extracurricular activities. In 
fact, more than 20 percent of students in this country attend small, 
rural schools. Rural schools in my district have done an exceptional 
job maximizing learning opportunities for their students by investing 
in distance learning technology, forming educational service units to 
offer special education and gifted and talented programs, and holding 
themselves accountable, not only to the federal government and to the 
state, but, most importantly, to parents.
  When I consider excellent rural schools in my district, several 
examples come to mind. For instance, I think of the one-room 
Kindergarten through 6th grade Macon School in the tiny village of 
Macon, Nebraska, where students receive one-on-one attention in basic 
academic areas and the arts. From the first grade on, every student at 
the Macon School receives individual piano lessons from their teacher, 
Mrs. Johnson; writes plays, songs, and poems; and performs original 
programs to packed houses of family and friends. There aren't too many 
one-room schools left, but the Macon School is an example of how tiny 
rural schools can offer their students more enriching experiences than 
larger schools may be able to offer.
  Rural schools also work together to keep their standards high. 
Schools like Franklin and Hildreth, Nebraska, have invested in state-
of-the-art distance learning facilities so foreign language, advanced 
math, and other advanced courses can be available to all students, 
regardless of the size of their school or the distance between the 
teacher and the students. This year, these schools banded together to 
hire an exchange teacher, Cristina Bermejo, from Spain to teach 
Spanish. This teacher is physically located in the Franklin school, but 
her courses are beamed via two-way audio-video connection to Hildreth.
  Because of their size and location, many schools in our rural areas 
are able to reach out to underserved and at-risk populations, like the 
Santee School in Santee, Nebraska. Led by a dedicated superintendent, 
Chuck Squire, the Santee School works to empower children from the 
Santee tribe and helps them gain the skills they need for the 21st 
Century workplace.
  These are just a few examples of the high quality educational 
experiences students in rural school districts benefit. But, while 
there are certainly many benefits to rural education, there are also 
some real challenges facing rural schools. One is the difficulty of 
attracting teachers to work in far-flung school districts, especially 
in fields like foreign language, music, advanced math, and science. 
Recently, many schools in Nebraska have started offering signing 
bonuses to draw teachers to their schools.
  In addition to staffing issues, federal funding formulas have not 
addressed the unique funding needs of these districts. The problem is 
that not all schools are created equal. Bigger schools have an 
advantage when it comes to attracting federal funds and resources. By 
their very nature, small, rural schools have their own strong points, 
as I have mentioned, but they struggle, nearly always, for needed 
funding. All current federal education formula grants unintentionally 
ignore small, rural schools by not producing enough revenue for rural 
schools to carry out the program the grant is intended to fund. To 
address this problem, together with Mr. Pomeroy, I introduced a bill, 
H.R. 2725, the Rural Education Initiative Act, which was later 
incorporated into the reauthorization package for the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and passed by the House last October.
  This program is completely optional, but if a school district chooses 
to participate, the rural provisions will allow a small, rural school 
district with fewer than 600 students and located in a community with a 
Beale Code of 6, 7, 8, or 9 (the Beale Code is a measure used by the 
USDA to determine ruralness) to combine its federal education dollars 
in selected programs.
  Small schools qualifying for this program would have the option to 
apply for a flexible lump-sum in place of funds from federal education 
formula grants. While federal education formula grants normally include 
strict rules for how they must be used, schools receiving the lump-sum 
grant could make their own decisions about how to use the money. For 
example, they could use the money to support local education and to 
improve student achievement or the quality of instruction. In exchange 
for this flexibility, school districts would have to meet high 
accountability standards.
  When I've been in my congressional district, I have heard from many 
rural school administrators who have told me that this particular 
provision will help them serve their students even better. They can't 
wait for this provision to become law so rural America's students will 
be able to benefit from the same types of programs as their urban and 
suburban counterparts.
  This provision has broad bipartisan support and more than 80 
endorsements from education organizations across the country. It 
provides a commonsense approach to using federal dollars in the way 
Congress intended--to insure that all students, regardless of their 
background, have the opportunity to receive a high quality education.
  As the ESEA reauthorization efforts continue during this session of 
Congress, I look forward to helping this provision and others designed 
to strengthen rural school districts become law. I am pleased that the 
Rural Caucus is taking a step forward to highlight some of the issues 
facing rural America, including rural education.

                          ____________________