[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 11, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2878-S2880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BAUCUS (for himself, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Begich, Mr. 
        Leahy, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Bennet, 
        Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Franken, and Mr. Conrad):
  S. 946. A bill to establish an Office of Rural Education Policy in 
the Department of Education; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, Mike Mansfield once said, ``Knowledge is 
essential for acceptance and understanding.''
  This statement is all too true for the students and educators 
residing in rural areas. While rural education is becoming an 
increasingly large and important part of the U.S. public school system, 
the unique challenges and circumstances within these rural communities 
are often misunderstood or overlooked. According to the Digest of 
Education Statistics reported annually by the National Center for 
Education Statistics, the number of students attending rural schools 
increased by over 11 percent, from 10.5 million in 2004 to nearly 11.7 
million by 2008. Rural students now comprise almost \1/4\ of the 
Nation's public school enrollment. And nearly one-third of all schools 
in the nation are located in rural areas.
  Rural is also becoming increasingly diverse. According to NCES, the 
increase in rural enrollment between 2004 and 2009 was 
disproportionally among students of color. And in the 2007-2008 school 
year the national average rate of student poverty in rural school 
districts, as measured by the rate of participation in federally 
subsidized meals programs, was almost 40 percent.
  Yet despite the significant percentage enrolled in rural schools, the 
importance of rural education is often obscured by the fact that rural 
students are, naturally, widely-dispersed, located in small, 
geographically isolated school districts. The size, diversity, and 
complexity of rural education support a greater policy focus on the 
unique challenges and solutions for rural education.
  Montana is the fourth largest state by land mass, totaling over 
147,000 square miles. More than half of Montana's 830 schools enroll 
less than 100 students. From Eureka to Ekalaka, from Scobey to Darby, 
these small schools dot the landscape, providing not only a learning 
environment but often a community center.
  Montana's rural communities are doing an excellent job educating 
Montana's next generation. Overall, Montana graduation rates are higher 
than the national average. Montana students taking the National 
Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP, in 2009 scored higher than 
the national average in both reading and math.
  But despite the success of Montana's rural schools, these schools 
face a unique set of challenges that their urban-centric peers may not 
even comprehend. In 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office 
released a report highlighting the needs and distinctive challenges of 
rural schools and districts across this nation.
  For example, rural schools report greater difficulties in recruiting 
and retaining qualified teachers, due to inability to offer competitive 
salaries, geographic isolation, and for some, severe weather. Rural 
districts often have fewer personnel. The district superintendent is 
often also the high school principal. He or she may also be the Title I 
coordinator, math curriculum specialist, and sometimes also the head of 
transportation services! In isolated areas, schools face challenges in 
providing professional development and training for teachers and 
principals. Small rural districts are often located long distances from 
other districts, towns, and universities, drastically reducing 
opportunities to partner or collaborate. Additionally, the long 
distances students must travel between school and home make it more 
difficult to participate in traditional remedial services, mentoring, 
and after school programs.
  I commend the Secretary for efforts he has taken to try to address 
concerns of rural areas. However, these efforts have fallen short, and 
in some cases, even good intentions have created adverse consequences. 
Most recently, the Investing in Innovation, i3, competitive grant 
program provided ``competitive preference points'' for applicants 
serving at least one rural district, in an effort to encourage and 
support rural applicants. However, the department's lack of guidance 
and independent scorers' lack of understanding of rural areas still 
left authentically rural programs at a clear disadvantage. The Rural 
School & Community Trust highlighted in its report Taking Advantage 
that this ``rural preference'' instead had the effect of inducing

[[Page S2879]]

urban applicants to include minimal rural participation merely in order 
to gain the additional scoring points for primarily urban projects.
  I am joined today by my colleague from West Virginia, Senator 
Rockefeller, in introducing the Office of Rural Education Policy Act. 
This bill will establish the Office of Rural Education Policy, housed 
at the Department of Education's Office of Elementary & Secondary 
Education. This office and its director will be tasked with 
coordinating the activities related to rural education and advising the 
Secretary on issues important to rural schools and districts. The 
legislation requires the department to consider the impact of proposed 
rules and regulations on rural education and to produce an annual 
report on the condition of rural education. The Office of Rural 
Education Policy will be tasked with establishing a clearinghouse for 
collecting and disseminating information related to the unique 
challenges of rural areas, as well as the innovative efforts under way 
in rural schools to tackle these challenges.
  The strong list of supporters of this bill further solidifies the 
need for an Office of Rural Education Policy. We have received strong 
support from: American Association of Community Colleges, American 
Association of School Administrators, Alliance for Excellent Education, 
Association of Educational Service Agencies, Center for Rural Affairs, 
Coalition for Community Schools, Council for Opportunity in Education, 
Montana School Board Association, Montana State Superintendents 
Association, Montana Rural Education Association, National Association 
of State Boards of Education, National Association of Development 
Organizations, National Association of Elementary School Principals, 
National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, National Education 
Association, National Congress of American Indians, National Farmers 
Union, National Indian Education Association, National Rural Education 
Association, National Rural Education Advocacy Coalition, National 
School Board Association, Organizations Concerned about Rural 
Education, Public Education Network, Rural School and Community Trust, 
and Save the Children. I want to thank all the supporters of the bill, 
and want to particularly thank the efforts of the Rural School and 
Community Trust for its steadfast commitment to this proposal.
  Mike Mansfield was right. ``Knowledge is essential for acceptance and 
understanding.'' I look forward to working with my colleagues here in 
the Senate to move this legislation, to bring about greater knowledge 
of rural schools and ensure they are both accepted and understood.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 946

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Office of Rural Education 
     Policy Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Secretary of Education has recognized that 
     ``[r]ural schools have unique challenges and benefits'', but 
     a recent report by the Rural School and Community Trust 
     refers to the ``paucity of rural education research in the 
     United States''.
       (2) Rural education is becoming an increasingly large and 
     important part of the United States public school system. 
     According to the Digest of Education Statistics reported 
     annually by the National Center for Education Statistics, the 
     number of students attending rural schools increased by more 
     than 11 percent, from 10,500,000 to nearly 11,700,000, 
     between the 2004-2005 and 2008-2009 school years. The share 
     of the Nation's public school enrollment attending rural 
     schools increased from 21.6 percent to 23.8 percent. In 
     school year 2008-2009, these students attended 31,635 rural 
     schools, nearly one-third of all schools in the United 
     States.
       (3) Despite the overall growth of rural education, rural 
     students represent a demographic minority in all but 3 
     States, according to the National Center for Education 
     Statistics.
       (4) Rural education is becoming increasingly diverse. 
     According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 
     the increase in rural enrollment between the 2004-2005 and 
     2008-2009 school years was disproportionally among students 
     of color. Enrollment of children of color in rural schools 
     increased by 31 percent, and the proportion of students 
     enrolled in rural schools who are children of color increased 
     from 23.0 to 26.5 percent. More than one-third of rural 
     students in 12 States are children of color, according to 
     research by the Rural School and Community Trust (Why Rural 
     Matters 2009).
       (5) Rural education is varied and diverse across the 
     Nation. In school year 2007-2008, the national average rate 
     of student poverty in rural school districts, as measured by 
     the rate of participation in federally subsidized meals 
     programs, was 39.1 percent, but ranged from 9.7 percent in 
     Connecticut to 71.9 percent in New Mexico, according to the 
     National Center for Education Statistics.
       (6) Even policy measures intended to help rural schools can 
     have unintended consequences. In awarding competitive grants 
     under the Investing in Innovation Fund program under section 
     14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
     (Public Law 111-5), the Secretary of Education attempted to 
     encourage and support rural applicants by providing 
     additional points for proposals to serve at least 1 rural 
     local educational agency. But according to research by the 
     Rural School and Community Trust (Taking Advantage, 2010), 
     this ``rural preference'' mainly had the effect of inducing 
     urban applicants to include rural participation merely in 
     order to gain additional scoring points for primarily urban 
     projects.
       (7) Rural schools generally utilize distance education more 
     often for both students and teachers. A fall 2008 survey of 
     public schools by the National Center for Education 
     Statistics found that rural schools were 1\1/2\ times more 
     likely to provide students access for online distance 
     learning than schools in cities. A September 2004 study from 
     the Government Accountability Office reported that rural 
     school districts used distance learning for teacher training 
     more often than non-rural school districts.
       (8) The National Center for Education Statistics reports 
     that base salaries of both the lowest and highest paid 
     teachers are lower in rural schools than any other community 
     type.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to establish an Office of Rural Education Policy in the 
     Department of Education; and
       (2) to provide input to the Secretary of Education 
     regarding the impact of proposed changes in law, regulations, 
     policies, rules, and budgets on rural schools and 
     communities.

     SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF RURAL EDUCATION POLICY.

       (a) In General.--Title II of the Department of Education 
     Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 221. OFFICE OF RURAL EDUCATION POLICY.

       ``(a) In General.--There shall be, in the Office of 
     Elementary and Secondary Education of the Department, an 
     Office of Rural Education Policy (referred to in this section 
     as the `Office').
       ``(b) Director; Duties.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Office shall be headed by a 
     Director, who shall advise the Secretary on the 
     characteristics and needs of rural schools and the effects of 
     current policies and proposed statutory, regulatory, 
     administrative, and budgetary changes on State educational 
     agencies, and local educational agencies, that serve schools 
     with a locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by 
     the Secretary.
       ``(2) Additional duties of the director.--In addition to 
     advising the Secretary with respect to the matters described 
     in paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of Rural 
     Education Policy (referred to in this section as the 
     `Director'), through the Office, shall--
       ``(A) establish and maintain a clearinghouse for collecting 
     and disseminating information on--
       ``(i) teacher and principal recruitment and retention at 
     rural elementary schools and rural secondary schools;
       ``(ii) access to, and implementation and use of, technology 
     and distance learning at such schools;
       ``(iii) rigorous coursework delivery through distance 
     learning at such schools;
       ``(iv) student achievement at such schools, including the 
     achievement of low-income and minority students;
       ``(v) innovative approaches in rural education to increase 
     student achievement;
       ``(vi) higher education and career readiness and secondary 
     school completion of students enrolled in such schools;
       ``(vii) access to, and quality of, early childhood 
     development for children located in rural areas;
       ``(viii) access to, or partnerships with, community-based 
     organizations in rural areas;
       ``(ix) the availability of professional development 
     opportunities for rural teachers and principals;
       ``(x) the availability of Federal and other grants and 
     assistance that are specifically geared or applicable to 
     rural schools; and
       ``(xi) the financing of such schools;
       ``(B) identify innovative research and demonstration 
     projects on topics of importance to rural elementary schools 
     and rural secondary schools, including gaps in such research, 
     and recommend such topics for study by the Institute of 
     Education Sciences and other research agencies;
       ``(C) coordinate the activities within the Department that 
     relate to rural education;
       ``(D) provide information to the Secretary and others in 
     the Department with respect

[[Page S2880]]

     to the activities of other Federal departments and agencies 
     that relate to rural education, including activities relating 
     to rural housing, rural agricultural services, rural 
     transportation, rural economic development, rural career and 
     technical training, rural health care, rural disability 
     services, and rural mental health;
       ``(E) coordinate with the Bureau of Indian Education, the 
     Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior, and 
     the schools administered by such agencies regarding rural 
     education;
       ``(F) provide, directly or through grants, cooperative 
     agreements, or contracts, technical assistance and other 
     activities as necessary to support activities related to 
     improving education in rural areas; and
       ``(G) produce an annual report on the condition of rural 
     education that is delivered to the members of the Education 
     and the Workforce Committee of the House of Representatives 
     and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee of 
     the Senate and published on the Department's website.
       ``(c) Impact Analyses of Rules and Regulations on Rural 
     Schools.--
       ``(1) Proposed rulemaking.--Whenever the Secretary 
     publishes a general notice of proposed rulemaking for any 
     rule or regulation that may have a significant impact on 
     State educational agencies or local educational agencies 
     serving schools with a locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, 
     as determined by the Secretary, the Secretary (acting through 
     the Director) shall prepare and make available for public 
     comment an initial regulatory impact analysis. Such analysis 
     shall describe the impact of the proposed rule or regulation 
     on such State educational agencies and local educational 
     agencies and shall set forth, with respect to such agencies, 
     the matters required under section 603 of title 5, United 
     States Code, to be set forth with respect to small entities. 
     The initial regulatory impact analysis (or a summary) shall 
     be published in the Federal Register at the time of the 
     publication of general notice of proposed rulemaking for the 
     rule or regulation.
       ``(2) Final rule.--Whenever the Secretary promulgates a 
     final version of a rule or regulation with respect to which 
     an initial regulatory impact analysis is required by 
     paragraph (1), the Secretary (acting through the Director) 
     shall prepare a final regulatory impact analysis with respect 
     to the final version of such rule or regulation. Such 
     analysis shall set forth, with respect to State educational 
     agencies and local educational agencies serving schools with 
     a locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the 
     Secretary, the matters required under section 604 of title 5, 
     United States Code, to be set forth with respect to small 
     entities. The Secretary shall make copies of the final 
     regulatory impact analysis available to the public and shall 
     publish, in the Federal Register at the time of publication 
     of the final version of the rule or regulation, a statement 
     describing how a member of the public may obtain a copy of 
     such analysis.
       ``(3) Regulatory flexibility analysis.--If a regulatory 
     flexibility analysis is required by chapter 6 of title 5, 
     United States Code, for a rule or regulation to which this 
     subsection applies, such analysis shall specifically address 
     the impact of the rule or regulation on State educational 
     agencies and local educational agencies serving schools with 
     a locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the 
     Secretary.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--Section 221(c) of the Department of 
     Education Organization Act, as added by subsection (a), shall 
     apply to regulations proposed more than 30 days after the 
     date of enactment of this Act.

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I am proud to join Senator Baucus 
from Montana and my colleagues Senator Begich of Alaska, Senator Bennet 
of Colorado, Senator Franken of Minnesota, Senator Johnson of South 
Dakota, Senator Leahy of Vermont, Senator Sanders of Vermont, and 
Senator Udall of Colorado, in introducing legislation today to 
establish an Office of Rural Education Policy at the Department of 
Education. Senator Baucus's leadership in bringing attention to 
education in our rural areas is remarkable, and I am proud to work with 
him on this increasingly important issue.
  In addition to my colleagues who are cosponsoring this legislation, I 
want to acknowledge the many organizations who have already announced 
their support for it. Their concern for the students living in rural 
America is greatly appreciated. These organizations include American 
Association of Community Colleges, American Association of School 
Administrators, Alliance for Excellent Education, Association of 
Educational Service Agencies, Center for Rural Affairs, Coalition for 
Community Schools, Council for Opportunity in Education, National 
Association of State Boards of Education, National Association of 
Development Organizations, National Association of Elementary School 
Principals, National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, 
National Congress of American Indians, National Education Association, 
National Farmers Union, National Indian Education Association, National 
Rural Education Association, National Rural Education Advocacy 
Coalition, National School Board Association, Organizations Concerned 
about Rural Education, Public Education Network, Rural School and 
Community Trust, and Save the Children.
  We rightly focus quite a bit on education around here--the future 
success of our nation depends upon today's students. Since nearly one 
quarter of the students in America are at rural schools and the share 
of students in rural schools has been increasing, our Nation's success 
depends considerably on success in rural schools. Over half of the 
schools in West Virginia are in rural areas. This legislation will 
create an Office at the Department of Education to make sure the 
programs there are working for students in schools in rural areas.
  Rural schools are not just miniature versions of their urban 
counterparts. They face special challenges and they have unique 
capabilities. Among the challenges faced are shrinking local tax bases, 
recruiting and retaining teachers and principals, limited access to 
advanced courses, and proportionally higher transportation costs. At 
the same time, rural communities, and I am very proud of the 
communities in West Virginia often provide a strong foundation for 
support and improvement. They are leaders in the use of distance 
learning. While smaller schools lack an economy of scale, they often 
profit from this small size and their closeness to community. Parental 
involvement and support is typically high. Rural schools can be very 
innovative, and research on what works in rural schools needs to be 
completed and disseminated.
  The Office of Rural Education Policy is modeled after the successful 
Office of Rural Health Policy at the Department of Health and Human 
Services which Congress established in 1987. The office will be led by 
a director charged with coordinating the activities of the Department 
of Education concerning rural education. It will establish and maintain 
a clearinghouse for issues faced by rural schools, such as teacher and 
principal recruitment and retention; partnerships with community-based 
organizations; and financing of rural schools.
  The office will identify innovative research and demonstration 
projects on rural schools, and recommend research to bridge any gaps. 
It will issue an annual report on the condition of rural education, and 
an analysis of the impact on rural education from proposed regulations 
and other activities will be made public.
  Rural schools have been a part of our national fabric since its very 
beginning. Their students deserve the focus this legislation will 
provide. It has been said that education in rural America is ``too 
large to be ignored but too small and diverse to be highly visible.'' 
We need to establish this office so that it is not ignored and so that 
its successes are made more visible. I urge my colleagues to support 
this bill.
                                 ______