[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 20, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60382-60383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27442]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2017-OCO-0139]


Request for Information on Obtaining Input From Rural Schools and 
Local Educational Agencies

AGENCY: Office of Communications and Outreach, Department of Education.

ACTION: Request for information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 5005 of the Every Student Succeeds 
Act (ESSA), the Secretary seeks information from the public regarding 
actions the Department of Education (Department) can take to improve 
how it considers the unique needs of rural schools and local 
educational agencies (LEAs) as it develops and implements its policies 
and programs. The Secretary intends to use this information in issuing 
a final report, required under section 5005, describing the actions it 
will take to increase the consideration and participation of rural 
schools and LEAs in the development and execution of the Department's 
processes, procedures, policies, and regulations.

DATES: We must receive your comments no later than February 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, hand delivery, or email. To 
ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, please submit your 
comments only once. In addition, please include the Docket ID at the 
top of your comments.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit 
your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, 
including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting 
comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under the 
``Help'' tab.
    Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, Hand Delivery, or Email: The 
Department encourages commenters to submit their comments through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. However, if you mail or deliver your 
comments in response to this request, address them to Michael 
Chamberlain, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 
5E260, Washington, DC 20202. If you email your comments, send them to 
[email protected].
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the

[[Page 60383]]

Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Therefore, 
commenters should be careful to include in their comments only 
information that they wish to make publicly available.

    Note: This is a request for information (RFI) only. This RFI is 
not a request for proposals (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP or a 
notice inviting applications. This RFI does not commit the 
Department to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. 
Further, the Department is not seeking proposals and will not accept 
unsolicited proposals. The Department will not pay for any 
information or administrative costs that you may incur in responding 
to this RFI. If you do not respond to this RFI, you may still apply 
for future contracts and grants. The documents and information 
submitted in response to this RFI become the property of the U.S. 
Government and will not be returned.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Chamberlain, U.S. Department 
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 5E260, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 453-7527 or by email: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf or a text 
telephone, call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-877-
8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: Section 5005 of the ESSA (Pub. L. 114-95), which was 
enacted on December 10, 2015, requires the Department to: ``review the 
organization, structure, and process and procedures of the Department 
of Education for administering its programs and developing policy and 
regulations, in order to--
    (A) assess the methods and manner through which, and the extent to 
which, the Department of Education takes into account, considers input 
from, and addresses the unique needs and characteristics of rural 
schools and rural local educational agencies; and
    (B) determine actions that the Department of Education can take to 
meaningfully increase the consideration and participation of rural 
schools and rural local educational agencies in the development and 
execution of the processes, procedures, policies, and regulations of 
the Department of Education.''
    Section 5005 also requires the Department to publish a preliminary 
report containing the information described above and provide Congress 
and the public with 60 days to comment on the proposed actions. 
Thereafter, the Department must issue a final report to the 
Department's authorizing committees in the U.S. House of 
Representatives and Senate and carry out each action described in the 
final report or explain to the authorizing committees the reason for 
not carrying out any action described in the final report.
    Request for Information: Since the passage of the ESSA, the 
Department has been engaging in the required review and report, 
including conducting listening sessions on issues facing rural schools 
and LEAs and ways the Department can address those issues. The 
Department has published the preliminary report on its website at: 
https://blog.ed.gov/2017/12/public-comment-sought-report-obtaining-input-rural-schools-local-educational-agencies. It gives a brief 
overview of how the Department is organized and describes how the 
Department solicited and incorporated input from rural stakeholders as 
it developed the preliminary report. Additionally, the report explains 
the processes we currently use to incorporate the rural perspective 
into our policies and procedures, including processes we have recently 
implemented in response to stakeholder input, and describes additional 
proposed actions we can take.
    While we invite comment on the entire report, we particularly 
encourage comment on the proposed actions, as described in the section 
of the report titled ``Additional Actions the Department Can Take to 
Increase Rural Stakeholder Input.'' Specifically, we request feedback 
on whether:
    1. The actions described in the preliminary report will 
meaningfully increase the consideration and participation of rural 
schools and LEAs in the development and execution of the Department's 
processes, procedures, policies, and regulations; and
    2. There are other actions the Department can take to achieve this 
goal.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free 
internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the 
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site, you can view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF, you 
must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: December 15, 2017.
Betsy DeVos,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2017-27442 Filed 12-19-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P