NEA on Rural Education: Reauthorize the Forest County and Schools Program

NEA supports legislation that would reauthorize the Forest County and Schools Program.

• In the late 1990s, many rural, timber-dependent communities were experiencing dramatic reductions in federal forest land revenues due to significant decreases in federal timber sales. Payments to many rural forest schools had dropped to less than 10 percent of their historic levels. Consequently, many forest communities faced devastating losses of education funding, leading to reductions in teaching staff and other education personnel, elimination of extracurricular programs, cancellation of school meals programs, and postponement of desperately needed building repairs. 

• In 2000, Congress created the Forest County and Schools Program to ensure a predictable payment to federally impacted forest counties, regardless of the level of timber sales. This formula effectively removed education funding from dependence on timber sales.

• The program has been an enormous success. More than 4,400 rural schools receive funds under the program.

• The Forest County and Schools Program has restored programs for students in rural schools and prevented the closure of numerous isolated rural schools. It has been a primary funding mechanism to provide rural school students with educational opportunities comparable to suburban and urban students.

• NEA supports legislation to reauthorize the program.

I need more info:

• Issue Overview: Forest County and Schools Program
• Letters to Congress

Letters to Congress

• Letter to the Senate in support of the tax extender bill (S. 3335), 7/30/08
• Letter to the Senate urging them to VOTE YES on CLOTURE on the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049), 6/16/08
• Letter to the Senate on the 2008 supplemental appropriations bill that deal with domestic spending, 5/22/08
• Letter urging House Appropriations Committee Chairman Obey to provide funding for rural schools, 4/28/08
• Letter urging the House Appropriations Committee to provide funding for rural schools, 4/7/08
• Letter to the House on the energy bill, which includes a critical provision on Secure Rural Schools, 12/5/07
• Letter to the House Natural Resources Committee for mark-up of forest county schools legislation, 9/26/07
• Letter to four primary sponsors (Senators Conrad and Collins and Representatives Pomeroy and Kuhl) on the REAP reauthorization bill, 9/24/07
• Letter to Senators Kennedy and Enzi on the Rural Education Achievement Program, 8/16/07
• Letter to the House Natural Resources Committee on the Secure Rural Schools Act, 7/25/07
• Letter to to Chairman Obey urging inclusion of language in the emergency supplemental conference report to reauthorize and fully fund the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, 4/17/07
• Letter to the Committee on Appropriations asking for funding for Forest County and Schools Program and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in the emergency supplemental, 3/1/07
• Letter to the House of Representatives in support of reauthorization/funding of forest county and schools program, 1/26/07
• Letter to Speaker Pelosi and Representatives Obey, Boehner and Lewis (Jerry) urging reauthorization and funding for forest county schools program, 1/18/07