Rural Education

Schools in rural areas and small towns face difficult challenges in serving the needs of children and public education. The National Education Association actively supports the development of programs that recognize and deal with the particular needs of students, educators, school employees and communities in the nation's vast rural areas.

Historically, rural schools have offered unique benefits and attributes—for educators, students and communities. Rural and small town schools pioneered many successful education reform tools in widespread use today:

• Peer assistance
• Multi-grade classrooms
• Block scheduling
• Mentoring
• Site-based management
• Cooperative learning

The success of rural education is linked with what makes rural and small town America unique. The size of the communities contributes to the strong connection among rural schools, educators, parents and communities.

Rural Schools Do More with Less

Rural communities depend on their schools to serve many functions beyond their primary mission of educating children. Rural school districts are often the largest single employer in their area and rural schools serve as the social, recreational and cultural foundation of their communities.

But many rural school districts are under funded and some lack a steady revenue stream. Moreover, they are disadvantaged by size as well as geography. For example, when rural districts apply for grants, the resulting funds based on number of students are often too small to accomplish the purpose of the award. One rural district received a technology grant of $800—scarcely enough to buy a single computer.

Rural Educators Play Multiple Roles

Rural education employees also serve many roles in their communities and they, too, face many unique challenges:

• Lower salaries and benefits
• Lack of access to professional development opportunities
• Professional isolation
• Preparation for multiple subjects and grade levels
• Multiple extracurricular duties

Rural Schools Have Special Needs

NEA continues to push for initiatives in Congress that meet the special needs of rural schools and educators.

• Rural schools serve over 40 percent of our nation’s students, but receive only 22 percent of federal education funding. NEA is working with Congressional leaders to alleviate this disparity in funding.
• Some rural districts that count on proceeds from federal timber sales have faced severe cuts due to the drop in timber revenue. NEA worked with federal lawmakers and brought relief to timber-funded schools.
• Rural districts face unique educator recruitment and retention challenges. NEA supported special rural provisions in the Class Size Reduction program.
• The E-Rate, which provides access to telecommunications and technology for schools and libraries at discounted rates, is of particular importance to rural schools dealing with geographic isolation. NEA continues to work with Congress and federal agencies to preserve and strengthen the E-Rate program.

NEA also works with coalitions and other organizations concerned with improving public education in rural America. For more information, select the Other Resources links on this page.