Rural
Trust Conference Highlights Advantages of Small Schools and Advocacy Efforts to
Keep Them Open The Rural
School and Community Trust convened its third annual Rural Education Working
Group conference at the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska from April 16
to 18, 2004. A rich array of conference workshops explored issues relevant to
the struggle to keep small, rural schools open and successful in local communities.
Small
Schools Work Accomplished organizers
from West Virginia, Arkansas,
and several other states shared their experiences in trying to shift state policy
in favor of small schools and to obtain adequate and equitable state funding to
support educational opportunity in local communities. Research
by the Rural Trust shows that small schools generate better educational outcomes
for children, especially low-income children, and cost less on a per-graduate
basis. While many state legislators seem to believe that consolidation will save
money, it has not done so in practice. Recently, West Virginia's governor,
Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State of Louisiana announced
policies to keep their existing rural schools open. In Arkansas, advocates successfully
opposed the governor's proposal to consolidate over 2/3rds of the state's more
than 300 school districts. As a result of their partial victory, the state is,
instead, consolidating about 57 of its smallest districts. Ironically, the successful
plaintiff in Arkansas's school funding litigation, Lake
View School District v. State, is among those that the state intends to
consolidate. Litigations and Cost Studies Attorneys and groups
bringing lawsuits that challenge a state school funding system should consider
the benefits of small schools and the threat of consolidation and long bus rides
as they formulate strategies and develop their claims. Also, finance consultants
performing costing-out
studies should consider the extra costs that may be necessary to support local,
rural schools, such as attracting and retaining qualified teachers in rural (and
some urban) communities. Learning for Advocacy Also at the
conference, people with expertise in school funding, message development, NCLB,
and other key topics, as well as students participating in "place-based"
education, provided valuable insights advocates to use in their work. Prepared
by Molly A. Hunter, April 23, 2004
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