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Advocates gathered on Wednesday for a Hill briefing in the Capitol Visitor Center to discuss a much-overlooked facet of education policy, rural education. The event was hosted by the Rural School and Community Trust, and focused on the release of the biennial report Why Rural Matters.

Remarks were made by Congressman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA 5^th District) and a representative of Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office (D-WI). Congressman Thompson shared his views on the “flawed funding” inequities associated with Title I grants, proclaiming that funding should not be determined by a student’s zip code. Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) allocates funds to communities based on density of impoverished students, but Thompson argued that the flawed weighting systems used to determine grantees distributed funds to low-poverty areas. He promoted the concept of “fundamental fairness” and the “All Children are Equal” (ACE) Act, an amendment to ESEA that would change Title I’s funding formula to ensure that high-poverty communities with relatively small student populations would still receive funding.

Following the congressional remarks, Dr. Robert Klein and Dr. Daniel Showalter, both of Ohio University, presented their findings of the report. They discussed the “disturbing realities” of rural education. High transportation costs are very problematic in rural areas due to the vast distance between schools and residencies. Rural mobility (how many students change residencies within the school year) causes more issues for rural schools within the classroom. Klein and Showalter discussed the ranking system and a few of the gauges measured in the report, including student and family diversity, education policy context, educational outcomes, and socioeconomic challenges. The report also featured a new section on early education in rural areas.

Klein and Showalter ended their presentation with a few takeaway messages, emphasizing that the number of rural students in the U.S. is growing; the typical demographics of the “rural student” is changing; the states most in-need remain the same; and based on early education data, substantial intervention is required to avoid a bleak future for rural education.

The event closed with a brief question-and-answer period. Most questions were future-and-policy-oriented, focusing on how the report can be used to influence policy changes. Audience members had many questions concerning whether trends in the report would be used to propose changes to states, especially those with the poorest performance, but the presenters had a better grasp on the specific data rather than its relevance to policy reform.

Adiya Taylor, CER Intern