Rural Arkansans Bring National Attention to Post Office Closures

Arkansas’s Rural Community Alliance has helped communities across the state fight back against proposals to close their post offices. In the process, the organization has garnered national attention and brought a rural perspective to this important nationwide issue.
Date: January 27, 2012
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Community Development, Community Organizing


School Discipline Update: Maine Bill Would Prevent Expulsion Without Reentry Plan

Schools would not be allowed to expel students unless they have a plan to help students get back in school.
Date: January 27, 2012
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Discipline


Vermont School Funding System Works

Vermont’s school funding system, which is unusual among states, provides funding levels that are equitable across districts and limits school property taxes to a percentage of household income.
Date: January 27, 2012
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Rural School Funding News, School Finance/Funding


Vermont's Most Unusual, Most Equitable School Funding System in a Nutshell

Vermont’s school funding system works to ensure strong educational opportunity for students across the state, no matter where they live. RPM explains how the system works.
Date: January 27, 2012
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Rural School Funding News, School Finance/Funding


California's Frontal Assault on Rural Schools

Rural schools could bear the brunt of a proposal to end all funding for school transportation in California.
Date: January 27, 2012
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Rural School Funding News, School Finance/Funding, School Location


Desegregation/Funding Decision in Arkansas

A U.S. Circuit Court has reversed a lower court ruling ending state payments to support desegregation efforts in three Arkansas school system.


Why Rural Matters 2011-12: Statistical Indicators of the Condition of Rural Education in the 50 States

WhyRural Matters 2011-12Why Rural Matters 2011–12 is the sixth in a series of biennial reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the need for policymakers to address rural education issues in their respective states.


Montana Cites Rural Nature in Rationale for Declining NCLB Waivers

Most states have indicated they plan to apply in February for waivers of many No Child Left Behind provisions, but Montana announced this month that it sees the waiver provisions as inappropriate to state conditions.
Date: December 30, 2011
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Federal Education Policy, No Child Left Behind, School Location


Colorado Coalition Wins Major Victory in School Finance Suit

Schools in Colorado have won a school finance lawsuit, and the judge made important observations about the importance of sufficient funding, facilities and opportunity for student achievement.
Date: December 30, 2011
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Facilities, Rural School Funding News, School Finance/Funding


Leonore Annenberg Winner Innovates with Technology

Owsley County Elementary School, a 2010 winner of the Leonore Annenberg School Fund Grant, uses iPods and iPads to support learning, expose students to cutting edge technology, and continue learning when school is cancelled for snow.
Date: November 29, 2011
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Elementary School, Income Related Issues, Technology


Alabama Judge Finds Rural Discrimination in School Funding But No Legal Basis to Rule for Plaintiffs

In a landmark case, a federal district court acknowledges the discriminatory nature of Alabama’s tax system on rural schools and their students, but finds no legal basis on which to sustain the plaintiffs’ challenge.
Date: November 29, 2011
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Income Related Issues, School Finance/Funding


Alabama Immigration Law Draws More Federal Scrutiny

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking for information from Alabama school districts about the enrollment of English Language Learners, and the state’s Attorney General is claiming the Department has no authority with regard to schools.
Date: November 29, 2011
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: English Language Learners (ELL)


Additional Texas Funding Lawsuits Filed

Not just one, but two lawsuits have been filed challenging the school funding system in Texas.
Date: November 29, 2011
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Rural School Funding News, School Finance/Funding, School Location


Studies Recommend Funding Changes in New Mexico

Two reports recently released in New Mexico recommend changing to the state finance system. But the reports present very different analyses of the problems and offer very different remedies.


Colorado Voters Reject Tax Increase for Schools

An effort in Colorado to raise taxes for schools has failed by a substantial margin.
Date: November 29, 2011
Related Categories: In Local News, Rural Policy Matters
Related Tags: Rural School Funding News, School Finance/Funding