Arkansas ranks 14th overall among the 50 states in need of rural education attention and improvement. Contributing to this ranking are some of the highest rural poverty rates in the U.S., low educational attainment among rural adults, and low test scores and graduation rates. Only four states spend less on salaries for instructional staff. The combination of equity in the distribution of educational funding and overall low levels of spending on instruction suggests that all of the state’s rural schools are inadequately funded.