California ranks 26th overall among the 50 states in need of rural education attention and improvement. Although only 7% of California’s public school students attend rural schools, the number of rural students (441,471) is more than all but three other states. The state’s rural schools serve a diverse student population, with the nation’s second largest minority student population and more than one in five students learning English as a second language. Instructional expenditures per pupil are below the national average, and the distribution of school funding is inequitable. California’s rural scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and graduation rates are among the lowest in the nation.