Alabama ranks second overall among the 50 states in need of rural education attention and improvement. Contributing to this ranking are high percentages of rural students and rural schools, very high rural poverty, low educational attainment among rural adults, and some of the lowest student test scores and the fifth lowest graduation rates in the country. Schools and districts are large, transportation spending is high relative to instructional spending, and the combination of relatively equitable funding levels and relatively low per pupil instructional expenditures suggests that all of Alabama’s rural schools are insufficiently funded.