Federal Programs
With a new administration in the White House that prefers "school-choice” approaches — favoring charter schools and private-school vouchers so parents can opt out of public schools and bring taxpayer dollars with them — the nation’s rural schools are left to wonder about their fate.
Date:
February 19, 2017
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The purpose of the Small, Rural School Achievement grant program is to provide financial assistance to rural districts to assist them in meeting their state's definition of adequate yearly progress (AYP). Applicants do not compete but rather are entitled to funds if they meet basic eligibility requirements.
Regional Education Laboratories (REL) invite practitioners and leaders from rural schools and districts, as well as rural education researchers are invited the attend the Cross-REL full-day event in Nashville, Tennessee.
Date:
May 29, 2016
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In May 2015, Reading is Fundamental (RIF) released the report entitled,
Read for Success: Combating the Summer Learning Slide. The study was designed by RIF to determine how schools and communities in the poorest and/or most rural areas could address summer learning loss, and ultimately the achievement gap, through access to opportunity, books, and learning resources.
Date:
June 09, 2015
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On March 16, 2015, the US Department of Agriculture released the Fiscal Year 2016 Farm to School Grant Applications. The purpose of the USDA Farm to School Grant Program is to assist eligible entities in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools.
Date:
March 26, 2015
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Critical investments in preschool, K-12 and higher education are among the highlights of the Department of Education's 2016 budget request.
Date:
February 22, 2015
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In December the FCC gave E-Rate — the federal program that provides funding to schools and libraries for technology and high-speed internet — a funding increase of $1.5 billion.
Date:
January 28, 2015
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On December 22, 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the availability of more than $15 million for fellowships to train and develop the next generation of scientists who will lead agriculture into the future by solving current and future challenges facing society.
Date:
December 29, 2014
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The federal program that has provided billions to rural timber counties to help support schools and roads received no funding in Congress’s recent funding agreement.
Through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm to School Grant Program, schools are able to incorporate fresh, local food into their school meals and teach students about healthy eating through hands-on experience in their own school gardens as well as nutrition education in the classroom.
Date:
October 29, 2014
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Throughout the United States, GEAR UP programs in rural communities face unique challenges trying to facilitate college readiness and access for low-income, first-generation students, ranging from transportation issues, teacher quality and turnover, and inadequate K-12 resources and rigor to lack of post-secondary education and economic development opportunities.
Date:
October 06, 2014
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School districts still have time to apply to a federal program that allows high-poverty schools to offer free meals to all students.
The Capitol Hill briefing of
Why Rural Matters prompts Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson to call for reforms to Title I funding formulas.
Date:
July 28, 2014
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The Administration's Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposal request recommends the elimination of funding for Impact Aid, Section 8002 (Federal Properties) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Date:
May 09, 2014
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On March 26, 2014, United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced the available funding of $1,019,000 for the Household Water Well System grants for the fiscal year 2014.
Date:
March 26, 2014
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On March 14, 2014, the U.S. Department of Education announced the start of the $134 million 2014 Investing in Innovation (i3) grant competition with the release of the program's invitation for pre-applications for the i3 Development grants (up to $3,000,000 each).
Date:
March 25, 2014
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US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm to School grants help eligible schools improve the health and well-being of their students and connect schools with local farmers, ranchers and food businesses. This grant program provides new economic opportunities to food producers and bring healthy, local offerings into school cafeterias.
Date:
March 23, 2014
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Guidance issued earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights addresses what states and districts should do to ensure equal access to educational resources and opportunities.
Earlier this month President Obama named the first five Promise Zones, including two multi-county rural regions.
Thoughts on what it means to talk about poverty and to address it in very distressed communities.
Date:
December 17, 2013
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The nation’s first rural Promise Neighborhood is entering its third year. In this issue of
RPM we talk with some of its staff and hear about approaches, emerging successes, and opportunities.
Date:
December 17, 2013
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Family engagement is the one of the pillars of the work Partners for Education is building in the Promise Neighborhood. We explore some of the ways the Berea initiative builds relationships across schools and communities.
Date:
December 17, 2013
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Three rural Promise Neighborhood grant recipients offer perspective on the work.
Date:
December 17, 2013
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A national Rural Education Summit spotlights the need for investment in rural communities and schools and some of the rewards those investments bring.
Date:
December 17, 2013
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When the across-the-board federal budget cuts, known as the Sequester, took effect on March 1, 2013, school districts receiving federal Impact Aid experienced an immediate reduction of funds for the 2012-2013 school year, because funding for the Impact Aid Program is used the same school year it is appropriated.
Date:
November 04, 2013
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The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Nationwide Census on Farm to School Activities shows promising results. The census indicates that there were over 38,000 schools with 21 million students serving over $350 million in local food in the 2011-2012 school year.
Date:
October 23, 2013
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On July 30, 2013, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it had finalized the application for the 2013 Race to the Top-District competition, which will provide nearly $120 million to support bold, locally directed improvements in learning and teaching that will directly improve student achievement and educator effectiveness.
While most cuts in federal education spending forced by sequestration — the across-the-board federal spending cuts that went into effect in March — will occur in the 2013–14 school year, states and districts that receive funding through the Secure Rural Schools Act must return a portion of funding already received.
The White House budget for fiscal year 2014 includes a 4.6% increase in discretionary federal education spending, most of which is in pre-kindergarten programs and competitive grants.
President Obama’s proposed fiscal year 2014 budget highlights key education investments in early learning, furthering the K-12 reform agenda, college affordability and quality, school safety and expanded opportunities for both middle- and low-income communities, while protecting formula programs for at-risk populations overall.
Date:
April 10, 2013
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Because most districts have already received their federal funding for the current school year, any impact from the federal sequester would affect the next school year. However, for those school districts which receive
Impact Aid funding, the effects may be more immediate.
The applications for 2013-2014 U.S. Department of Education Washington, DC, and Classroom Teaching Ambassador Fellowship are now available. The application period will close on January 29, 2013.
Arizona must provide instruction for English Language learners until students have tested proficient in all areas.
Among the 124 highly rated pre-applicants for i3 Development grants, ten selected Rural Education as an Absolute Priority.
April 9 is the deadline for
i3 Preapplications for the U.S. Department of Education's 2012 Investing in Innovation grant competition.
Investing in Innovation Development Grant pre-applications must be submitted by April 9, and the deadline to apply to be a peer reviewer has been extended.
The U.S. Department of Education announced the third year of the
Investing in Innovation grant competition for local educational agencies, groups of schools and non-profit organizations to improve student results through innovative practices.
A bill introduced this month in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to alter the Title I formulas that are unfair to students in poorer, smaller school districts.
The deadline to apply for 2011 Investing in Innovation grants is August 2. New guidelines make rural schools one of five Absolute Priorities, and other changes could make the i3 program more responsive to the unique needs of rural students and their schools.
Reviewers with experience in and knowledge about rural education are needed to help rate applications for the federal Inves
ting in Innovation (i3) competitive grant program. Peer reviewer applications will be accepted through July 8.
Rural communities and problems get less attention from resesearchers than other commuities.
A bill that deals with the impact of number weighting in the Title I formulas has been drafted in the U.S. Congress. The Formula Fairness Campaign gains momentum.