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 Rural Policy Activists Gather in Arkansas Rural education activists from more than 25 states met in early March in Hot Springs, Arkansas to share their challenges and experiences in the effort to improve rural schools at a meeting of the Rural Education Working Group sponsored by the Rural School and Community Trust. Grassroots rural education advocates from across the country shared the challenges facing rural schools. Of these, lack of school funds, threat of consolidation, teacher quality and retention, and the implications of the No Child Left Behind Act on rural schools were the most frequently cited challenges. Workshops offered practical tools and advice for influencing school policy at the state level to improve rural schools. Those dealing with the threat of consolidation heard from Linda Martin, executive director of Challenge West Virginia, whose state has had record numbers of school consolidations in recent years. "People say there are two good reasons for consolidation: to save money and to broaden the curriculum. In truth, with consolidation, you end up with neither," said Martin. Due to massive consolidations, school children in West Virginia have the longest bus rides in the country, with many children leaving for school and returning from school in the dark. "Consolidation means long bus rides -- and this destroys the fabric of a community," she said. The impact of No Child Left Behind on recruiting and retaining teachers was also a key issue for attendees. Milford Smith, co-executive director of the Nebraska Coalition for Educational Equity and Adequacy, cited the problems in his home state, Nebraska, as an example of how the law will affect rural schools. "No Child Left Behind will force schools to hire additional teachers. This is a problem for us since Nebraska is increasingly losing teachers to other states due to low salaries." Participants also shared victories in their own communities such as getting a new teacher position in a rural school in Tennessee and defeating a bond issue in West Virginia that would result in closing the community's high school Rural education activists left the meeting re-energized and ready to go home with a renewed commitment to improving rural schools in their communities. "It is always good to know you are not alone," said one participant.
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