We cannot afford to loose the benefits and identity that come from rural communities in America. Also, we cannot keep under funding and taking away opportunities from 40% of our Nation’s children. How then do we keep the rural communities and not hinder students?
I love that I grew up in a small town where everyone knows you and is looking out for you. People take a genuine interest in you and your education. The first time I learned to count back change was working at the grocery store. I am a fan of the small towns of America. Granted, small towns do have their downsides but I still feel they play an integral part of our society. According to the National Education Association,
“Rural schools serve over 40 percent of our nation’s students, but receive only 22 percent of federal education funding (http://www.nea.org/rural/index.html).”
Why is there so little funding for almost half the students in America?
One of the downsides to rural schools is the lack of opportunities. If you’re lucky, you grow up knowing what debate is (not just yelling at the kid across the room), what it’s like to act, that school offers more than three sports, what it’s like having computers that were built in the current decade, knowing that you can learn another language, and the biggest of all: being prepared for higher education. Out of my graduating class of 24, only two graduated from technical schools and five of us are still on the path to graduating from universities and the two who went to technical schools were prepared for the education by their home lives.
According to the National Education Association:
"Rural schools face formidable challenges in continuing to provide high-quality education. While rural and small town schools have many of the same needs as other schools, they often face different challenges based on their unique characteristics. Approximately 100 small rural public schools close each year; small rural districts are closing at a rate of 80 per year. Funding deficiencies, lack of programs targeted to students with special needs, difficulties in recruitment and retention of teachers, and inadequate facilities are among the challenges facing rural schools(http://www.nea.org/rural/lacpapers-rural.html)."
Some may look at this and think that because of a lack of funding for rural schools, thereby lessening opportunities; it is good that the schools are closing because the students will then attend a school that is better (a "survival of the fittest" for schools). The problem is that by closing rural schools and having students go to larger schools the students loose something.
Some may say that places such as my home state, South Dakota, have the right idea. The state government has made Senate Bill 157 law, which forces schools with fewer than 100 students to consolidate by June 30th, 2009 or the state will choose what to do with them. The solution here is to close several schools and force students to go to another school district (which for the majority of South Dakotans means another county). The impact that this could have is bad for the community that is loosing the school along with the families who will move closer to their new school district.
I do not believe several consolidations of schools is the answer. Instead of replacing numerous smaller communities with a small number of large communities, we should work to preserve the good attributes of smaller communities in the teaching of children about good social behavior and diminish the faults of fewer opportunities due to under funding.
"Rural schools tend to be smaller in size than their suburban or urban counterparts, with smaller class sizes and more interaction among faculty, students, and parents. Rural school districts are often the largest single employer in their area and rural schools serve as the social, recreational, and cultural foundation of their communities. Smaller classes and greater community involvement have resulted in higher average student achievement scores, higher graduation rates, and greater involvement in extracurricular activities among rural students. In addition, rural communities have launched a number of annovative strategies that have promise for all schools – including cooperative learning, site-based management, multi-grade classrooms, resource consolidation, regional consortia, distance education, community involvement, and cross-disciplinary course work and teaching(http://www.nea.org/rural/lacpapers-rural.html)."
When rural schools close and students are forced to move to another school, parents usually must move to the new town. With the migration of so many families out of a rural community business is lost and the economy of the community may drop dramatically.
The problem of fewer opportunities and under funding for rural schools needs to be fought on a few different fronts:
1. Parents need to take an active role in their children’s education (working with teachers, sponsoring events, volunteering for extra-curricular activities).
2. The local community needs to also be active in student’s education (volunteering, supporting events and programs financially and with their time, ets…)
3. Statewide support of all schools.
4. Our nation needs to act on giving the proper funding to schools (the people, not the government).
5. The Government needs to financially support the education system as a whole (not allow only 22% of funding to go to 40% of our nation’s children). Children ought to have equal opportunities to learn.
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