A bill to establish an Office of Rural Education Policy in the Department of Education.

Summary: Office of Rural Education Policy Act - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish an Office of Rural Education Policy (Office) in the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Requires the Office to be headed by a Director who advises the Secretary of Education on the characteristics and needs of rural schools, and the effects current policies and proposed statutory, regulatory, administrative, and budgetary changes have on states and local educational agencies (LEAs) that serve such schools.

Requires the Director to: (1) establish and maintain a clearinghouse for collecting and disseminating certain information on rural education; (2) identify innovative research and demonstration projects on topics of importance to rural schools; (3) coordinate rural education activities within the Department; (4) inform the Department of other federal agency activities related to rural education; (5) coordinate its activities with Indian schools and the Department of the Interior's responsibilities regarding such schools; (6) provide technical assistance and other support for rural education improvement efforts; and (7) produce an annual report, for Congress and the public, on the condition of rural education.

Requires the Director to prepare regulatory impact analyses of the Secretary's proposed and final rules that may have a significant impact on states or LEAs that serve rural schools.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Office of Rural Education Policy 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Secretary of Education has recognized that 
        ``[r]ural schools have unique challenges and benefits'', but a 
        recent report by the Rural School and Community Trust refers to 
        the ``paucity of rural education research in the United 
        States''.
            (2) Rural education is becoming an increasingly large and 
        important part of the United States public school system. 
        According to the Digest of Education Statistics reported 
        annually by the National Center for Education Statistics, the 
        number of students attending rural schools increased by more 
        than 11 percent, from 10,500,000 to nearly 11,700,000, between 
        the 2004-2005 and 2008-2009 school years. The share of the 
        Nation's public school enrollment attending rural schools 
        increased from 21.6 percent to 23.8 percent. In school year 
        2008-2009, these students attended 31,635 rural schools, nearly 
        one-third of all schools in the United States.
            (3) Despite the overall growth of rural education, rural 
        students represent a demographic minority in all but 3 States, 
        according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
            (4) Rural education is becoming increasingly diverse. 
        According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the 
        increase in rural enrollment between the 2004-2005 and 2008-
        2009 school years was disproportionally among students of 
        color. Enrollment of children of color in rural schools 
        increased by 31 percent, and the proportion of students 
        enrolled in rural schools who are children of color increased 
        from 23.0 to 26.5 percent. More than one-third of rural 
        students in 12 States are children of color, according to 
        research by the Rural School and Community Trust (Why Rural 
        Matters 2009).
            (5) Rural education is varied and diverse across the 
        Nation. In school year 2007-2008, the national average rate of 
        student poverty in rural school districts, as measured by the 
        rate of participation in federally subsidized meals programs, 
        was 39.1 percent, but ranged from 9.7 percent in Connecticut to 
        71.9 percent in New Mexico, according to the National Center 
        for Education Statistics.
            (6) Even policy measures intended to help rural schools can 
        have unintended consequences. In awarding competitive grants 
        under the Investing in Innovation Fund program under section 
        14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
        (Public Law 111-5), the Secretary of Education attempted to 
        encourage and support rural applicants by providing additional 
        points for proposals to serve at least 1 rural local 
        educational agency. But according to research by the Rural 
        School and Community Trust (Taking Advantage, 2010), this 
        ``rural preference'' mainly had the effect of inducing urban 
        applicants to include rural participation merely in order to 
        gain additional scoring points for primarily urban projects.
            (7) Rural schools generally utilize distance education more 
        often for both students and teachers. A fall 2008 survey of 
        public schools by the National Center for Education Statistics 
        found that rural schools were 1\1/2\ times more likely to 
        provide students access for online distance learning than 
        schools in cities. A September 2004 study from the Government 
        Accountability Office reported that rural school districts used 
        distance learning for teacher training more often than non-
        rural school districts.
            (8) The National Center for Education Statistics reports 
        that base salaries of both the lowest and highest paid teachers 
        are lower in rural schools than any other community type.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to establish an Office of Rural Education Policy in the 
        Department of Education; and
            (2) to provide input to the Secretary of Education 
        regarding the impact of proposed changes in law, regulations, 
        policies, rules, and budgets on rural schools and communities.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF RURAL EDUCATION POLICY.

    (a) In General.--Title II of the Department of Education 
Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 221. OFFICE OF RURAL EDUCATION POLICY.

    ``(a) In General.--There shall be, in the Office of Elementary and 
Secondary Education of the Department, an Office of Rural Education 
Policy (referred to in this section as the `Office').
    ``(b) Director; Duties.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Office shall be headed by a 
        Director, who shall advise the Secretary on the characteristics 
        and needs of rural schools and the effects of current policies 
        and proposed statutory, regulatory, administrative, and 
        budgetary changes on State educational agencies, and local 
        educational agencies, that serve schools with a locale code of 
        32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Additional duties of the director.--In addition to 
        advising the Secretary with respect to the matters described in 
        paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of Rural Education 
        Policy (referred to in this section as the `Director'), through 
        the Office, shall--
                    ``(A) establish and maintain a clearinghouse for 
                collecting and disseminating information on--
                            ``(i) teacher and principal recruitment and 
                        retention at rural elementary schools and rural 
                        secondary schools;
                            ``(ii) access to, and implementation and 
                        use of, technology and distance learning at 
                        such schools;
                            ``(iii) rigorous coursework delivery 
                        through distance learning at such schools;
                            ``(iv) student achievement at such schools, 
                        including the achievement of low-income and 
                        minority students;
                            ``(v) innovative approaches in rural 
                        education to increase student achievement;
                            ``(vi) higher education and career 
                        readiness and secondary school completion of 
                        students enrolled in such schools;
                            ``(vii) access to, and quality of, early 
                        childhood development for children located in 
                        rural areas;
                            ``(viii) access to, or partnerships with, 
                        community-based organizations in rural areas;
                            ``(ix) the availability of professional 
                        development opportunities for rural teachers 
                        and principals;
                            ``(x) the availability of Federal and other 
                        grants and assistance that are specifically 
                        geared or applicable to rural schools; and
                            ``(xi) the financing of such schools;
                    ``(B) identify innovative research and 
                demonstration projects on topics of importance to rural 
                elementary schools and rural secondary schools, 
                including gaps in such research, and recommend such 
                topics for study by the Institute of Education Sciences 
                and other research agencies;
                    ``(C) coordinate the activities within the 
                Department that relate to rural education;
                    ``(D) provide information to the Secretary and 
                others in the Department with respect to the activities 
                of other Federal departments and agencies that relate 
                to rural education, including activities relating to 
                rural housing, rural agricultural services, rural 
                transportation, rural economic development, rural 
                career and technical training, rural health care, rural 
                disability services, and rural mental health;
                    ``(E) coordinate with the Bureau of Indian 
                Education, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department 
                of the Interior, and the schools administered by such 
                agencies regarding rural education;
                    ``(F) provide, directly or through grants, 
                cooperative agreements, or contracts, technical 
                assistance and other activities as necessary to support 
                activities related to improving education in rural 
                areas; and
                    ``(G) produce an annual report on the condition of 
                rural education that is delivered to the members of the 
                Education and the Workforce Committee of the House of 
                Representatives and the Health, Education, Labor, and 
                Pensions Committee of the Senate and published on the 
                Department's Web site.
    ``(c) Impact Analyses of Rules and Regulations on Rural Schools.--
            ``(1) Proposed rulemaking.--Whenever the Secretary 
        publishes a general notice of proposed rulemaking for any rule 
        or regulation that may have a significant impact on State 
        educational agencies or local educational agencies serving 
        schools with a locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as 
        determined by the Secretary, the Secretary (acting through the 
        Director) shall prepare and make available for public comment 
        an initial regulatory impact analysis. Such analysis shall 
        describe the impact of the proposed rule or regulation on such 
        State educational agencies and local educational agencies and 
        shall set forth, with respect to such agencies, the matters 
        required under section 603 of title 5, United States Code, to 
        be set forth with respect to small entities. The initial 
        regulatory impact analysis (or a summary) shall be published in 
        the Federal Register at the time of the publication of general 
        notice of proposed rulemaking for the rule or regulation.
            ``(2) Final rule.--Whenever the Secretary promulgates a 
        final version of a rule or regulation with respect to which an 
        initial regulatory impact analysis is required by paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary (acting through the Director) shall prepare 
        a final regulatory impact analysis with respect to the final 
        version of such rule or regulation. Such analysis shall set 
        forth, with respect to State educational agencies and local 
        educational agencies serving schools with a locale code of 32, 
        33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the Secretary, the matters 
        required under section 604 of title 5, United States Code, to 
        be set forth with respect to small entities. The Secretary 
        shall make copies of the final regulatory impact analysis 
        available to the public and shall publish, in the Federal 
        Register at the time of publication of the final version of the 
        rule or regulation, a statement describing how a member of the 
        public may obtain a copy of such analysis.
            ``(3) Regulatory flexibility analysis.--If a regulatory 
        flexibility analysis is required by chapter 6 of title 5, 
        United States Code, for a rule or regulation to which this 
        subsection applies, such analysis shall specifically address 
        the impact of the rule or regulation on State educational 
        agencies and local educational agencies serving schools with a 
        locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the 
        Secretary.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 221(c) of the Department of Education 
Organization Act, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to 
regulations proposed more than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act.