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Rural schools have unique challenges and benefits, and we value the input of 

rural school leaders as we work together to improve education for all children. 

 —Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

A lmost half of all school districts and one-third of all public schools are located 

in rural areas. These schools serve almost 20 percent of the nation’s students. 

Rural schools have unique needs and face unique challenges. Many struggle 

to recruit and retain effective teachers, provide access to a well-rounded education, and 

offer a diverse array of courses. Our Blueprint for Reform considers the specific needs of 

rural schools and aims to support them in preparing students for success in college and 

careers. 

Our proposal will ensure rural schools receive 

needed funding.

▶ Dedicated formula funding. We will continue the dedicated Rural Education 

Achievement Program (REAP) to ensure that rural districts receive additional 

formula funds to support their schools, and we will maintain other critical 

formula programs serving disadvantaged children, students with disabilities, 

Native American students, and migrant children.

Supporting Rural Schools

Supporting Rural Schools
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▶ Level playing field in competitions. Our proposal will ensure that rural 

communities can be successful in competitive programs by giving priorities to 

rural initiatives and improving technical assistance and support to rural areas. 

Grants are awarded based on the strength of the proposal. 

▶ Greater flexibility with funds. We will expand the flexibility under the REAP 

program to include rural, low-income districts so that all REAP-eligible districts 

can use funds flexibly to meet their needs.

Our proposal will improve teaching in rural 

schools.

▶ Improve the teaching corps. We will provide $3.9 billion in funding to help 

recruit, prepare, and retain effective educators, including in rural and other highneed schools. Rural schools may use these funds to address teacher shortages in 

mathematics, science, special education, and other subjects.

▶ Change teacher quality rules so they work better for rural schools. The proposal 

will make it easier for teachers to teach multiple subjects by defining teacher 

quality not exclusively on paper credentials but also on how well a teacher 

performs in the classroom. This will help rural schools keep effective teachers in 

the classrooms in which they’re needed most.
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Our proposal will offer flexibility and accountability. 

▶ Flexibility in interventions. We will provide districts flexibility for designing 

interventions in schools that are not meeting their performance targets, giving rural 

communities the ability to decide what works best for their schools. The proposal 

eliminates federal mandates to provide supplemental educational services and 

public school choice—interventions that are difficult for many rural communities 

to provide.  

▶ Cuts red tape. The proposal will consolidate federal competitive funding streams—

while increasing overall funding levels—so that rural districts will have less red 

tape and fewer compliance requirements and more flexibility around applying for 

federal funds.

▶ Turnaround options. The “transformation” model for turning around chronically 

underperforming schools was developed with input from stakeholders from rural 

communities to make sure that these communities have the ability to turn around 

their struggling schools. It gives rural districts an option that works for them and 

will deliver the dramatic change students need in a small percentage of schools.  

Our proposal will support the unique needs of 

rural schools and communities.

▶ Technology. We will promote the use of technology to improve instruction 

across our programs, including supporting states and districts in developing and 

delivering content through the proposed Effective Teaching and Learning for a 

Complete Education programs, and supporting districts in offering students online 

learning opportunities through the proposed Promoting Public School Choice 

program.

▶ School and community collaboration. The proposal provides $1.8 billion for 

schools and communities to work together to support student success, recognizing 

that this is a shared responsibility.  Under the new Successful, Safe and Healthy 

Students program and the strengthened 21st-Century Community Learning 

Centers program, districts will be given the flexibility to design a variety of 

programs for such resources as afterschool and community supports, based on their 

local needs. 

▶ Autonomous public schools. Rural districts that feel that charter schools aren’t 

the right approach for them but that still want to pursue innovative school models 

will be eligible for funding through the proposed Supporting Effective Charter 

Schools program. The proposal will allow innovative, autonomous public schools 

within districts to compete for funding from the program, creating high-quality 

educational options for students in rural areas.

This publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced in whole or in part. It 

comprises proposals from A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act, U.S. Department of Education, March 2010. To read the full 

text, visit www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint. For more information, go to www.ed.gov 

or call 1-800-USA-LEARN.

July 2010
 The Department of Education’s mission is to promote student 

achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering 

educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

www.ed.gov