SUPPORTING RURAL EDUCATION

More than half of all school districts and about one-third of all public schools are located in rural 

areas. These schools serve approximately 20 percent of the nation’s students. Rural schools have 

unique needs and face unique challenges. They may have difficulty recruiting and retaining effective 

teachers and providing access to a rigorous, well-rounded education – particularly in remote areas. 

The President’s 2013 budget request and Blueprint for Reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

Act (ESEA) consider the specific needs of rural schools and aim to support them in preparing 

students for success in college and careers. 

 $179 million in dedicated formula funding to improve rural education. The budget 

maintains funds for the Rural Education Achievement program (REAP) to ensure that rural 

districts receive extra formula funds to support their schools. It also maintains other critical 

formula programs that support schools in rural areas and elsewhere, including College- and 

Career-Ready Students (formerly Title I), Effective Teachers and Leaders State Grants, the 

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act formula programs, Indian Education, and Migrant 

Education.

 Excellent Instructional Teams programs ($2.9 billion). This significant investment will

support efforts to recruit, prepare, and retain effective educators, including in rural and other 

high-need schools. These efforts may focus on math, science, special education, and other 

subjects where rural schools have teacher shortages. We will also make it easier for teachers to 

teach multiple subjects by defining teacher quality not exclusively based on paper credentials, but 

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

classrooms in which they are needed most. 

 Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education program ($427 million). 

Funds will promote improved instruction based on college- and career-ready standards in 

literacy; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and other subjects including through 

the use of technology to deliver content. Funds could support rural districts that use distance 

education to expand access for students to a well-rounded education.

 School and community collaboration ($1.4 billion). Our proposal supports schools and 

communities working together on their shared responsibility to support student success. Under 

the Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students program, the Promise Neighborhoods program, and 

the strengthened 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, districts and communitybased organizations will have the flexibility to design a variety of projects based on their specific 

local needs. This flexibility will enable rural communities to implement programs that increase 

or expand learning time and community supports that address the unique challenges rural 

schools face. 
 School Turnaround Grants ($534 million). Funds will continue to support subgrants from 

States to districts to help low-performing schools implement rigorous interventions that bring

about dramatic improvements in student achievement and school performance. Rural schools 

received almost one-quarter of the over 1,200 subgrants awarded by States under this program in 

fiscal year 2009 (despite constituting one-fifth of eligible schools), and in fiscal year 2010, 

preliminary data from 37 States and the District of Columbia show that rural schools received 

nearly 20 percent of subgrants.

 Increased flexibility in the use of funds. Under the new accountability system, the 

reauthorized ESEA will offer greater local flexibility in designing interventions in schools that 

are not meeting their performance targets, so that rural communities will be able to decide what 

works best for their schools.