Leaving Rural Children Behind

Platitudes will not suffice in an educational landscape where challenges are great and resources few.

By Rachel B. Tompkins

When state supreme courts in Arkansas and Tennessee ruled this past fall that their states' school funding systems were inequitable, inadequate, and therefore unconstitutional, they ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in these respective cases: small, rural schools unable to compete in the market for qualified teachers. The courts, in essence, said that students in these states were being left behind long before the "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001 was signed into law by President Bush. Both cases were decided before the regulations for implementing this landmark legislation were published last November. Unfortunately, the law's expectations for school performance raise the bar even higher for small, rural schools—particularly those in financially poor rural districts—that are already struggling to provide an adequate and equitable education for their students.

The No Child Left Behind Act is the latest example of the "one size fits all" education policies that have been so detrimental to the nation's rural schools—nearly one-quarter of the public schools in America. In Arkansas, Tennessee, and many other states, formulas that rely on property wealth to fund schools routinely deprive rural children of the equitable and adequate education they deserve—and that they are guaranteed under most state constitutions. Similarly, state facilities policies, fueled by the "bigger is better" mentality, have deprived hundreds of rural communities across America of their schools through consolidation. Well-intentioned as it may be, the No Child Left Behind Act is yet another blanket solution that threatens America's already-stressed rural schools, and it will undoubtedly leave many rural children behind.

Almost every provision of the act is fraught with risks for rural schools and the more than 8 million children who attend them. Consider, for example, its requirements on teacher quality. The law says that all teachers must be fully certified or licensed, and that there will be no waivers of this requirement on an emergency or provisional basis. In addition, beginning this year, all new teachers hired with federal Title I funds must be "highly qualified," that is, certified in the core subject areas they teach. Even paraprofessionals hired with Title I money will soon face stricter requirements, which include two years of college, a minimum of an associate's degree, or some...