“Breaking the Fall: Cushioning the Impact of Rural Declining Enrollment” is available from the Rural School and Community Trust.
Local and state governments can establish policies to help rural schools survive and serve students more effectively in states and regions where K-12 school enrollment is declining, concludes a report.
Produced by the Arlington, Va.-based Rural School and Community Trust, a nonprofit organization that advocates for rural schools and communities, the report says K-12 enrollment is falling in some states in the Northeast, Midwest, and Great Plains. The report identifies 20 state and local education policies that can help sustain small, rural schools even as enrollment drops.