Federal data show that many school districts in the Midwest, West, and Great Plains will be given extra years to meet teacher-quality requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act. Most rural districts in those states meet the definition of “rural” cited in the regulations. In contrast, most rural and small-town districts in the Southeast will not receive the extension. Here’s a sampling of how different states are affected by the regulations.
West/Midwest | Extension-Eligible Districts | Ineligible Districts |
Illinois | 276 | 28 |
Iowa | 164 | 0 |
Kansas | 164 | 8 |
Michigan | 138 | 20 |
Minnesota | 134 | 4 |
Missouri | 255 | 82 |
Montana | 375 | 17 |
Nebraska | 440 | 0 |
North Dakota | 186 | 2 |
Ohio | 45 | 36 |
Oklahoma | 348 | 130 |
South Dakota | 135 | 1 |
Texas | 523 | 106 |
Wisconsin | 129 | 3 |
Southeast | ||
Alabama | 0 | 58 |
Florida | 1 | 23 |
Georgia | 8 | 87 |
Kentucky | 10 | 74 |
Louisiana | 4 | 38 |
Mississippi | 8 | 98 |
North Carolina | 27 | 42 |
South Carolina | 0 | 29 |
Tennessee | 3 | 43 |
Virginia | 4 | 17 |
West Virginia | 1 | 36 |
SOURCE: Rural School and Community Trust, with data from the U.S. Department of Education