Rural Matters

We wanted to know more about the rural school districts that serve high poverty communities so first we statistically rounded up the 7604 districts nationwide that have over half their students in a school that is physically located in a rural community. Then we identified the 800 – about 10 percent -- that have the highest rate of eligibility for the federal Title I program. That is the program providing funds for disadvantaged students. We’ll call these 800 high-poverty rural districts the "rural 800."

Continue reading to find out more about these districts and to see a chart of the 16 states where most Rural 800 districts are located.

Continue reading "The "Rural 800" Districts" »

Posted by Marty Strange at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley’s proposed budget calls for increases in the state’s More at Four preschool program, raises for teachers, and online courses. It also includes increases in the Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund (DSSF), created largely in response to the Leandro court decision. DSSF is allocated to districts serving at-risk students defined as those from low-income families, or those who live in single-parent houses or have at least one parent with less than a high school diploma.

Posted by Robin Lambert at 01:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is likely to be a quiet year for education in the North Carolina legislature, primarily because education got a good bit of money last year and other pressing needs, such as mental health, loom large. Last year the state fully funded, for the first time, the low wealth fund that provides additional monies for designated low-wealth school districts; in addition, the state provided $50 million for the Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund (DSSF), which provides additional funding for low-income students. There is likely to be a push this year to add money to the DSSF. The influential non-profit group the Public School Forum issued a report that the state is neglecting high-achieving students and calls for the establishment of mini-high schools of math and science.

Posted by Robin Lambert at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)