Vermont, a primarily rural state, appears to have figured out what baffles many others: an equitable education funding system, according to a new report.

"An Evaluation of Vermont's Education Finance System," a draft report released in January and requested by the state's legislature, found there's virtually no relationship between wealth (as determined by property or income) and education spending levels.

That's a pretty significant finding, considering equitable funding systems seem to be the exception rather than the norm. We've reported on how rural schools nationwide are fighting state funding formulas that advocates say are designed to their disadvantage.

In Vermont, the system is a relatively new one. The state's Supreme Court ruled in 1997 in Brigham v. State of Vermont that the way it funded education was unconstitutional because it created unequal opportunities by tying local school funding to local property wealth.

The state passed new laws in 1997 and again in 2004, Act 60 and Act 68, respectively, to fund its schools in a way that no other state does. Here's how the state's report describes that system: "Local towns and districts annually determine the spending level for their schools, and the state—through a complex system of property and income taxes and other state sources of revenue—funds the schools in a manner designed to treat taxpayers choosing the same level of spending for the students in their schools equally regardless of their location across the state."

(If you want a more detailed explanation of what that means, the Rural School and Community Trust does a great job of explaining the details).

Still, the state's wealthier towns have been fighting this system for years, so lawmakers hired a well-known California school financing consulting firm, Lawrence O. Picus and Associates, to see whether the system was doing what it was supposed to do, according to the Rural Trust.

Their report acknowledged valid concerns raised in communities statewide, but said "none of those issues are so serious that the state needs to completely replace its approach to funding schools." Instead, the report said each concern should be considered carefully by lawmakers, who should consider modifications.

The report noted the state's scores rank in the top 10 nationally on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and that its students have one of highest levels of per-pupil funding in the country and one of the lowest ratios of pupils to teachers.

The Burlington Free Press ran a story last month about the report that gives some in-state officials' reactions to the report.

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Proposed cuts to school bus transportation that would've crippled California's rural districts likely won't happen this year, but they're still a possibility in the near future.

An EdWeek story published online on Monday reported that lawmakers agreed to restore $248 million in home-to-school transportation funding for the remainder of the year. But next year's proposed budget still includes those bus cuts, and the decision to preserve the funding now could come at a bigger cost later.

We've been following the proposed transportation cuts as the state grapples with a $9.2 billion deficit. The new legislation, which Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign, would restore the transportation funds, but take money from the general fund schools receive. That means all schools would lose about the same per student, roughly $45.

The EdWeek story notes some districts would end up losing more per student than they would have with the bus cuts, but others would lose less.

An Associated Press story on the same issue focused more on rural districts, but it still wasn't clear what the across-the-board cut would mean for rural schools. What is clear is that rural students have to travel the farthest to get to and from school, and that's why bus transportation is so critical.

Rural schools had been making preparations for the bus cuts. The Associated Press article mentions tiny Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District, in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, where the school board was considering charging parents a fee for busing. Other small districts were considering online learning and expanding independent study programs for students who couldn't make it to school.

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Rural schools struggle to provide mental health services to students, and nearly half of the counselors in a recent study said less than 25 percent of their students received adequate counseling services.

That's one of seven main conclusions from a study published in the December 2011 issue of the Research in Higher Education Journal, "Assessing mental health needs of rural schools in South Texas: Counselors' perspectives," by Steve F. Bain, Breeze Rueda, Jennifer Mata-Villarreal, and Marie-Anne Mundy, all from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Researchers focused on the mental health resource needs of rural schools in Texas, and they surveyed 27 school counselors in the South Texas and Coastal Bend areas to assess the availability of those services. Their funding came from the South Texas Expansion Program for Hispanic Graduate Students Project, and they hope to use the findings to figure out future strategies for improving those resources.

The study referenced prior research that said depression, substance abuse, and suicide rates among adults and children were higher in rural areas, and that school counselors play a critical role in providing mental health services to students.

Their other six key conclusions included:
• The need for mental health resources were unaffected by a school's size or the counselor's ethnicity.
• Mental health services should target Hispanic families because a majority of the school population was Hispanic.
• Most counselors said the community had few resources, and students families were unaware of those.
• Lack of knowledge about available mental health resources and accessibility were the top factors preventing families from receiving mental health services for their children.
• The majority of counselors reported feelings of burnout and frustration.
• The overwhelming majority of the counselors felt they needed more staff development related to mental health training, and a graduate counseling intern would benefit counselors and students.

Researchers noted the survey focused on 15 rural counties, so the findings aren't intended to be applied to more populated areas. They also suggested redefining rural to mean more than population and geography; it may need to consider the availability of services.

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Test scores are rising, graduation rates are improving, and enrollment is growing in one rural Arkansas school district that received a $50 million private pledge to give students college tuition.

This apparent fairytale started five years ago in El Dorado, Ark., a city of roughly 19,000 residents in the southern part of the state near the Louisiana border. The Murphy Oil Corporation, which is headquartered in El Dorado, promised in January 2007 to give $50 million to El Dorado Public Schools graduates so they could have the opportunity to earn a college degree without the burden of tuition.

A new report about the program, the El Dorado Promise, describes the progress that's been made since then. Nearly 1,000 students have received the scholarship funding, which is based on how long they're enrolled in El Dorado schools. Anyone who attended all 13 years receives 100 percent of the available funds, and that's based on the maximum cost of an Arkansas public university. This year, that came out to $7,180.

To stay eligible for the money, college students have to: be making progress toward a bachelor's or associate's degree, maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average, enroll in at least 12 credit hours per semester, and complete at least 24 credit hours each academic year.

The motivation of a free college education appears to be having an effect on some students. More students are taking Advanced Placement courses, and a higher percentage of students are earning passing scores on those exams, according to the El Dorado Promise report. And the now seventh-grade students who were in third-grade when the grant was announced are doing better than a comparison group of similar students (based on test scores, income level and geography).

The district's dropout rate also has improved; it was higher than the state average in 2006-07, but it's fallen to below the state average now. And its graduation rate has increased, although the report didn't give exact figures on how much.

Even the school district's enrollment is growing. Like most districts in southern Arkansas, El Dorado had seen its student population shrinking every year. But when the scholarship program was announced, that changed. Enrollment is up by about 150 students to 4,581, compared to one independent study that estimated the district would've lost 200 students by now.

Not surprisingly, college enrollment rates are also up. Sixty percent of students enrolled in college before the scholarship program, and that's increased to 81 percent this past fall.

The report didn't discuss the college completion rates for students who received the scholarship, or the percentage of students who returned to the community after earning a degree. We'd be interested in seeing both. More than 20 percent of recipients go to SouthArk Community College in El Dorado, and both enrollment and degrees awarded there have increased.

All that said, the numbers show this El Dorado Promise is making a difference.

I'm wondering whether other private companies have made similar investments, and whether they've seen similar results. Is dangling a free college education to students incentive enough to change a school district? Time will tell.

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Rural education ended up being one of a relatively small number of areas that will see more federal funding under the budget compromise Congress reached in December.

Noelle Ellerson, assistant director of policy analysis and advocacy for the American Association of School Administrators, said rural education did well in terms of funding for the Rural Education Achievement Program. REAP initiatives are "designed to help rural districts that may lack the personnel and resources to compete effectively for federal competitive grants and that often receive grant allocations in amounts that are too small to be effective in meeting their intended purposes," according to the program's Web site.

REAP programs received $174.5 million in fiscal year 2011, and, even with the across-the-board federal cut, those programs will get $179.2 million in this fiscal year. That's an increase of about $4.7 million.

"Any increase in rural funding is significant, at least symbolically, because it represents a commitment to rural education funding that has been surprisingly void (especially in the context of Race to the Top and even Investing in Innovation," Emerson said. The increase "isn't as large as we would perhaps advocate for, but given that REAP hasn't received an increase in the last few years, this is a good step."

The fiscal 2012 budget technically began in October 2011. (The department's overall budget stayed about the same at $68 billion.)

If you're interested in other areas that will see more or less money, my EdWeek colleagues have done a nice job of explaining that.

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An estimated $18 million would go to 40 of Alaska's rural, struggling schools in a settlement hashed out last week in an eight-year-old lawsuit.

Plaintiffs argued in Moore vs. State of Alaska that the state failed to meet its constitutional obligation to provide students an adequate education. A judge still must approve the agreement, and the state legislature would have to appropriate the funds.

According to an article in The Juneau Empire, in Juneau, Alaska, the rural schools involved would receive money to help retain teachers and offer an extra year or two of kindergarten. The story does a nice job explaining the case and giving local reaction.

This is the second time in the last year Alaska has agreed to settle an education-related lawsuit. The Kasayulie vs. State of Alaska case was settled in October, ending a 14-year battle about whether the state neglected to consistently fund grants for rural school construction. The state promised to replace or repair schools in five remote villages at an estimated cost of $146 million.

Rural Texas District Shuts Down Sports

Pigs might be flying in south Texas. One of the state's rural districts is planning to end its high school sports program to save money—and its schools.

This Wall Street Journal article is worth a read. As reporter Ann Zimmerman writes, "In sports-mad Texas, where Friday-night football is nearly as sacred as Sunday morning church services, one rural school district is taking the once-unthinkable step of shutting down its high-school sports program."

The state has threatened to close Premont Independent School District, where test scores are low and truancy is high. Budget cuts aren't helping, either. The story describes how the town (grudgingly) is getting behind the superintendent's proposal. It's a drastic move, for sure, but the district had few options. And, as one resident says in the article, "The school is the heart of the town."

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Rural schools should develop foundations for two reasons: They need the money, and foundations will help counteract the capital flight devastating rural America, says one rural school advocate.

Gary Funk speaks from experience. He's the former president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, a group that's been successful in growing resources for rural schools in the Missouri Ozarks, and now he's head of the new Center for Midwestern Initiatives. The center, a project of the Rural School and Community Trust, is building on the work of the Community Foundation and trying to reach more schools in more states. It's currently working with schools and small towns in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

"As is well documented, a great number of rural districts are under-funded, and a working rural school foundation can serve as a much-needed supplemental funding source," Funk says. "However, perhaps of greater value, is a community-driven rural school foundation can become an excellent vehicle to combat the inheritance drain, or capital flight, where estates and other forms of capital have historically out-flowed from small towns and rural places."

Funk wants to give rural schools more information on what they need to establish foundations, and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and the new Center for Midwestern Initiatives have collaborated to develop a toolkit that does exactly that.

Here's what they've put together:

• First, the Center for Midwestern Initiatives has dedicated a portion of its Web site to this issue. It includes examples of successful foundations across the Midwest, and Funk said its blog gives readers an opportunity to share their stories.

• Second, the partners have developed a booklet, Building Rural School Foundations, that provides action steps for establishing a rural school foundation. It also has a donors' guide on how to make contributions. The booklets are available upon request by e-mailing cmi@ruraledu.org or by calling (417) 848-9083. The booklet is free for those who want a few copies, but large orders would have a fee. (Funk said that's to cover costs, not produce revenue. He sees this as a public service).

• Finally, they've produced a film, "Hats, Pies, and Fiddles," that's available on the center's Web site. The 10-minute video talks about how three small-town foundations in Arkansas and Missouri created a school-centered philanthropy.

We'll try to feature some of these successful, small town foundations on the blog in the future. If you know of any that aren't on the Web site (or on the center's radar), let me know!

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It's a simple, three-minute video featuring four rural National Board Certified teachers, but their messages are clear.

An entry posted Tuesday on Homeroom, the official blog of the U.S. Department of Education, features short interviews with rural educators on the challenges they face every day. Four teachers who hail from Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, and Wisconsin filmed the video while visiting Washington for a White House celebration of their accomplishment—earning board certification, the teaching profession's highest credential.

The teachers talked about problems common in rural schools. The first, April Gosselink, from Central Iowa Christian School in Grinnell, Iowa, discusses a lack of technology, and how teachers must take it upon themselves to find the funding they need. The second, Marjorie Manuel from Bastrop High School in Bastrop, La., talks about the challenge of teacher retention; her school has had at least five teachers quit this school year.

"It's easy to just go to another county and get probably one half more than what you're earning right now," she says. "Sometimes, the only thing that is making you stick to this job and to this county is loyalty."

The third, Marta Yedinak from Waupun High School in Waupun, Wisc., describes a lack of funding, and how rural schools' elective courses are the first to go when cuts are made. The final teacher interviewed, Jenny Lovering from Columbia Falls High in Columbia Falls, Mont., explains how students must leave their communities for higher education, and she sees it as her job to prepare them to succeed at the next level so they can come back and help their hometowns.

The blog entry also promotes the department's "Plan to Reform Teacher Education," which is supposed to keep the public informed about efforts to elevate the teaching profession.

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Purposeful field trips can be a good way of helping at-risk rural high school students connect the classroom to the real world, according to a new study.

"Describing Connections between Science Content and Future Careers: Implementing Texas Curriculum for Rural At-Risk High School Students Using Purposefully-Designed Field Trips" was published in the fall issue of The Rural Educator, the peer-reviewed professional publication of the National Rural Education Association. It doesn't appear to be online yet.

Authors Tommye Hutson of Baylor University, Susan Cooper, of the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, and Tony Talbert, of Baylor University, did the study in Texas, where some high school science courses require students to be able to link the content they're learning with future jobs or training. It's called an "essential knowledge" component.

They looked at a pool of 37 seniors in a small, rural central Texas high school, and they ended up with four students who qualified for participation. All of them had been identified by the school as at-risk for not graduating on time—they ranked in the bottom half of their graduating class, qualified for free- or reduced-price lunches, and none of their parents had higher education training or degrees. Also, none of the students could make the kind of classroom to real world connections required by the state.

The study involved a career-focused field trip to a nearby vocational training center, and students spent more than four hours touring the site and talking with instructors. Researchers relied on students' school records, surveys, field notes, and post-field trip interviews for their data.

They found each student was able to articulate the essential knowledge component after the field trip. The study described a few of the instances when students made that connection, such as during the diesel mechanics program tour. The faculty member guiding them explained the need for physics equations and metrics conversions, both of which were covered in students' chemistry and physics classes. One student said: "When we walked into that one classroom with the formulas on the board ... it looked just like the equations from the physics class at schools."

All of the student participants planned to enroll in career training or college before the field trip, and they agreed afterward that field trips such as this one should be a part of science and other academic courses.

Researchers recommended further study on using field trips in K-12 settings.

"The overall positive results of this study, from describing connections to increased awareness as well as expanded awareness of other programs and opportunities, would indicate that field trips should be further studied as effective pedagogy in rural high school science classes," the study stated. "If this is indeed an effective option for 'at-risk' rural high school students, field trips may represent an effective pedagogy for all high school students across the curriculum because they may all be 'at-risk' to some degree."

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Here's a couple of rural education stories that you might be interested in reading.

Calif. Bus Cuts Hurting Rural Schools
We reported last month about the funding cuts to school transportation in California and how rural school leaders said their districts would be among the hardest hit.

An in-depth story by California Watch, a group of journalists dedicated to investigative reporting, does a nice job of describing how rural schools are dealing with this hardship. They report one district, Southern Humboldt Unified in Miranda, Calif., already has sent layoff notices to its 11 bus drivers, while another school is looking at tapping into a deferred maintenance fund it had been saving for five years.

"If we don't have transportation, we don't have school," said Tina Bennett, the superintendent of Forks of Salmon Elementary in tiny Forks of Salmon, Calif., according to the story. Bennett also serves as its principal, first-through-third-grade teacher and bus driver.

If you're interested in reading more coverage, check out a guest editorial by one small community's Chamber of Commerce executive director, or this story in The Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif., that details how rural schools in its coverage area are faring.

West Va. Turnaround Effort Receives Financial Boost, Flexibility
We told you in December about Reconnecting McDowell, a collaboration of private and public partners who are trying to turn around one of the country's worst rural schools, McDowell County in West Va.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced last week that Save the Children will receive $1 million to work with students and their families on early childhood and literacy programs, and the school district also will be a pilot project site where officials will have more flexibility from regulations to make needed improvements.

Other new developments include funding to install water lines to homes (housing shortages make teacher recruitment difficult) and a $100,000 for online learning projects. We'll keep you posted.

Rural Kansas Districts Brace For Baby Boomer Exodus
This final story in The Hutchinson News in Hutchinson, Kan., talks about officials expecting large numbers of teachers to retire soon, and how the remaining vacancies will be more attractive in metropolitan areas than rural ones. Why? Well, the pay difference, for starters. Urban teachers can make nearly $20,000 more than those in rural areas, according to the story. But that's not the only problem.

"It is difficult to attract teachers because of our rural setting—especially when we are competing for fewer people," said one superintendent in the article. "A beginning teacher, if they are going to come to this area, would rather go to Hutch or Wichita. In the near future we'll face the dilemma of how to recruit and get people into our district."

It would seem to reason that the same story could play out in rural communities nationwide. Stay tuned.

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