Citizen Groups Outline Rural Education Policy Needs in Ohio 2/14/2003
From: Dick Fisher of the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools, 740-593-4414 Debbie Phillips of Community and School Connection, 740-590-1371 ATHENS, Ohio, Feb. 14 -- Reacting to a major report on rural education released this week by the Rural School and Community Trust, two Ohio-based organizations, the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools and Rural Action focus on the needs of rural schools in Ohio. The report outlined findings of the importance and urgency of rural schools throughout the US, with specific information about issues in each state. In Ohio, the researchers found: -- Nearly one-third (30.1 percent) of Ohio's schools are in rural areas -- One-quarter of its students go to school in rural communities -- Ohio's rural population (more than 2.5 million) is larger than that of all but three other states -- Schools are fairly large, -- The student-to-teacher ratio of 18.2 is the 3rd highest in the nation. -- Rural teachers earn 13 percent less ($35,187) than other Ohio teachers, -- Only 52 percent of teachers believe parents support their work. "These factors combine to make rural education important in Ohio and in urgent need of policy attention," says Marty Strange, policy director of the Rural Trust and one of the report's authors. "Many policies for schools are set at the state level, and this often leads to rules that fail to take into consideration the needs of different kinds of school districts," said Dick Fisher, of the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools (CORAS). "One example is the overall funding system. After 12 years of litigation, our system of funding education is still unconstitutional because it relies so heavily on local property taxes. The DeRolph lawsuit began in rural Ohio precisely because our children are often shortchanged under the current system. CORAS did the initial research showing the inequities in the funding system, because our experience as rural superintendents led us to believe that something was seriously wrong with the system." Debbie Phillips, of the Community and School Connection project of Rural Action pointed out another example of a policy that negatively impacts rural schools. "The '350 rule' of the Ohio School Facilities Commission limits state building funds to schools with a minimum of 350 students. The intent of the rule-to keep costs down as the State tries to repair decades of neglect of its school buildings-is a good one. But in rural areas, the effect is that many schools are being closed and students bussed long distances to a single campus. There are many well-documented effects of school size, with smaller schools having better academic results, better overall climate, more parent participation, and more extracurricular participation. One size does NOT fit all, and inflexible policies that ignore research will only hurt children and leave more of them behind." Both organizations call on policymakers to keep Ohio's rural students in mind as the State works to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind requirements and the latest ruling of the Ohio Supreme Court which found that Ohio's funding of public K-12 education is still seriously flawed. ------ For members of the media, copies of the complete report, "Why Rural Matters" can be obtained from Rural Trust by calling Garfield Gardner at 202-955-7177 or by downloading the PDF file from the website www.ruraledu.org |