Students' school choices can impact rural districts

In some states, students and parents can choose their school. Due to the size of those rural districts — with enrollments often in the hundreds — these shifting students can have "dramatic" effects, writes Shari Chaney Griffin of the Colorado Springs Gazette.

In Colorado, students are free to go to a school outside their neighborhood so long as there is room and transportation. In the past, students from more urban areas switched to the smaller rural schools, but now some rural districts are gaining students from their rural neighbors, Griffin reports. The loss of students means a loss of funding. For example, the Miami-Yoder district in the Pikes Peak region lost about $1 million in funding since more than 100 students in the district have shifted to other schools each year since 2004-05. The total annual budget of the Miami-Yoder district, which has 338 students, is $3.6 million. (Read more)