Colorado Education Department tries to help rural school districts deal with reforms

Rural school districts often struggle with tight budgets, high numbers of low-income students and a myriad of issues specific to their location. States with a large number of rural districts could take note of a new initiative in Colorado, where the state has created the Rural Education Council to help rural districts address concerns specific to their area.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports creation of the council stems from a Colorado Department of Education study of rural districts. The results are nothing new: Rural schools have small student populations, small numbers of teachers, and low per-pupil revenue. They also face "severe economic constraints, significant population shifts and increased compliance requirements." All Colorado districts are facing new major reforms, and in rural areas incorporation of those reforms is typically led by one administrator. Many rural districts are still trying to implement initiatives from several years ago. Rural administrators also say federal mandates are hard to implement because the federal education department has even less understanding of rural districts than the state department.

The Chieftain reports out of the state's 178 school districts, 142 are rural, but educate only 20 percent of the state's students. The newly formed council consists of 17 members representing a rural region made up of several school districts. They recently met for the first time to "find ways to ease the rural districts’ burdens." (Read more)