Some rural schools getting less federal money because of change in how poverty-based funds are distributed

Hundreds of school districts are receiving significantly less federal funding this year because of a change in how the U.S. Department of Education distributes funds for a rural schools program based on poverty, Daarel Burnette reports for Education Week.

"In years past, the department distributed a part of the Rural Education Achievement Program funds for poor communities based on the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch, which is often used as a proxy for low-income families," Burnette reports. "The department this year is using U.S. Census Bureau data on families in poverty . . . which doesn't necessarily capture the same set of families. Several states in recent weeks have received letters from the department notifying them of the change and that they will get less money they did than last year."

Rural schools in Maine, for example, are expected to lose $1.2 million in federal funding because of the change—a 75 percent drop, Rachel Ohm reports for the Portland Press Herald.

Congress created the REAP fund in the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act to help rural districts that don't have the time or expertise to compete for federal grants. But "there's a long-standing debate among policymakers about what's the best indicator to determine how poor a district's student body is," Burnette reports. "That debate has flared again in recent years as more districts started qualifying all their students free and/or reduced price lunch as part of an effort to expand the meal program."