Trump plan takes second shot at ending rural schools program Congress created to address resource gaps

Classroom at Velva Public Schools, which educates 
roughly 450 students. (Velva Public Schools photo)

The Trump administration is pushing to end the Rural Education Achievement Program by rolling the money into a $2 billion block grant. But rural schools rely on REAP to fill the funding gaps for "tutoring, afterschool and technology needs," reports Linda Jacobson for The74. Smaller school district leaders say the funding "is vital."

REAP was created by Congress to help rural schools meet the same educational standards that bigger public schools must adhere to, even though rural areas have fewer services and resources for helping students reach those strict benchmarks.

Monty Mayer, the superintendent of the Velva Public Schools in North Dakota, which serves nearly 450 students across two schools, told The74, "Money rolled into a block grant would be swallowed up by the bigger schools as their needs are much greater than ours. [That would leave] “small rural schools looking to find answers in different places without a clear picture as to where those resources would come from.”

When Education Secretary Linda McMahon gave her testimony to the Senate appropriations committee in late April, she "faced several questions from both Democrats and Republicans about the future of the program. She suggested that REAP was underutilized," Jacobson writes. McMahon testified that rural schools don't apply for REAP dollars because they lack grant writers and grant writing expertise.

Rural education experts don't agree with McMahon. They claim Congress designed REAP to be flexible because rural schools lack grant writing staff and expertise. "States or districts don’t write grant proposals for the funding, said Steven Johnson, superintendent of the Fort Ransom Public School District, which operates one elementary school in southeast North Dakota," Jacobson reports. "Districts eligible for the funds, based on size and location, receive an invitation to apply. And most do, Johnson said."

During her testimony, McMahon also said that REAP funds weren't "giving the returns that we hope to see for rural schools." McMahon did not cite the evidence or measurement standards that informed her statement.

This is the second time the administration has pitched the block grant proposal. Last year, "Congress ultimately rejected it." Jacobson reports. "With the appropriations process likely to drag out for months, it’s unclear whether lawmakers will be more receptive this year."