We’ve all heard it before. Education is important.
From as far back as the days of Plato and Aristotle, education has been recognized as crucial to the moral fulfillment of individuals and the well-being of the society in which they live. More recent studies have proven the link between education and active citizenship, better overall health, enhanced performance in the workplace and a decrease in violence. All good things for people everywhere, right?
Furthermore, it has been noted by teachforamerica.org, that in order for rural communities to succeed, they must allow members to have good paying jobs, access to health care, quality education and strong community ties. Key words here: rural, communities, succeed, quality education.
As a rural community, we are faced with a unique set of challenges and opportunities when it comes to our schools. These challenges and opportunities are too often neglected by policy makers, philanthropic entities and others. The current system of financing from our state and federal government provides a specific dollar amount to each student enrolled in school. Schools with higher enrollments therefore receive a higher dollar amount and, you guessed it, smaller, rural schools that don’t have many students don’t receive very much money.
Without proper funding, it is extremely difficult to run an effective school. Best-case scenario: students don’t reach their full potential due to lack of programming, technology, and other valuable resources. Worstcase scenario: the school is forced to shut down all together.
When our young, rural students don’t get the education they deserve, society as a whole is cheated. Some of the most successful inventors, industrial innovators, accomplished professionals and national leaders have been a product of a rural environment. Unfortunately, today that is less and less the case. In fact, rural students are much less likely to attend college than those in urban areas.
Given that many rural areas experience a static or declining population, it is likely that today’s local children will be the backbone of our small community someday. It stands to reason that they should be prepared to handle our needs or, even better, offer some improvement.
Because of the current financing structure, the only alternative is for our community to come together and support these young minds who will become the future of our society, and indeed, our world. Let’s put those strong community ties necessary for rural community success into action.
Each month a representative of our local schools will offer thoughts in Issues in Education. This month’s s contributor is Kathy Lawrence, a Birch Grove Community School board member.
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