Senators Collins and Conrad co-authored the REAP legislation. They are also leading the effort to seek full funding of REAP in the President's budget plan for fiscal year 2005. Collins and Conrad assembled 24 of their Senate colleagues to sign a letter that they sent to President Bush today expressing their support.
"Nearly one-third of America's public schools are in rural places, and more than 21 percent of our public school students attend these schools," Collins and Conrad wrote. "This is the only dedicated federal funding stream to aid rural school districts in overcoming the increased expenses caused by geographic isolation."
REAP funds are targeted to school districts with less than 600 students, many of which lack the personnel and resources to apply for competitive federal education grants. Under REAP, these smaller schools can combine a number of different federal programs and use the funding from REAP as they see fit to improve student achievement or professional teacher development.
"REAP gives rural school systems the flexibility to meet their unique local needs. Rural districts can use this money to provide after-school study groups, computer labs, and art and music programs that they otherwise might not be able to offer their students," said Senator Collins. "REAP was designed to level the playing field for small and high poverty rural school systems. It ensures that all students in Maine and across the U.S. have access to the same high quality education."
Since enactment of REAP, Senator Collins has led the fight to secure funding for the program through the appropriations process, and has successfully increased federal funding for REAP each year. She was recently successful in securing $3.6 million in additional funding for 158 Maine school districts. Last year, Maine''s small and rural school districts received an additional $2.1 million in funds through the REAP program.
Senators Conrad and Collins have been nationally recognized for their work on education, including awards from the Committee for Education Funding, a non-profit, nonpartisan coalition of education organizations and the Rural Educator of the Year awards from the Rural Education Association.
"It is far too often the case that federal education programs are aimed to help only urban and suburban school districts. But many children in this country go to rural schools, and those rural schools have been shortchanged for years. REAP fixes that by giving our rural schools better access to federal funds and the flexibility to use them," Senator Conrad said. "There really is no reason at all why our rural students shouldn't be given the same opportunity as students in city and suburban schools."
Senators Conrad and Collins were joined on the letter to President Bush by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Jim Talent (R-MO), Tim Daschle (D-SD), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), John Kerry (D-MA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Max Baucus (D-MT), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Harkin (D-IA), John Edwards (D-NC), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ben Nelson (D-NB), Kit Bond (R-MO), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).