Senator Collins said, "Nearly one-third of all school age children attend schools in rural communities or small towns with populations below 25,000. In addition, Maine has the second highest percentage in the nation of students enrolled in rural schools. These schools may face extra challenges in complying with NCLB."
Specifically, Senator Collins joined with Senator Conrad (D-ND) in requesting that the General Accounting Office (GAO) undertake a study to examine the challenges, particularly financial, that rural communities face as they attempt to comply with the requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.
In a letter to GAO Comptroller General David Walker, the Senator wrote, "While visiting with local educators from rural communities in my state over the past year, many concerns have been raised regarding implementation of NCLB, particularly the financial challenges that rural schools face in meeting the teacher quality and student assessment requirements. Educators and state and local officials have cited declining populations in many Maine communities, lack of technology, limited sources of revenue, transportation costs, concerns with the highly qualified teacher requirements for educators teaching multiple core subjects, and the availability of supplemental services. In Maine, for example, expenditures on transportation by rural schools are among the highest in the nation."
Among the questions Senators Collins and Conrad have asked the GAO to examine are:
- What are the most significant challenges rural states and districts face in implementing the accountability provision of NCLB?
- Are there expenditures for compliance with NCLB that are unique to rural school districts?
- Are there expenditures that rural school districts may have to absorb that may not be provided under NCLB?
- How does NCLB affect the ability of rural school districts to retain and hire teachers in rural communities?
- How is the Department of Education assisting rural states and districts to address their needs in complying with NCLB?
In 2001, Senator Collins also joined with Senator Conrad in authoring legislation that was approved by Congress and provides more funds for rural schools through the "Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP)." The bill provided Maine with more than $3.6 million to help rural school districts that would otherwise not have access to the additional dollars through federal grants. REAP was designed to "level the playing field" for small and high poverty rural school systems to ensure that all students have the same access to high quality education.