The Impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act on Rural Schools
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Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy
Volume XXIV, Number 1, Fall 2016
The Impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act on
Rural Schools
Deena Dulgerian*
I. INTRODUCTION
The one-room rural schoolhouse is reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's
Little House on the Prairie series depicting late nineteenth century settlements
in the Midwest: one teacher, a dozen or so students of varying ages, and a long
walk home. A century and a half later, the imagery of the one-room
schoolhouse has faded, but the existence of rural schools is still very much alive
in the United States. Instead of one teacher, there are now an average of thirty-
two teachers in a rural school.' Up to one-third of the country's students are
educated in rural schools,2 and rural school districts make up around 50% of all
the districts in the United States.3
Despite the significant number of rural schools and students, some rural
educators believe that federal education law has historically neglected to
appropriately address the unique needs of rural schools.4 They believe that
J.D. Candidate, Georgetown University Law Center (2017); B.A. University of California, Los
Angeles (2012). The author would like to thank Professor Eloise Pasachoff for her guidance,
motivation, and passion for statutory regulation and education policy. She would also like to thank Dan
Rask, Dr. John Hill, and Sasha Pudelski for their time and insight. She hopes that this Note will bring
light to a segment of America's population that has received less political attention over the years, so
that their values and way of life can coincide with a successful future for their children. C 2016, Deena
Dulgerian.
1. DANIEL PLAYER, RURAL OPPORTUNITIES CONSORTIUM OF IDAHO, THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND
FOR RURAL TEACHERS 6 (2015), http://www.rociidaho.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ROCI_2015
RuralTeachersFINAL.pdf.
2. Danette Parsley & Rhonda Barton, School Turnaround in the Rural Context, EDUC. Nw.: NW.
MATTERS (Jun. 2, 2015), http://educationnorthwest.org/northwest-matters/school-turnaround-rural-
context; The Status of Rural Education, NAT'L CTR. FOR EDUC. STATISTICS (May 2013), http://nces.
ed.gov/programs/coe/indicatortla.asp.
3. LARS D. JOHNSON ET AL., RURAL OPPORTUNITIES CONSORTIUM OF IDAHO, FEDERAL
EDUCATION POLICY IN RURAL AMERICA 2 (2014), http://www.rociidaho.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/
01/ROCI_2014FedEdPolicy FINAL 0115.pdf; Jackie Mader, The Biggest Losers in the No Child Left
Behind Rewrite, HECHINGER REP. (Feb. 24, 2015), http://hechingerreport.org/biggest-losers-no-child-
left-behind-rewrite.
4. Email Conversation with Dan Rask, Exec. Dir., Mont. Small Sch. All. (Mar. 1, 2016) (on file
with author) [hereinafter Email from Rask]. Marty Strange, Equitable andAdequate Funding for Rural
Schools: Ensuring Equal Educational Opportunity for All Students, 82 NEB. L. REV. 1, 1 (2003) (As
school finance policy and law have evolved, legal scholars have focused much of their attention on
issues affecting urban schools.).
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The Impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act on Rural Schools
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