Keywords
rural education, rural sustainability, rural, schools, policy
Abstract
Rural schools are a central pillar in the communities in which they belong. They offer not only education for the community’s youth, but serve as a community space, educational location for all community members, and enhance new generations’ understanding of local history and current events. The schools ensure that education is accessible to everyone in the community by avoiding long commutes, employing numerous locals, and having smaller class sizes to better cater to individual student needs. While there are benefits to closing schools, often ones of financial nature, the loss of these schools is felt deeply within rural communities. There are options to pursue and consider prior to taking the drastic action of closing a school, including seeking additional state funds, incorporating place-based educational approaches, and working to cooperatively provide extracurricular opportunities between local rural schools.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Norman, Emily
(2022)
"Keep Rural Schools Open: Position and Policy,"
Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy:
Vol. 17:
Iss.
3.
https://doi.org/10.4148/1936-0487.1112
