EXCERPT: “For the past 150 years, the number of rural schools has fallen precipitously. Since the late 1800s, policymakers and school bureaucrats have responded to rapid urbanization, innovations in transportation, and a desire to reform ‘backwards’ rural communities by consolidating and closing rural schools throughout the country, drastically reducing the number of schools. In 1930, the country had more than 262,000 public schools. Today only about 95,000 public schools exist, even though the U.S. population has more than doubled since 1930. In many rural areas, schools are still closing. Over the past decade, at least 35 states have considered or adopted policies that lead to school consolidation or closure, and in some places, these closures appear to disproportionately impact poor rural communities and rural communities of color. Some states force the process through minimum enrollments, academic sanctions, or facilities requirements, while others incentivize it with grants, which cash-strapped school districts can find hard to resist.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2wJRlYb
