Our latest research report explores the decline of newspapers in rural MN and how this affects civic engagement. This one-of-a-kind report explores this important topic and gives ideas to strengthen rural newspapers and civic engagement. You can read the report here. On Wednesday, May 3rd, Marnie Webinar provided highlights from the report and had ...

EXCERPT: “In many areas of the country, there’s simply no nearby place to go to for a serious medical emergency or to give birth. More than 300 hospitals in rural areas have closed in recent decades, leaving tens of millions of Americans an hour or more away from the nearest trauma-care center. Over 2,000 rural ...

The Center for Rural Policy recently released a report outlining the trends of rural newspapers in Minnesota and some of the challenges and opportunities they are currently facing. On this episode, Marnie Werner, Director of Research, discusses the report and what she found while researching this important issue.

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research April 26, 2023 Click here for a condensed two-page summary of this report.  Click here for a printable version of this report. Click here to register for our upcoming webinar on Wednesday, May 3, 2:30 pm. In January, Abdulla Gaafarelkhalifa was the only reporter left at the St. Cloud ...

EXCERPT: “In many rural towns, a grocery store is a thing of the past, as more of these small businesses fold. Yet entrepreneurs and community initiatives are working to turn that trend around. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 76 counties nationwide are without a single grocery store, and ...

In this episode, Marnie Werner interviews Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher for the Center for Rural Policy and Development to discuss the most recent research report- “Shedding Light on the Education Formula“.  They touch on the reason the education formula is complex, that it distributes funds “unequally” by design, and their amazement on how much the ...

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, six county jails and other partners have joined together in a pilot project designed to help children and incarcerated parents maintain family ties. Having an incarcerated parent can lead to an increased risk of illness, poor mental health, substance abuse ...

How the K-12 general education revenue program’s complexities work for rural districts March 2023 By Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher For a printable version of this report, click here. To watch a short video about how the education formula works, click here. To read a short blog post about the research, click here. Increasing education funding ...

  The Center for Rural Policy and Development were presented with a question – if you only increase one piece of the education formula, does it benefit certain types of schools more than others? In this presentation, Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher, presents an overview of a report that provides an answer to this question. The ...

March 2023 By Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher To nearly everyone, the education formula is a mystery. And where there’s mystery, there tends to be misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and incorrect narratives. Making changes to policy that is well understood is hard enough. Imagine trying to change policy that isn’t well understood. This is the predicament rural schools ...