NREAC Conference Call

Jan 7, 2009

Joe BardJanine BlockJimmy Cunningham

Noelle EllersonMary Ellen FitzgeraldBarb Havlichek

John HillMary KuslerClaudette Morton

Bob NewhouseRay PatrickDon Rogers

Darrell RuddBrian TalbottRachel Tompkins

Dave Walrath

Legislative Meeting: February 2009

  • The NREAC legislative conference will be Feb 2-3, 2009.
  • The Executive Committee will be meeting late afternoon/dinner hour in Sunday, February 1.
  • There is a block of hotel rooms at the Arlington Hilton. You can make your reservations under the AASA room block. The nightly rate is $199. The phone number is (703) 528-6000
  • We are in the process of finalizing the agenda. The popular issues will be included: ESEA, funding, REAP, and the rural caucus.
  • A separate registration form has been sent around. If you did not receive it or have yet to register, please email Mary or Noelle.

Stimulus

  • The final version of the stimulus is not yet concrete. That being said, there have been enough conversations to warrant pretty safe ideas of what will be included.
  • School Renovation:
  • The hard part is coming up with a final number. It will most likely funnel from the feds, to the states and then the districts, by formula. The formula would be determined by the feds (NOT the state) and the bill will include ‘pass through’ language to prevent the states from sitting on the money
  • To our benefit, Senator Harkin is at the table, involved in writing the equation, and he is familiar with the issue of how formulas tend to hurt rural areas (including the issue of higher cost differentials in rural areas).
  • Mary has talked with Heather Higgenbottom (an Obama domestic policy advisor), who has reiterated their desire to get money to EVERY district.
  • Technology:
  • Rockefeller is the chairman of the commerce committee. He is very familiar with E-Rate, which bodes well for the rumblings we’ve heard of funneling broadband money through E-Rate.
  • IDEA Funding:
  • Funding for IDEA in the stimulus is looking good, especially the idea of a one-time fusion of IDEA money
  • An additional source of money for IDEA is really a source of money for ALL students because an IDEA fusion frees up local monies for general education.
  • The funding bump would put increasing pressure on appropriators to more fully fund IDEA
  • One-Time Grants to School Districts:
  • This is the survey we sent around, asking for any one-time, ready-to-go expenditures in your district.
  • The stimulus may include one-time grants to school districts, direct grants through Title V (to allow maximum flexibility)
  • The object of the one-time grant is quick spending at the local level to address budget needs, stimulate local economies, and improve local employment.
  • Mary—please confirm that this would NOT be a REAP offset.
  • TIMELINE for Stimulus:
  • We expect the stimulus to move before Congress dismisses for the February recess (on Valentine’s Day)

Congressional Rural Caucus

  • Mary, details from Thursday’s meeting, please.
  • The Rural Caucus ‘launch’ will take place while you are in town for the NREAC Legislative Conference, Tuesday, February 3 from 2:30 – 4 pm

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

  • Fill in details from confirmation hearing

Office of Rural Education in US Education Department

  • Rachel Tompkins (Rural Schools and Community Trust) has put forth a proposal for the creation of an Office of Rural Education within USED.
  • The idea would be a central, one-stop shop for internal advocates of rural education and a clearinghouse of the rural education issues that stretch across all of USED’s programs. It would not necessarily be about money, as much as about access, coordination and continuity.
  • The proposal has been shared with transition team members as well as OCRE

Upcoming Rural Webinar

  • You are invited to participate in a webinar on Wednesday, January 28 at 2 pm EST. The conference call and slide presentation will focus on best practices and current research regarding Learning for All Students: Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners in Rural Places. The presentation and discussion will be led by Rural Trust Board Member and Vice Chairman Francisco Guajardo, Ph.D., Department of Educational Leadership, with panelist Joy Esquierdo, Ph.D., both from the University of Texas Pan American.
  • Rural Trust webinars are a regular benefit to members of the Rural School Innovation Network (RSIN). For more information regarding this and other benefits of membership go to The fee for nonmembers is $45.00.
  • To register for the webinar on January28 at2 pm EST,click here to go to our secure order form.A day prior to the event, you will receive an email with dial-in instructions and a PDF of the presentation.