U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced a $268,480 grant to the Center for Policy Studies in Rural Education to help promote excellence in rural education.

The center is a component of the National Association of State Boards of Education, based in Alexandria, Va.

Paige made the announcement in remarks to the Rural Education Technology Fair at the U.S. Capitol's Dirksen Senate Office Building, featuring representatives from high tech companies around the country demonstrating innovative, technology-driven solutions being used throughout America to implement reforms of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Today's action is another step Paige has taken to provide rural communities with the tools they need to raise academic performance. In April, he formed the Secretary's Rural Education Task Force to help identify challenges faced by rural states and school districts and to work on finding solutions.

"Too many rural students have not received the high-quality education they deserve," Paige said. "Although our nation's rural schools may be physically removed from urban areas, they are no longer isolated from policy-makers or the mainstream thanks to technological innovations. Technology removes the distance of time and space; it brings our images together, but it is our joint commitment to education that joins our hearts and minds."

For most of history, Paige said being rural meant being at a disadvantage. Educational resources, expertise, and courses were limited. If a teacher wasn't available to teach a specific course, the course was not offered. No more, he said.

"The world and all that it holds literally becomes the classroom for our students. Now, instead of physically bringing students to educational opportunities, we can bring those opportunities directly to the students," Paige said.

The grant to the center will support four major goals:

• Helping recruit teachers and administrators into rural areas;
• Helping rural states and districts implement the school choice and supplemental service provisions in No Child Left Behind;
• Assisting state policy-makers in meeting the special needs of migrant students; and
• Distributing information on best practices in rural education.

"A 21st century system of public education must provide the opportunity for a high-quality education to every student—no matter where they live," Paige said. "We must be willing to rethink the way in which we deliver that education to students."

For details on Secretary Paige's priority for rural education, visit http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ods/ruraled/index.html. To see a press release on the Sept. 25 announcement, "Rural Communities Use Power of Technology to Meet Goals of No Child Left Behind," go to http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2003/09/09252003a.html. Information on the department's Rural Education Achievement Program can be found at http://www.ed.gov/nclb/freedom/local/reap.html.

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