WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today urged Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to rethink proposed changes to the allocation of federal education funds.  Rehberg is concerned that new competitive funding formulas would undermine the health of rural schools at the expense of large urban schools.  Eighty-five percent of Montana’s students attend rural or frontier schools.

“Once again, the Administration is looking at policy through an urban filter, putting rural needs on a back burner,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Rural Education Caucus.  “In recent weeks, I’ve heard from dozens of Montana educators who asked me to fight for an increase in reliable formula funding, instead of competitive grants.  It’s not that they’re afraid of fair competition, it’s that rural communities don’t have the raw resources to compete against urban schools.  If you’ve only got a staff of two, you’re not going to be able to hire a full-time grant-writer.”

“Montana’s schools are committed to providing our children with a quality education, but switching from guaranteed formula funding to competitive grants will create a disadvantage for our students,” said Claudette Morton, Exec. Director, Montana Small Schools Alliance.  “I commend Mr. Rehberg for ensuring that rural schools have a voice at the table throughout this process, and I look forward to working with him to build an education system that works for all of Montana’s children.”

Rehberg also expressed concerns about the Administration’s proposals for turning around low-performing schools.  The four proposed models mandate a one-size-fits-all policy that would require low-performing schools to fire the principal, replace the teachers, lengthen the school day, change the curriculum or agree to become a charter school if they want to continue receiving federal dollars.  During the hearing, Rehberg asked if the Department of Education would be willing to work with his office and the House Rural Education Caucus to develop other turnaround models that are more realistic for rural schools.

“In regards to the current reauthorization, the Montana Rural Education Association is greatly concerned about the strategies suggested for turning around low-performing schools,” said Dave Puyear, Executive Director.  “Once again, we see the development of another “one size fits all” program that will not work in rural, frontier states like Montana.  Implementing this plan would be a disaster for a state like ours as it would destroy any chance low-performing schools have of recruiting talented educators.  I really appreciate Mr. Rehberg taking the time to solicit our input and pass it on to the Secretary.”

“While we all agree that we need to help low-performing schools improve, we can’t continue to force urban-based solutions on our rural schools,” said Rehberg.  “Rural schools face their own unique challenges and we need the Department of Education to provide Montana’s schools with the flexibility to solve these issues.  Mandating top-down solutions isn’t going to help turnaround Montana’s schools.”

Rehberg will continue to accept comments on the proposed changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act through March 24th.  These comments will be submitted to the House Committee on Education and Labor as they develop and implement changes to the current federal education guidelines.  Comments can be submitted by e-mail to montanaeducators@mail.house.gov.