The purpose of this study was to determine the problems faced by small, rural Nebraska school districts. For this study, 15 possible challenges were identified (a) student enrollment, (b) instructional programs, (c) instructional support services, (d) extra curricular activities, (e) hiring and retaining administrative staff, (f) hiring and…

An analysis of the proposed changes to Nebraska's school finance formula and school structure shows that many of Nebraska's rural schools could suffer from imposition of a "small by choice" factor. Research has consistently shown that smaller schools have some advantages over their larger counterparts. The 2005 session of the Nebraska…

The 1997 Nebraska Legislature enacted Bill 806 to promote school consolidation, which legislators believed would lead schools to become more cost-efficient and provide a significantly larger curriculum. This legislative action begged the question: Has the move to consolidate schools made Nebraska schools more efficient while providing greater…

State equalization programs for school funding have been structured around variously weighted combinations of district wealth, tax effort and student need. For rural and small school districts, these programs have not always provided adequate financing. Nine rural school finance alternatives are suggested. (MH)

Citizens in rural Nebraska filed a lawsuit challenging the reliance on local property taxes for school funding that has led to inequities between rural and urban schools. One answer may be to give smaller school districts more money through a state system of taxation and equalization aid to improve school standards. (LP)

Based on interviews with State Education Department personnel, this report presents information regarding the status of rural education in the seven-state region (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) served by the Mid-Continent Regional Laboratory. Of the 2,400 school districts in this region, 93 percent…

Information on 44 small/rural K-12 Nebraska school districts (900 students or fewer) is compared to data from 642 similar districts nationwide, using material gathered during 1982-83. Of the nation's 15,601 public school districts, 4,125 (26.4%) were identified as qualifying for the survey; 76.4% (249 districts, enrolling 76,516 students) of…

Any conclusions that community education concepts are "alive and well" were not supported in a study of the impact of state education policies on rural school districts with total enrollments of 350 students or less in the Great Plains Region (Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota). Survey…

The rural school project of the continental United States consists in educating over 18 million young people between the ages of 5 and 20 who live in small towns and villages, or in the open country. The 300,000 or more schools classified as rural enrolled nearly 12.5 million pupils in 1920, employed 425,00 teachers, supervisors, and principals,…

The Nebraska educational system is experiencing internal turmoil even though its students are highly ranked nationally on standardized tests and show a higher ratio of graduating high school than those in most other states. This report was commissioned by Nebraska education officials who were concerned that their state was not taking a large…