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Linda R Sanders's avatar

I , too, spent my career in a rural district. Another thing that is often overlooked in rural districts is that the school is usually the center of the cultural and social community. School sporting events, plays and concerts are well attended by community members, even those without kids or grandkids in the school. There is senior water aerobics at the high school pool, tech classes in the evening in the computer lab, basic woodworking in the shop, etc. Evening classes are sometimes available for adults in the distance learning lab. Low cost meeting space is available. Adult sports leagues use the gyms. Community theater uses the performing arts spaces in the summer. These resources are highly valued by small communities. Weakening the public schools in these places weakens the community overall.

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Maggie's avatar

I live in suburban Cincinnati, and about 10 years ago I had a long conversation with a GOP politician who was running for state legislature (and won). He was ringing doorbells in my neighborhood, and we stood on my driveway for over an hour in 90 degree summer heat. I said right away I was a Democrat and that the only topic I wanted to cover was education.

I told him I was an elementary art teacher, and that I had briefly taught 8th grade art at a rural middle school. (the last 3 months of the year, for a teacher who had been having a rough time emotionally and had thrown a desk at a student.) Despite being recommended for the permanent position the following year, another teacher was hired, but I landed a position teaching in an upscale suburban district, 4th grade art for over 600 students a week.

I said that I had a chance to compare the two districts. It was the second year of NCLB and the rural district was on academic probation, and my new district was rated "A". I have good story about testing that I'll share some other time. The politician was thrilled that we might have something in common. He said that the rural kids were "inbred and incapable of being educated." He mentioned some people who were so inbred their skin turned blue, and that their mental capacities were diminished. So he thought I'd agree with him when he said, "There's no use throwing money at their schools because all they are going to do is work at McDonalds." He said his ideal school was where he was from in New England where the students had good families and the school would pay for teachers to get their Master's and EdD, but if the teacher left the district, the teacher would have to pay back the cost.

He was stunned that I didn't agree. I said that schools in high poverty areas need more services, more financial support from the state. He served two terms in Ohio House of Representatives, and every time I heard a politician say something about "not throwing money at schools," I realized that the philosophy of eugenics and racism was alive and well.

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