CONTACT: Steve Berlin
703-740-4840
Kansas State Board of Education Member to Participate in NASBE Task Force on Rural and Frontier Education Issues
ARLINGTON, VA—May 17, 2010—Sally Cauble of the Kansas State Board of Education has been selected to participate in the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) newly-established Task Force on Rural and Frontier Education Issues. The task force is charged with providing specific policy recommendations and legislative language to Congress and the U.S. Department of Education to help rural and frontier states turnaround their low-performing schools.
The Department has previously issued four solutions to turning around these schools: firing the principal, replacing the staff, changing the publicly operated school to a charter school, or closing the school altogether. These suggestions, however, do not adequately address the unique staffing and infrastructure problems faced in rural states and districts, where retaining staff is difficult and attracting new teachers more so.
“While the mission of state boards of education in every state is to develop and implement policies to help students receive the best education possible, the logistics of completing that mission are different in rural and frontier states than in more populous areas,” said NASBE Executive Director Brenda Welburn. “This task force was created from and is being driven by the concerns of state board members from rural states. Their participation strengthens the voice of state boards in every state and helps ensure they are fairly represented in continued federal education policymaking.”
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The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America's state and territorial boards of education. NASBE exists to strengthen State Boards as the preeminent educational policymaking bodies for citizens and students. For more, visit www.nasbe.org.