Political Quotes

“I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, Senator Collins, as we introduce the REAP Reauthorization Act of 2011. Nearly one-third of America's public schools are in rural places, and 23 percent of our students attend these schools. Unfortunately, the unique nature of rural schools creates significant challenges as they work to meet federal education requirements. Geographic isolation, diseconomies of scale, and poverty are some the challenges commonly cited as major barriers to education delivery in rural places. Unfortunately, Federal education funding programs--which are often based on population--do not provide adequate resources for rural schools to overcome these obstacles and meet programmatic requirements. Additionally, rural school districts often forgo federal education dollars because they lack the capacity to apply for competitive grants. Senator Collins and I began working together a decade ago to ensure equity for rural schools. With bipartisan support, we successfully fought to include the original Rural Education Achievement Program-- otherwise known as REAP--in the No Child Left Behind Act. To date, REAP is the only source of federal funding dedicated to helping rural school districts overcome financial inequality caused by geographic isolation and poverty.”