Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/969549
Whether located in farmland, forests or deserts, rural communities share com- mon challenges, such as limited access to medical care, food and employment. Many jobs that supported rural students' parents and grandparents have dried up, such as factory work and logging. Transportation in California's rural dis- tricts eats up much of school budgets. In Coalinga-Huron Unified School District, some students ride the bus more than an hour each way to school. Huron par- ents, upset over the long bus ride to the district's only high school in Coalinga, attempted to form their own district in 2017 in what locals called "Hurexit," but were unsuccessful. R e c r u i t i n g a n d r e t a i n i n g s c h o o l employees in rural communities is chal- lenging, says Debra Pearson, executive director of the Small School Districts' Association, and that includes teachers, bus drivers and mental health workers. "For teachers, the pay scale is much lower, and teaching conditions are much more demanding, especially when you At Avenal High, Zitlaly Soto and Hayline Gonzalez anchor the BUC news program, while educator Amy Wilkinson and cameraman David Moreno look on. It can be heartbreaking, because the poverty is so pervasive. But if they work hard, they can be the first student in their family to go to college. And I want to help with that." — Amy Wilkinson West Kings County Teachers Association h a v e m u l t i g r a d e c l a s s r o o m s . Ma n y teachers come to rural areas their first year, then leave for better-paying jobs, so turnover is high." Students in rural schools may lack access to advanced coursework. Many work to support their families instead of participating in extracurricular activities, putting them at a disadvantage when applying to college, reports the National Center for Education Statistics. ey are less likely to attend college due to poverty and a lack of colleges in their vicinity. " T h e c l o s e s t c o m m u n i t y c o l l e g e could be three-plus hours away," says Pearson. "I grew up in Modoc County, and the closest college was 170 miles away on a two-lane highway." M o d o c , H u m b o l d t a n d S i s k i y o u c ounti e s are am on g th o se th at h av e relied upon th e federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determi- nation Act (SRS), which provided extra funding to rural school communities that once relied on the timber industry. However, it expired in 2016 and has not been renewed, prompting fears of more cutbacks and school closures in some rural communities. Bipartisan support to reauthorize SRS funding in the next federal budget may help. Close-knit communities " We are so isolated ," says Tom Wells, president of the Coalinga-Huron Uni- fied Teachers Association (CHUTA). "As teachers, we want our students to dis- cover the world, but that can be hard 26 cta.org Feature