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SFA hosts globally-attended education summit

Tyesha Boudreaux - The Daily Sentinel - March 28, 2008

Educators, researchers and policy makers gathered at SFA Friday for the 2008 National Summit on Rural Education.

The summit was hosted by the James I. Perkins College of Education and focused on rural education.

Live video of the summit was also "delivered online throughout the world" for people who could not attend in person, according to Dr. John Jacobson, dean of the James I. Perkins College of Education.

"We even have someone from West Africa who registered (for the online version of the summit)," Jacobson said.

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert was one of the speakers at the summit.

While introducing Gohmert, SFA President Dr. Baker Pattillo said, "(He) is becoming a leader known throughout Washington."

Gohmert spoke about the role of Congress in rural education.

"Rural schools make up 30 percent of all the schools in the United States," Gohmert said.

Gohmert also read a letter from U.S. President George W. Bush, which stated that "education is the gateway for a hopeful future."

Dr. Michelle Chin, educator policy adviser for the Office of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, spoke about rural education in America.

"Drop-out rates in rural communities vary," Chin said. "(Students who drop out of rural schools) are less likely to return to school or pursue a GED."

Video messages from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings were also shown.

Hutchison said that geography should never affect a student's education.

"(I am a) supporter of grants that enhance distant learning programs," Hutchison said.

Hutchison also said advanced-placement programs should be more widely used in rural schools.

In Spellings' video, she said nearly half of all American students live in rural areas.

"No Child Left Behind is helping us learn about what works in rural schools and what we need to improve," Spellings said.

Many of the speakers voiced their disapproval of No Child Left Behind, an act that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act — the main federal law affecting education from kindergarten through high school, according to the U.S. Department of Education Web site.

Gohmert said he is not a "fan" of No Child Left Behind.

"I have a real problem with dictating from Washington when the best control is local control," Gohmert said.

Chin said there is not a one-size-fits-all program into which rural, urban and suburban programs can be forced.

"Education is primarily a state and local responsibility in the U.S.," Chin said.

Dr. Rachel Tompkins, president of The Rural Schools and Community Trust, said No Child Left Behind has not been a good policy for rural schools.

"(It) has a one-size-fits all mentality," Tompkins said.

The bulk of Tompkins' presentation was based on a Rural Schools and Community Trust report conducted every two years.

The report had 23 different indicators that focused on rural education, Tompkins said.

Tompkins also said that rural education is growing at a faster percentage than other categories of schools.

"Enrollment in rural schools increased by 15 percent," Tompkins said. "There are almost 8,000 rural school districts in America."

The afternoon session was filled with various other speakers.

Lysa Hagen, moderator for the summit and academic leader for the NISD/SFA charter school, said she was very enthusiastic by the crowd participation.

"I am learning so much," Hagen said. "I'm so excited by how involved the audience is."

Many of the audience members had question for the speakers.

"We even had a couple of questions e-mailed to us from our online viewers," Hagen said.

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