Washington  -  You wouldn’t know summer is ending, but all over Southern Missouri teachers and students are returning to the classrooms. 

 It is a rite of August that plays out every year.  Parents must purchase school supplies from the ever-longer list provided by the school.  Filling the shopping basket: Colored pencils which will be used to fill in maps, calculators put to use on complex math problems, and pink erasers to correct the occasional mistake. 

 Aside from the supplies, there are school clothes to buy, carpools and bus schedules to arrange, and the normal anxiety over going back to school.

 And for older students leaving for college, the prospect of saying goodbye, even for a few weeks, is extremely tough on a parent.  No matter where our children are off to on the first day of school, sending them is difficult.

 We don’t think of our students as going back to work, but that is exactly how it seems to them.  Really, they are learning more about themselves than they could ever glean from books.  Yet they will never get so much personal good out of a job as they can in a positive learning environment. 

 In Southern Missouri, creating that environment comes with its own set of challenges. Nationwide, nearly one quarter of America’s public schools are considered rural, and eight million children attend them. 

 In the 8th Congressional District, all of our public schools are rural.  We rely on a smaller tax base to fund educational programs, students must travel greater distances to attend school, and it is difficult to keep the good teachers we have. 

 Our commitment to providing the opportunity to attend good schools is a commitment to helping our children grow up – so we do not waver.  Parents build a budget for supplies and a schedule for the school days.  Teachers construct lesson plans and chart the academic course for the school year.  Students, most importantly, devote their time and effort to meeting the goals set for them and the ones they set themselves.
 Government has a role to play in the return to Southern Missouri schools, too. 

 

Congress formulated two recent tax cuts and extended the child tax credit with families in mind.  For some families, the expanded child tax credit lightens the burden of annual back-to-school expenses.  For others, it might mean a family can finally purchase a computer for their children’s educational needs.  Still others put their tax savings toward tuition or into educational savings accounts.

 In addition, the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001 contains provisions to assist rural schools as they deal with the unique challenges of serving Southern Missouri.  The act contained a new initiative, the Rural Education Achievement Program, which enables rural schools to combine federal funds from select education programs to make it easier to compete for the awards.  In 2002, more than 85 percent of eligible small school districts (over 4,000 of them) took advantage of the rural and small school program.

 The federal government is now spending more on K-12 public education than at any other time in history.

 The Crayola Credit for teachers who spend out-of-pocket money for their students’ school supplies is one element of this program in action.  So is federal student loan forgiveness for math, science, and special needs teachers working in disadvantaged schools.  Congress is also working to expand telecommunications networks to create educational opportunities for rural students

 And to give our rural schools more flexibility, red tape has been cut at the U.S. Department of Education.  Congress has made it easier for rural school districts to compete in the grant process and to make spending decisions.  There is always more to do, and I am committed to working with parents, teachers, and administrators to make sure our children have the opportunities and resources to succeed.

 Resources devoted to our children’s educations, by parents, by teachers, and by Congress, create the best return on our investment possible.  When they master a concept, and you can see the understanding in your son or daughter’s eyes – then all of the preparations become clearly worthwhile.