In conjunction with this weeks' featured state, we also have a feature video and story from Kylee Paine of Monmouth, IL. Be sure to check it out here: bit.ly/il-feature

Are you an Illinois rural teacher? We'd love to hear from you, Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools! If you're from another state, your feature is coming soon, so submit today at bit.ly/iaartsubmit

We are also asking rural communities to share how COVID-19 is impacting them and how teachers and teacher-leaders are adapting. You can share yours here: bit.ly/iaartcovid

Feel free to contact Hailey Winkleman, the NREA Advocacy Liaison for this campaign, at iaartcampaign@gmail.com with any questions about submitting your story.

WILLOW CREEK, Mont. — Teachers at Willow Creek School in Montana wore cloth face masks and held 6-foot-long pool noodles while a handful of students played in the grass in front of the school.

Once recess ended, students lined up on orange circles spray-painted on the sidewalk at appropriate social distances and waited to be led inside. Each student was met at the door with a squirt of hand sanitizer.

"I think all in all, it's really going smoothly," said Bonnie Lower, superintendent at Willow Creek School, which reopened May 7. "The kids are adjusting to the 6 feet apart."

Join Connect Americans Now and a tremendous panel of leaders representing agricultural producers & farmers, American enterprise & innovators, rural communities, educators & students and veterans for a briefing on:

1) The impact of the digital divide on these constituencies and the urgency for action, particularly in the time of COVID-19.

2) The commendable progress that has been made to clear regulatory burdens to innovation, maximize spectrum resources, improve data and expand connectivity.

3) The actions Congress can take to tackle this urgent problem and completely eliminate the digital divide in rural America.

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report setting out guidelines for opening child-care programs, day camps, and K-12 schools—or the report leaked, depending on who you read.

The guidelines break school reopening into three phases—each with incrementally more relaxed rules, if infection rates are sufficiently low—but the big picture provides some good news: the recommendations reveal a path forward for schools to reopen, albeit with restrictions.

High-touch surfaces, toys, drinking fountains, and school buses should be cleaned frequently, the CDC says; playgrounds and cafeterias should be closed or used in staggered shifts; field trips should be canceled; health screenings and body temperature checks for adults and students upon arrival should be considered; cloth masks should be mandatory for staff; and good air circulation throughout the school should be a priority. If someone in the building is later confirmed to be sick with Covid-19, the CDC writes, you might consider closing the school for one or two days to allow for cleaning.

PREMONT, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott recently unveiled “Operation Connectivity,” his plan in connection with the Texas Education Agency, to get every student in Texas connected to the classroom, regardless of where they live.

Keeping every student connected with campuses closed is a tall order for the largest urban school districts; more so for the rural ones. But in Premont, they’re on the leading edge of remote learning.

“In any rural community, it’s harder and more expensive to educate kids,” said Premont Independent School District Superintendent Steve Van Matre.

Over the past year, right-wing media sources revealed that a number of the nation’s largest foundations, including the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation, were giving millions to nonprofit organizations associated with the anti-Trump “resistance,” including groups like the Center for Community Change, which gins up protests for progressive causes.

That wasn’t too surprising. Nor was it surprising when left-wing sources lamented that America’s big foundations weren’t deploying enough resources toward contesting the Trump administration and what it purportedly represents.

Would families in your network benefit from having a reading coach this summer? Slots are filling fast through a first come, first served process ending June 5 (families have until 6/12 to sign up). We wanted you to be among the first to know. Submit a brief application to express interest; determine how many families you can realistically enroll; and claim their spots (up to ~2K)! If seats are still available, we'll be in touch to identify an enrollment coordinator from your team that Springboard will support and compensate per participating family.

Voices from the (Virtual) Classroom is a nationally representative survey of public school teachers exploring education during this crisis -- what is working, what isn’t, what is needed now -- and what teachers think the priorities should be when we return to the classroom.

The pandemic has taken an immense human and economic toll on our education system. These survey results outline what teachers and their students need now and in the future, providing valuable guidance for decision-makers making hard choices in the months ahead as they reopen schools amidst budget shortfalls.