When asked to write this series of guest blogs, I was excited to expose myths and realities that too often rigidly fix rural communities in people’s minds in stereotypical and counterproductive ways. Truth is, rural school districts — which make up one-third of all public schools in the U.S. — are hotbeds of innovation.

I’m a fourth-generation Tennessean and have served in a variety of roles in rural education my whole life, from a teacher to a principal to a policy advocate and then some. Too often, I find that when people do the math on rural communities, they falsely equate rural with being behind.

For the past decade, the issue of high-speed connectivity has gained exponential importance but still resides at the edges of most organization strategic plans or at the top of the want list vs. the need list. The pandemic has laid bare inequities that persist with broadband access in small and remote towns across the country, sparking a renewed sense of urgency to address the digital divide.

Rural America is just now coming out of an infrastructure overhaul that focused primarily on getting schools high-speed connections to meet the minimum requirements for online state assessments. A great deal of money and planning has gone into connecting geographically remote and/or financially challenged rural schools for end-of-year testing purposes, with the ancillary benefit of increasing the capacity for learning experiences for students the entire school year. However, even with a monumental push to get rural schools connected, 12 million students across the country were unable to complete schoolwork because they lacked home internet access — the year before COVID-19.

Most people’s perception of what constitutes “rural” is based largely on their own geographic location and experiences. If asked what rural education looks like, you’ll often get answers ranging from “Hoosiers” to “Friday Night Lights” to “Remember the Titans”. These are geography- or popular culture-oriented responses, but perceptions of place tend to frame perceptions of people and, more specifically, stereotypes of people.

Geographic stereotypes do (sometimes unfairly) impact much of our thinking. This certainly holds true for many people’s perceived stereotypical “rural student.” By and large, in my experience, people tend to think of rural students as low-income, white kids. So it may come as a surprise to learn that approximately one-quarter of rural students are students of color. As of 2017, the rural population breakdown for people of color is 9% Hispanic, 8% Black, 2% American Indian, and 2% identifying as non-white Other. And in the South, 80% of rural African Americans in the U.S. live in the Black Belt, which comprises 623 counties across 11 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

My grandfather used to say, “You’ll sit a long time with your mouth wide open before a fried chicken flies in.” So too goes the work of recruiting and retaining rural teachers across our country, as most young or new teachers increasingly pursue jobs in urban and suburban areas. Many rural schools and districts spent considerable resources and time on this issue before the nationwide teacher shortage began in 2009; it’s a challenge that continues to grow with each passing school year. Whether it’s the competition of pay scales, in-vogue fusion restaurants, craft breweries, or strip malls offered in urban or suburban areas, rural districts have started relying on grow-your-own models to meet talent needs.

To be clear, there’s a difference between hiring local and hiring local intentionally through grow-your-own talent strategies. Hiring local means you give Johnny a job because he grew up in the community, left and earned a teaching certification, and now wants to move back home to work. This scenario is OK if Johnny is, or has the potential to be, a good educator. But the scenario also represents the double-edged sword of rural human capital plans that hire based on tribalism vs. talent acquisition. The problem arises if Johnny is only a mediocre educator because in most cases he’ll be in the classroom until he’s ready to retire…or becomes the principal. Unfortunately, this is a common practice in rural schools, whether it’s in response to a sense of loyalty to community members or to the pressing need to fill positions.

The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) is hosting “Small School Symposium: Your Voice in DC” July 15-16, 2021 to provide selected school districts with the opportunity to network and discuss challenges and creative solutions specific to districts of their size. The event includes keynotes, interactive workshops, and a meeting with legislative staff, as well as representatives from the U.S. Department of Education. School districts must apply to attend or be invited by ALAS. The event takes place in-person in Washington D.C. To apply, visithttps://www.alasedu.org/event/small-school-symposium/.

On America’s Infrastructure Report Card, our school buildings received a D-plus, indicating they are in poor and at-risk condition.

With nearly 100,000 schools across the country on about 2 million acres of land, one in every six Americans in a typical year relies on our school buildings and grounds for learning, work, and wellbeing.

As debates about America’s infrastructure continue, Congress and the Biden administration must include our schools in this critical investment not only because of their scale, use, and condition, but also because this investment can benefit our economy, build community resilience, and improve the environmental and fiscal sustainability of our schools.