Alabama's rural schools need more attention than those of any other state in the nation, according to a recent report by the Rural School and Community Trust, a national organization dedicated to addressing the relationship between good schools and thriving communities.

"Why Rural Matters 2009" shows Alabama's public schools in rural districts rate poorly on four of the report's five scales and are the most deficient in the nation on the composite of all scales.

For student performance on the reading and math portions of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Alabama's rural students scored, shockingly, second lowest in the nation. This can be attributed in part to the concentrated areas of poverty in rural Alabama, also rated second most urgent in the nation. Similarly, the report ranked Alabama 15th in relation to the combined percentages of minority, special needs and poverty-stricken students in rural areas.

In regard to the urgency of policy-makers taking steps to address specific educational needs of rural youth, an index based largely on spending for instruction and teachers' salaries, Alabama was rated fifth from the bottom. The state was rated as the 10th lowest in the nation in funding.

According to Alabama Department of Education data, rural districts represent more than half of the districts in Alabama. They serve a relatively poor population of students, 64.7 percent of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Although rural students score only slightly behind their peers in towns, suburban areas and cities on the Alabama Reading and Math Test at the third-grade level, they gradually fall further behind in both reading and math, finishing well below their peers on the state graduation examination.

Unfortunately, this report is not surprising for those who pay close attention to rural education in Alabama. For example, a review of reading and math scores for all students in county school systems scoring at the highest level shows that 36 rural county school systems fall below the state average. Only nine are above the average.

Does it matter enough for Alabama's rural schools to be given special attention by policy-makers, educators, communities and the general public? If we care about the future of rural areas, the answer is a resounding yes.

More than 740,000 students head out to public schools in Alabama each weekday morning, nearly 220,000 of them in rural locations. That's more than enough to fill Bryant-Denny and Jordan-Hare stadiums combined. But what does it say about our state when a national organization says these students need more attention than the children of any other state? We like to talk about ethics and morality in Alabama. Where is our moral compass when the needs of nearly 220,000 children are not being adequately addressed?

Certainly, there are challenges involved in improving Alabama's rural schools; however, these challenges are not insurmountable. There are some excellent schools in rural parts of the state. For example, Alabama's Torchbearer Schools, many in rural areas, have proven that outstanding principals and teachers can overcome the disadvantages a high-poverty student population faces and can produce outstanding academic performances. The recent report, "Lessons Learned from Rural Schools," by the Center for Rural Alabama, highlighted the academic success of 10 schools in rural Alabama.

The problem is that these excellent schools are too few and too far between.

More than 60 percent of Alabama's eligible high school rural students are enrolled in career or technical programs. These programs need to be expanded and improved, for they can continue to be improved and can help provide their students with essential job-related knowledge and skills. They also can help rural communities develop the well-prepared labor force necessary to be competitive in a rapidly globalizing economy.

However, as The Rural School and Community Trust noted, rural schools must matter to the policy makers, educators, communities and Alabama residents for improvement to occur.

Larry Lee is director of the Center for Rural Alabama (e-mail: larry.lee@agi.alabama.gov). Ron Lindahl is a professor of educational leadership at Alabama State University (e-mail: rlindahl@alasu.edu).