Rural America - A Special IaUW Report

National Rural Assembly. On June 11, 2007, National Public Radio (NPR) ran a story on the then upcoming first National Rural Assembly, sponsored in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The conclave was to highlight a nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies (CRS) survey of rural voters. No presidential candidates had responded to the invitation to speak at the late-June Assembly. And though the NPR report prompted videotapes from Democratic aspirants John Edwards and Dennis Kusinich and a live satellite feed from Sen. Hillary Clinton, no Republican candidates were present.

The survey of rural voters on today’s issues was revealing. 38% called themselves Republican, 36% Democrat, and 18% Independent. Almost all (98%) said they had voted in the 2004 presidential election, and 100% said they were going to in 2008. More said they were likely to vote for a Democrat (46%) for president than a Republican (43%), and they felt about the same when considering their Congressional choice. This Democratic leaning also held for which party was “paying attention to rural issues.”

Only 23% thought the country was going in the right direction; 66% believed it was on the wrong track. A majority (54%) held that “things in rural America” are negative, though as many said their own communities were doing OK.

When asked what words best described rural America, they picked “a good place to raise a family” (95%), “strong family values” (85%), “close-knit communities” (76%), “good schools” (75%), and “strong work ethic” (75%). They rejected such descriptions as “depressing” (70%) and “behind the times” (63%).

The biggest problem facing rural Americans in late May 2007 when the survey was conducted was “rising costs of fuel” (94%), “health care becoming less affordable” (87%), “not enough good paying jobs” (80%), “increase in family debt” (74%), “increased crime and addiction from crystal meth” (68%), “competition from low-wage manufacturing jobs overseas” (67%), and “family farmers losing their farms” (66%).

The preliminary report from the Assembly’s work toward a “2025 Vision of America” can be found at http://ola.wkkf.org/RPRP/pdf/
National_Rural_Assembly_PreliminaryReport.pdf.

Rural Philanthropy. Of the 66 Hoosier United Ways, 70% are in rural communities and raised less than $1 Million last year, which was 15% of the total statewide campaign results. With the backing of the Lilly Endowment (LEI), most of IN’s rural counties have community foundations. A National Rural Funders collaborative of 11 foundations just launched 5 initiatives across the country to build/enhance rural economies, foster long-term community change, or address disparities of race, class, and power in poorer rural areas.

US Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, called on grantmakers to invest more in advancing rural America. Some 100 foundation leaders will gather in August to develop plans to answer his challenge. He promised to work to bring more federal resources to bear on upgrading rural life.

Many rural nonprofits “operate on shoestring budgets” and “are located far away from big urban foundations,” the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported. “They don’t have the economy of scale that is needed for some of the big national funders,” a state grantmaker association opined. A state-by-state ranking found 6 states with foundation assets less than $1 Billion, while #1 New York had $91 Billion, and 11th place IN had nearly $16 Billion thanks to the LEI.

Following up on its 2004 report—Beyond City Limits—the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) looked at grantmaker perceptions of rural life and organizations. Often a critic of funders, it held focus groups with rural nonprofits across the USA, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Its new report—Rural Philanthropy—profiles grantmaker views about rural people and places that often start with Norman Rockwell images and see them as less sophisticated and cultured than urban centers.

Except where there are rural-based foundations, NCRP found leaders of small-community nonprofits usually don’t have much exposure to and interaction with major grantmaker leaders, whose desires they see as having “big impacts” and big numbers of people. But percentages do matter, and funding of rural projects can make big differences in many states. Find the NCRP report at www.ncrp.org/index.asp.

IN’s Community Focus Funds. Two dozen Hoosier communities will share $12.5 Million in the fifth round of federally-funded grants, 34% of which had local match. The funded programs range from senior citizen centers to water treatment projects. The list is on the IN Office of Community and Rural Affairs Web site at www.in.gov/ocra/newsroom.shtml.

IN Rural Region Economies. When industries that share common markets, suppliers, or workforce skills band together geographically, they stimulate economic development, even in rural areas. That’s the conclusion of a new report done by a federally-funded consortium of university and private groups—Unlocking Rural Competitiveness: The Role of Regional Clusters.

The message of the study is “think bigger,” beyond individual industry specialization in each community. Link related companies in a regional approach to thrive in a global economy. The alliance created the Index of Relative Rurality, a numerical value for each of the nation’s 3,100 counties. It also focused on the possibilities for a southwestern cluster of IN counties.

See www.ibrc.indiana.edu/innovation/reports.html for the full report.

Power Plant Pollution. While life today cannot go on without electricity, its production generates 40% of carbon dioxide, two-thirds of sulfur dioxide, 22% of nitrogen oxides, and one-third of all mercury emissions in the USA. The Environmental Integrity Project just released its report on the nation’s most polluting power plants, and several are in Indiana. Most of the nation’s large power plants are in rural counties.

See www.dirtykilowatts.org/Dirty_Kilowatts2007.pdf for the rankings of the 17 Hoosier power plants.

IN’s Rural Education Systems. The Why Rural Matters 2005 report concluded that it was “very important” for IN policymakers to address the needs of rural schools if the state’s overall educational performance was to improve. In particular, the state was not doing as well as could be expected in light of its relatively low poverty level. Only 3 other states were doing worse than IN. Its assessment is at “States” on the www.ruraledu.org Web site.

A more comprehensive analysis of the challenges facing rural schools is the new Status of Education in Rural America, from the U.S. Dept. of Education. It looks at the 47 million public elementary and secondary school students in four geographic settings. Where are Hoosier kids? 28% are in city schools, 24% in suburban, 18% in town, and 30% in rural schools.

Nationwide, here’s the demographic breakdown of public school K-12 students by type of school district.

See http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/ruraled for more details.

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