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Team Represents Rural MN Education in Washington, DC

By April 12, 2026No Comments

Team Represents Rural MN Education in Washington, DC

To advocate for Greater Minnesota education, MREA joined thirteen other rural state associations in the National Rural Education Association (NREA) Day on the Hill 2026. 

NREA affiliates join together annually for Hill Day in Washington, DC, to advocate for the issues impacting rural communities. In 2026, over 20 advocates made the journey, and together visited over 60 congressional offices to speak on rural issues. 

“NREA Hill Day reflects the strength of rural advocacy in action. Our members showed up prepared, informed, and committed to ensuring that the needs and lived experiences of rural schools were clearly represented in conversations with congressional offices and in the national education agenda,”  said Melissa Sadorf, NREA Executive Director.

MREA Board members Karla Beck and Melissa Sunderman along with Interim Executive Director Fred Nolan were among the 20 advocates. The MREA team made office visits to Sen. Klobuchar, and Reps. Craig, Emmer, Finsted, Morrison, Stauber and had an hour visit with Rep. Fischbach herself. 

MREA’s team advocated for REAP funding, IDEA funding, Secure Rural School (SRS) funding, and shared concerns over Federal Grants to MN schools that were unilaterally canceled by the current administration and the Interagency Agreements to take over functions of the USDOE. 

REAP funding was increased 2.3% for Federal FY ’26 and 33% of Minnesota’s LEA’s receive REAP funds which is good news. 

REAP_Funding

In the NREA Day on the Hill presentations, we learned that the Department of Labor Agreement has taken on $33.3 billion of programs including REAP, Impact Aid, Title I, Title II, English Language Acquisition, Title IV-A, CTE and Adult Education, TRIO, GEAR-UP, HBCUs, Hawkins, and other K-12 & higher ed programs.  This is nearly 2.4 times the FY ‘26 Department of Labor entire budget of $13.7 billion.  When we raised concerns that these funding streams, which schools depend on, could experience difficulties in such a transfer, we received assurances that school districts could reach out their congressional offices for assistance. 

NREA prepared advocacy briefing papers for a number of current issues most impacting rural schools. Click any to view the full one-page summary to become more knowledgeable on these Federal issues affecting your school district and students.

You can advocate directly at the National level now. The US House and Senate are beginning the process for the FY ’27 budget and NREA is looking for written and video testimonials from Superintendents of districts receiving funding from any of these programs:

  • Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP or Title V),
  • Secure Rural Schools Program
  • Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program

NREA needs superintendents to provide information on how their district utilizes this funding with details on who it serves and how. Please see below some examples of what we have used in the past. These vignettes will be published in the FY27 CEF Budget Book from the Committee for Education Funding (CEF). The CEF Budget Book is delivered to all members of Congress and contains specific information about every federal program that impacts education.

In an effort to increase visibility for these programs, we are also hoping to get short video testimonials on these programs or photos to use on social media (this is not a requirement, just an additional option).

Please send your testimonials to NREA Executive Director Melissa Sadorf at melissa@nrea.net 

Examples:

Tuolumne County Schools (TCSOS) in California – a district with 75 students, 70 percent of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged – received about $2,900 in 2022-23 and $3,700 in 2021-22 from Secure Rural Schools (SRS). These funds were used to support library materials for staff, activities, and the instructional media center. Classrooms are at the Gold Ridge Education Center (GREC), which educates incarcerated youth; Tuolumne Learning Center, which educates expelled youth or students who need exceptional needs outside of the normal classroom schedule; and, the Transition class, which educates 18-21-year-olds.

Leland Public School in Leland, Michigan relies on REAP funding to support its MTSS Tier II intervention model. Specifically, the funds pay for a full-time interventionist who coordinates K-5 literacy and math intervention programs. This staff member monitors all student data, develops individualized intervention plans for every student who is functioning below grade level based on their discrete skill needs, and works with teachers to provide targeted instructional strategies to support Tier I instruction. REAP funding is essential and directly related to our student literacy success. 

Mariposa County Schools (CA) will use their SRS funding to send four county/district staff members to the Improvement of Science training. This initiative aims to enhance the district’s improvement capacity by equipping staff with the skills to become improvement coaches. Coaches will support district and school teams in utilizing improvement science to address specific challenges. Additionally, funds will be used to provide self-directed learning stipends for teachers, allowing them to enhance their knowledge and skills in a chosen topic. Another use of funds is to acquire technology resources such as computers, monitors, laptops, and programs, all carefully selected to align with the unique needs of the district and complement capacity-building efforts.