E56: Rural Schools Matter: The community and economic impact of public schools in rural communities | Mara Tieken, author & educator in ME

This episode is sponsored by New Hampshire’s Monadnock Region. Home to five state parks, thousands of acres of pristine lakes, a flourishing arts scene, and Mount Monadnock, the most climbed mountain the U.S. Natural beauty and bustling downtowns await, just a two-hour drive from Boston. Every Urban Exodus begins with an urban escape, and yours is Within Thriving Distance. Visit MonadnockNH.com today.I am excited to invite you to my conversation with Mara Tiekan. Mara is an Associate Professor of Education at Bates College.  Her writing and research focuses on racial and educational equity in rural America. Her book, Why Rural Schools Matter, is an ethnographic study of two rural Arkansas communities that examines the roles that schools play in rural towns. Mara’s interest in rural education began while working for a small school in Tennessee. There, she was able to witness first hand the experience of a struggling rural public school, but also the school’s integral place in the community. She noticed that unique issues regarding rural education were often overlooked in political reform, and education research and schooling. In our conversation we speak about the impacts of school closures and consolidations in rural America, how rural schools have weathered Covid, the lasting ramifications of segregation and discrimination in public schooling, the blind spots that legislatures have when it comes to rural education and funding, the economic and social value of public schools in rural communities, and why everyone should be paying attention to the issues facing rural education.Mara's work has been published in the Review of Educational Research, Harvard Educational Review, American Educational Research Journal, Peabody Journal of Education, and Sociological Focus.Support the showSign up for  Apple Podcasts premium or our Patreon Membership for ad-free listening, rapid-fire guest interviews & our new mini-pod Ditch the City. urbanexodus.com | @theurbanexodus | buy the book