With cuts to nearly all the staff at the Department of Education's primary data agency, low-income and rural schools may not get the federal funds they rely on in coming years.
The isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic are driving the dramatic drop in numbers, threatening the already precarious economies of these areas and widening their socioeconomic drift.
Many American schools are back in class via distance learning. It's stressful everywhere but especially in rural districts where most students lack high-speed Internet and cell phone service at home.
