Rural Education Investment Act

HR 3213, the Rural Education Investment Act, creates grants to establish teaching residency programs in rural school districts. It defines "rural local educational agencies" as schools meeting criteria under existing federal programs (Small, Rural School Achievement or Rural and Low-Income School Programs). The bill requires that a minimum percentage of grant funds - based on the proportion of K-12 students in rural areas - must be awarded to partnerships involving these rural schools. This directly affects rural school districts and their higher education partners seeking to train and retain teachers.