Our thanks to Sen. Susan Collins, along with a bipartisan group of 19 Senate colleagues, for securing a one-year delay in changes to a federal  education program that serves the most rural, needy students in our country.

A U.S. Education Department decision meant over 800 rural schools were set to lose funding next year, including 105 of 150 eligible Maine schools. Through her efforts, funding will continue while a legislative fix is in progress. This program, established in 2002 by legislation sponsored by Sens. Collins and Kent Conrad, provides direct funding to rural schools in an effort to support student educational achievement efforts.

The U.S. Department of Education finally saw the folly of this decision and reversed the change. A job well done.

Jerry White

North Haven