A first-of-its-kind-in-the-nation high school model is making such a tremendous impact in Texas that the Texas State Legislature has just passed a bill to incentivize its replication in rural school districts statewide.

PPI's Reinventing America’s Schools Project (RAS) today released a detailed report titled “Reinventing Rural Education: The Rural Schools Innovation Zone,” specifying the unique challenges rural schools face and how the RSIZ meets those challenges while expanding career pathways and workforce preparation for students.

“Traveling to southern Texas, I saw firsthand how the Rural Schools Innovation Zone prepared its students for success, said report author Tressa Pankovits, Co-Director of Reinventing America’s Schools. “The RSIZ collaboration in Texas should be a blueprint for other rural school districts across the country that aspire to give their students the opportunity to graduate with college credits and industry certifications that qualify them for jobs with family-sustaining wages.

Nearly one in five U.S. students attend a rural school, but rural schools are often left behind in policy discussions due to their unique challenges. Seeking to rectify that, RAS today hosted a delegation of students, educators, and administrators from the RSIZ to travel to Capitol Hill and host a panel discussion where the students shared their experiences possible through the RSIZ.

During their visit to Capitol Hill with PPI, the attendees from the RSIZ also had the opportunity to directly engage with members and staff from their local congressional delegation. Alicia Seagraves, Senior Legislative Assistant for U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (TX-28), attended the event and provided welcoming remarks on behalf of the Congressman’s office. After the event, the RSIZ group and PPI met with U.S. Representative Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34). Both Representatives Cuellar and Gonzalez represent areas of the RSIZ in Congress.