Rural and low-income schools

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education awarded $12.38 million through the Rural Education program (CFDA 84.358) to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the period of July 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. This formula grant supports the Rural and Low-Income Schools (RLIS) program, which provides financial assistance to rural school districts to improve the quality of teaching and learning in their schools. As the State Educational Agency (SEA), TEA will distribute these funds through subgrants to eligible Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) throughout Texas that meet specific rural and low-income criteria—specifically, LEAs where at least 20 percent of school children ages 5-17 come from families below the poverty line and all schools are designated as rural by the National Center for Education Statistics using established locale codes.

The RLIS program enables participating LEAs to carry out activities designed to enhance educational resources, infrastructure, and instructional capabilities within rural communities. TEA will distribute the subgrants either competitively or by formula to eligible school districts and charter schools. These investments support comprehensive educational improvements including enhanced teaching quality, expanded instructional resources, infrastructure development, and other initiatives addressing the unique challenges faced by rural school districts with small student populations or sparse geographic distribution.