Bennet Tours New Prairie Public School Facility

Meets with Students, Teachers, School Officials to Discuss Challenges Facing Rural Schools

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today toured the new P-12 Prairie Public School, visited with students and teachers, and met with the Superintendents Advisory Group, Superintendent Joe Kimmel, and other regional school officials.

Bennet and the school officials discussed the unique challenges rural schools confront, including limited resources and funding and difficulty attracting teachers. Prairie Public School received a Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant in 2012 from the Colorado Department of Education to construct the new facility and better serve rural students.

“Schools across rural Colorado are working hard to provide our kids with a quality education even with the distinctive challenges they face,” Bennet said. “Meeting with local school officials is a great opportunity to talk about these obstacles and to discuss how we can make positive changes that will prepare our kids for college and careers in the 21st-century economy. It's great to see how the Prairie Public School has put its BEST grant to work with this beautiful new facility.”

As former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Senator Bennet has been a champion for improving our education system with locally-driven ideas that empower our teachers and principals. In June, during committee debate of the bill to fix No Child Left Behind, he introduced an amendment to create an office within the U.S. Department of Education that would ensure rural schools and districts have a voice during the rule-making and implementation process.

This event is part of Bennet’s tour of the Eastern Plains to highlight issues facing the region and discuss federal legislation that significantly affects rural Coloradans, including the bill to fix No Child Left Behind and the bipartisan immigration and farm bills.