Mr. Speaker. today I am introducing legislation to amend chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. dealing with the migrant education program. Under the migrant education program State education agencies are eligible to receive annual Department of Education grants to help meet the special education needs of migrant agricultural workers or migratory fishermen. Migrant students are those who travel with their families to pursue agricultural or fishing employment across school district lines for a temporary period of time. However. in Alaska. although we have a large migrant fishing population. many of the students are not eligible for migrant education assistance due to the immense size of many of our school districts. For example. the North Slope Borough School District is the size of the State of Utah with a population of only about 5.000 persons. Migrant students in Alaska often travel over 100 miles up river or out to sea to fish but never cross another school district line or even see another school or village. During this time. these students lose valuable classroom instruction. Rural education is a great concern of mine.
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migrant Migrant