Few teachers, little money, low test scores: Rural schools in the South

Rural schools in the United States face an abundance of problems: budget cuts, shrinking enrollments, teacher shortages, poor internet.

Nowhere is that more true than in the South. In states like Alabama and Mississippi, around half of all public schools are located in rural areas.

Jackie Mader is the Mississippi bureau chief at The Hechinger Report, a non-profit news organization that covers eduction. She also blogs for EdWeek about rural schools.

Mader joins host Stephen Smith to talk about how rural schools in the South are dealing with these issues.