Current means of determining the level of state education funding have denied millions of the nation's children access to a quality education by not providing schools with the resources they need to properly educate all children. It has also created and perpetuated wide gaps in education funding between wealthy and poor school districts. The concept of "educational adequacy" seeks to reverse this process by first determining the resources schools and students need to meet high education standards and then matching sufficient state and local funding with those needs. To explore this notion, the Rural Trust convened five leading state-level rural advocacy organizations. These organizations, collectively referred to as the Rural Equity Collaborative Group (REC Group), are geographically diverse and possess extensive knowledge about rural communities, grassroots people, schools, and education in their states. The REC Group was asked to explore ten key questions: (1) Does money matter in the process of educating children?; (2) How great is the need for accountability and capacity building in a high quality education system?; (3) Are small rural schools cost effective?; (4) What are the unique characteristics of rural communities that should be considered in discussions about education quality?; (5) What fundamental principles underlie a high quality state education funding system?; (6) Are there better ways to convey the concept of "educational adequacy" to rural people and communities?; (7) How essential is community involvement in determining educational "adequacy?"; (8) What are the component parts of a "high quality" or "first rate" rural education program and do they cost more than in other schools?; (9) Do existing state supplemental funding programs sufficiently reflect the higher costs of running rural schools?; and (10) How should state education funding systems be structured to reflect the higher costs of operating rural schools? Their findings and conclusionsare presented in this document. Includes appendix: Summary of Four Leading Approaches to Determine the Adequate Level of Funding for School Districts. (Contains 50 footnotes.)