The rural poverty topic my group chose to address is a comparison of public education systems located in urban, suburban, and rural counties across the state of Georgia. The counties selected for the research are Fulton, Cobb and Clarke. The purpose of the project is to determine how location, demographics, and legislation influence individual educational resources, experiences, and outcomes for children from low-income families. Education is a topic where there are so many factors and variables that contribute to narrowing down the search is difficult. For starters, individual county demographics are essential to understanding the student population from raw data. Statistics such as population, average annual salary, spending per child and financial budgets add perspective on what counties have in terms of financial resources. Another critical consideration is the percentage of minority students. Non-English speaking and special education students require a higher level of resources and greater financial commitment from education systems. Schools with high minority populations also have lower overall parental income, resulting in increases in free and reduced lunches and breakfasts. Food insecurity, family stressors, unsafe environments and lack of support systems are key contributors to children's educational deficits. Other important factors to consider are the availability of parental involvement, extracurricular activities and programs, and local, state, and federal legislation. During the visit to the schools, attention was focused on the evaluation of the individual school structures and the area in which they are located. I visited Cobb County Title I schools located in Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgi...... middle of paper.... ...in these areas were unusually well maintained. Another curious observation is the fact that laundry hanging on the line and other signs of occupancy were evident, yet there were no children outside playing on a stunningly beautiful Saturday midday. On this particular day, an event took place at the University that brought a large number of former students and families to campus. Interestingly, there were few to no minorities present other than college-aged students when the public school system in the area is made up of 90% minority children. The residents are nowhere to be seen. The entire scenario is enough to raise serious concerns about the politics of the area. More research is needed to fully interpret the information, and I look forward to learning more about the education system in rural Clarke County, urban Fulton County, and suburban Cobb County.