Consolidation of rural school districts.
The trend nationally has been to combine smaller rural school districts together in order to form larger school districts. The argument for such action has been to increase the efficiency of school districts and thus save taxpayers money.
Have the efforts to consolidate school districts actually lead to more efficiency?
Have new issues and/or cost factors been created through the consolidation of rural school districts?
Are there other options to improve school district efficiency besides making the district larger?
Are there any negative impact on students from the consolidation of smaller rural school districts into larger districts?
March 24th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I have heard a great deal about what Governonr Huckabee has done for Arkansas with his consolidation of school districts. When I went to research this information, I found a lot of information about this topic that was very slanted. One paper that I found did at least address both sides of the discussion, however, it still remains a position paper. This paper can be found at http://aracre.org/frompunishmenttopartnership.doc
March 24th, 2008 at 10:31 am
When small school districts are combined, the communities begin to lose their sense of self. Then, as efficacy levels begin to wane in each group, internal conflict becomes external conflict. Although strong leadership helps bridge the gap, there is personal, historical foundation that loses its grip. The results are not always positive. There is also the significant loss of small class size if the consolidation is too large. There are often co-ops that help small school districts economically and systemically such as special-education coops and training coops. These provide small schools with services they might not be able to afford as a single entity, however, in the coop it’s possible. The point it, it is possible to achieve cooperative relationships for the benefit of all children without sacrificing the culture and efficacy of each community.