Today's Our View in the Idaho Statesman states, "Consolidating school districts must be a consideration in these tough times."
A brief history of the consolidation of the Riggins School District with the Grangeville School District and then the "deconsolidation" of the two might be a case study worth review. Distance, different time zones,diverse needs and equity were some of the issues that locals could tell you about. It is seldom as simple as it seems.
There truly might be ways to reduce some costs for services and purchasing if districts were to join some of these functions. But these would have to result from a case by case review and cost reductions may not result in the long run.
As for administrative costs, I return to a previous perspective, "It is counter intuitive to me to call for school consolidation to reduce administrative costs while some are calling for the elimination of the caps on the number of charter schools." I support schools of choice. There should be a variety of educational options for students. I know if school districts received the same funding for magnet schools as charter schools receive, more options would result.
If we want to consolidate something....how about highway districts.
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