LM May.2021_FINAL

Q A

What is the biggest misunderstanding about school

Consolidation... cont’d.

consolidation in Illinois?

• Superintendents disagree with the perception that consolidation would negatively impact student and staff relationships, student discipline, graduation rates and drop-out rates. • Superintendents agreed that the state should implement a run-out period of additional support to help offset the costs of increased salaries and benefits following the initial four-year period. They also believed the state should provide additional funding to help offset the one- time costs that consolidating districts often face.

Well, one is the actual term itself. We often use the term consolidation in place of “school district reorganization,” but in reality consolidation is only one of eleven different scenarios school districts can use to reorganize. I feel the biggest misconception though is that consolidation will magically solve our financial problems - whether at the district level or state level. Supporters of consolidation often state that cutting superintendent costs will save money. Cutting administrator costs was the rationale even used by former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn nearly a decade ago when he proposed to eliminate two-thirds of Illinois Schools through forced consolidation. He believed that Illinois taxpayers would save $100 million, but in reality his proposal would have cost the state an estimated $3 billion (per the Classrooms First Commission report released in 2012). Sure, reducing the number of superintendents will save money in one line item, but those savings are dwarfed by increased expenses in salaries and benefits, transportation, one-time building and facility costs and more middle-level administrators and staff. The last misconception I think is important to note is this idea that “Illinois has too many school districts.” There is no question that 852 is a large number of districts. However, that statistic needs to be put in perspective. Although Illinois ranks 5th in the nation in number of school districts, we also rank 5th in total student enrollment. Therefore, the number of districts may not be as high as some may think. People in favor of consolidation always tout it as one way districts can save money and lower property taxes. However, IASA and many others strongly disagree with that claim. What did you research find about cost savings? Q

Q A

What surprised you the most when you researched this issue?

I think what surprised me the most was just how split superintendent perceptions were depending on the demographic makeup of their school. In general, I found that superintendents from rural, smaller enrollment districts and elementary districts rated the perceived benefits of consolidation much lower than their colleagues from suburban/urban areas, larger enrollment, and either high school or unit districts. Vice versa, superintendents from rural, smaller enrollment districts, and elementary districts rated the perceived liabilities of consolidation much higher than their colleagues from suburban/urban areas, larger enrollment, and either high school or unit districts. During my literature review, I found David McMillan’s Psychological Sense of Community theory that was first published in the late 1970’s. McMillan touches on the feeling of belonging and sense of security members of a community have that makes consolidation efforts so hard to overcome in our communities across the state. I believe superintendents are definitely important parts of their communities, but we are also in positions to truly understand the impact consolidation can have on our schools. If we as superintendents are this divided in our thinking and support, then can you imagine how incredibly difficult it is for communities across this diverse state to agree on what consolidation can or cannot do? It is virtually impossible, and I feel is all the more reason that consolidation decisions must be made at the local levels.

A

Literature and prior research would tend to agree with IASA in that regard. I don’t want to repeat everything I just mentioned above, but I would also add this.

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LM May 2021