LM May.2021_FINAL

A

Without question, it is salaries and benefits. On average, high school teachers make more than their elementary colleagues. Given the practice

The window for seeing any significant savings due to consolidation efforts is incredibly small. A huge percentage of school districts underwent consolidation in the second half of the 20th Century following WWII. The vast majority of schools operating prior to WWII were one-room schoolhouses that served a small population of students. Following the baby boom and large growth in population, those districts and schools were replaced by larger, more centralized school districts that we are more familiar with today. The end result was that, by 1970, 90 percent of school districts across the country had been consolidated and nearly two- thirds of schools were eliminated due to consolidation efforts. Although the consolidation rate slowed significantly over the past few decades, the majority of districts that would have benefited from consolidation already have done so. This leaves only a small percentage of remaining districts in which consolidation would be financially beneficial. In fact, some research I found indicated that our larger districts in the state may be too large and could even benefit from de-consolidation.

that consolidating school districts adopt the higher of the salary schedules, this equates to a massive increase in spending. Our Illinois policy makers recognize these higher salaries as a major obstacle and do offer salary incentives to consolidating school districts. Unfortunately, those incentives are only for four years and the long-term impact on district finances can simply be too difficult to overcome.

Q

Another argument for consolidation is stronger

academic programming. What did your research find about how consolidation impacts student achievement?

A

According to the research, this should be the major consideration for school districts that are considering consolidation. This is not saying

and elementary districts? Q

What are the biggest challenges with consolidating high school

that smaller districts cannot offer great programming and resources for students, because they certainly can. However, continued... 7 LM May 2021