Rural residents oppose Iowa school consolidation

As states consider ways to offset budget shortfalls in the recession, school consolidation is among the money-saving options. As usual, many rural residents are voicing their opposition. "A school consolidation proposal fell flat Tuesday with rural Iowans, who picked apart everything from its focus on Iowa's smallest districts to the big-city state lawmaker who backs it," reports The Des Moines Register.

The plan would reduce the number of school districts to 144, from 362. "People are very reluctant to give up their schools," Steffen Schmidt, an Iowa State University political science professor, told the Register. "It means you lose your team, your community identity, everything that makes people happy to pay taxes because it's their school that gets lost."

While rural residents argue that small classes help students learn, proponents of consolidation worry that the smaller school districts could shortchange students. "Small schools often can't afford to hire qualified teachers in certain subjects and to offer a broader menu of classes, both of which are designed to give students the boost they need for life after high school," write reporters Staci Hupp and Jennifer Jacobs. Rural Iowans point out that rural school achievement scores are higher than those in Des Moines. (Read more)