States and schools still battle over consolidation

The number of independent school districts in the U.S. shrank nearly 90 percent between 1942 and 2012—from 108,579 school districts to 12,880. But almost all the decrease occurred in the first 30 years of that period; in the last 40, there have been many fewer consolidations despite continued state incentives for districts that merge and penalties for those that don't. Maggie Clark reports for Stateline, "For states, consolidating school districts can mean fewer buildings to maintain and lower administrative costs. For communities, consolidation can mean long bus rides for students, losing budgetary control and even a loss of community history." (Heritage Foundation map; for an interactive map of school districts by state, click here)

Two weeks ago, voters in the Seneca Falls school district near the Finger Lakes in upstate New York rejected a move to consolidate with neighboring Waterloo, Clark notes. "New York offers consolidating school districts a 40 percent increase in their state aid, freezing the amount based on their aid for the 2006-2007 school year, plus money for new buildings. Had Seneca Falls and Waterloo merged, they would have seen an additional $43 million in state aid over the next 14 years." Kent Gardner, chief economist at the Center For Governmental Research in Rochester, told Clark, “The actual savings from these plans is usually just a fraction of the property-tax bill, so it’s difficult to vote for doing a radical and risky thing for something that often amounts to $20 or $30 in savings."

"Kansas guarantees that consolidating districts will get the full amount of both individual districts’ state aid for five years after a merger," Clark writes. "Consolidation in rural districts in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains region meant long bus rides and moving middle and high school students onto the same campuses." And Maine, with the highest rural population percentage in the country, has been pushed the hardest to consolidate. In 2007, then Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation ordering Maine’s 290 school districts to consolidate into just 80 districts or face penalties. From 2007-2012, the state lost 58 districts. (Read more)

The Rural School and Community Trust advocates for rural schools. Its website is here.