Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the state\u2019s legislators are considering the consolidation<\/a> of school districts in order to save the state money. Quinn has stated that there are 270 school superintendents who make salaries higher than that of the Governor. Quinn is planning to place Lt. Governor Sheila Simon in charge of this effort, due to her experience as an educator and concern for the school system.<\/p>\n Illinois Senate President John Cullerton is on record as favoring the addition of incentives<\/a> to sweeten the deal for local districts that are merging. This might include building a new school for two districts that merge, or paying off the debt of a school to make it more attractive as a merger partner.<\/p>\n The Governor\u2019s office notes that the incentive model<\/a> has been tried in the past with only limited success, presumably leaving the state with forced consolidation as the primary method.<\/p>\n There are several considerations with the school consolidation issue that do not seem to have gotten the attention of the decision makers, or perhaps they would just rather not talk about them. Proponents of consolidation always mention the savings, but it should be noted that some costs will go up, not down. Governor Quinn has proposed lowering the transportation budget for the districts at the same time that students will have to travel longer distances to get to their classes. These costs will continue to rise as the cost of gasoline rises, which seems likely to continue over the long term.<\/p>\n In areas where school consolidation has occurred, it has been noted that cons for larger schools include a loss of personalization for students whether troubled or gifted. There is also the problem of uprooting children from schools where they are established and putting them in a larger milieu they may be poorly prepared to deal with, particularly important for more rural areas. Many communities will fight to maintain local control over their schools, and will resent any effort to remove or weaken their influence on their children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n Even if there are many administrators who make more than the Governor, they will not be the only layoffs to occur as a result of consolidation. The economic impact to local communities from this lost revenue is another blow to economies already hard hit.<\/p>\n The New Rules Project<\/a> has documented advantages of small schools, including improved dropout rates, higher grades and higher rates of college attendance. The \u201ccost savings\u201d of larger schools are only apparent if the results are ignored. If we consider the goal of schools to be improving the lives of students, enabling them to be better citizens, and earning higher incomes (therefore paying higher taxes) then smaller schools are actually much more cost effective than larger schools. All of that is before you even begin to factor in such things as \u201csense of community\u201d or physical safety which can be difficult to quantify, but that we know are greatly enhanced in smaller schools.<\/p>\n Parental involvement is much greater for smaller schools than for larger schools. This factor is picked up on by children who value education higher when they see their parents taking a personal interest in it. The attendance rates of smaller schools are higher than the larger schools, attesting to the sense of community felt by students of the smaller schools.<\/p>\n Many studies have attested to the negative impact of poverty on educational prospects of students. Many are unaware that this is mitigated in smaller schools; in fact reducing the size of the school is directly tied to improved outcomes for the students whose families are in poverty!<\/p>\n