34 Comments - Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:09 am: WI actually has more systems per capita than IL does. - Roman - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:09 am: One of the easiest way to consolidate is to statutorily require coterminous elementary and high school districts to merge into unit districts. - Romeo - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:10 am: (In 2012) So Florida had - JohnnyPyleDriver - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:16 am: I’m missing context here. Why is this sorry? - PJ - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:17 am: It’s especially comical since CPS is one of the biggest districts in the nation. So a large chunk of our population is in one school district, and the other 10 million are split into 904. Apparently downstate really likes subdividing everything from schools to counties into minuscule parts. - phocion - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:21 am: Shouldn’t we have consolidated districts before shoveling piles more cash into public schools? - DownstateKid - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:26 am: So many downstate school districts should be merging, cutting overheard and being more prudent with spending. Will parent’s freak out? Yes. Is it necessary? Absolutely. Will it be done? In the words of Mr. Trump “in two weeks”. - Anonymous - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:27 am: I’m wondering the same as JohnnyPyleDriver. What point is being made here? If consolidation is the point, don’t people freak out that CPS is one massive giant of consolidation? Is there a point to be made about local control? I’m not sure why this is posted. - Eugene - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:31 am: Big deal. The savings from school district consolidation would be pretty modest - dwarfed by the state’s revenue needs. Plus, as pointed out above, we have fewer districts per capita than Wisconsin, which the Right loves to hold out as a model. - IllinoisBoi - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:33 am: Do note that California and Texas — and even New York* — contain large regions with very low population density, and very few school districts. Illinois has some rural areas with very low population density, but nothing like those the plains and mountains and deserts in those states. But it’s clear Illinois has more districts than necessary. *The Adirondacks in NY are pretty much a wilderness. - Hamlet's Ghost - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:37 am: == Shouldn’t we have consolidated districts before shoveling piles more cash into public schools? == It would be worthwhile to compare the tax rates of K-12 unit districts with K-8 plus the overlapping high school districts. In DuPage County I believe for both D86 & D99 the combined rate (K-8 + 9/12) is lower than any of the unit districts in the county. - RNUG - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:46 am: So … is local control (WI, IL) a good or bad thing when compared to massive consolidation (FL) and very high consolidation (CA)? - A guy - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:47 am: Doing a little comparative math in my head, it appears like we have 250-300 more than the norm. That sounds about right. - Joe M - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:59 am: ==Apparently downstate really likes subdividing everything from schools to counties into minuscule parts. == It is a little more complicated than that. The life and blood of many small towns is its school. Much of the towns identity and social life is tied to the school. Oddly enough, many of these small town school districts are in better financial shape than their large district counterparts. That is another reason many of the small districts see no need to merge. - Interim Retiree - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:01 pm: Larger does not always mean leaner or better. Many small elementary districts have a combination Principal/Superintendent. Salaries are usually lower in elementary districts than the corresponding high school or unit districts. Also, the larger the district, the tougher it is to contact the Superintendent. School boards are easier to contact as well. Some consolidations make sense - others do not, especially if the state will not provide incentives. In some areas, it’s the same for townships. No easy solution. - Ron - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:03 pm: No surprise, Illinois is expert at wasteful spending. - Silent Budgeteer - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:09 pm: The Florida Department of Education website shows 67 public school districts (each county is a school district) and seven special districts (six university lab schools and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine); it’s been that way since I was a child. I’m not sure how the Census Bureau got to 95. - Decaf Coffee Party - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:19 pm: There are many factors to weigh when talking about school consolidation. Facility capacity, transportation issues such as length of bus rides, the fact that all teachers end up being paid according to the highest contract of the districts consolidated, and the difference in district tax rates to mention a few. Often, according to studies, the overall cost go up, not down. And so do class sizes. Shared services and the use of technology sometimes end up being better solutions. - Silent Budgeteer - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:43 pm: Joe M makes a good point; there have been multiple attempted consolidations that have failed at referendum in large part due to one district’s residents being fearful of the debt/poor financial shape of the other district. - the Cardinal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:44 pm: Who cares how many what’s the Output of these districts apples to apples would be good this tells no story only that we have more admins etc that some other places Results matter in education. - Demoralized - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:47 pm: Everyone is for consolidation unless it’s their school district. Communities are fiercely protective of their schools. And, if you consolidate transportation costs are going to skyrocket. We’ve seen how reliable the state has been in funding those costs. - Last Bull Moose - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:48 pm: Agree with Decaf. Shared services and technology can cut costs and improve outcomes. Travel distances can become absurd. The trick is finding districts willing to both manage and innovate. For this smaller can be better. - Arizona Bob - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 1:09 pm: I don’t see how you can ever consolidate separate HS and K-8 schools given that salary schedules for HS teachers is so generally so much higher. You can bet they won’t take a pay cut to get down to “unit district” rates. You can achieve most if the savings through shared facility, business, procurement, special education, transportation, curriculum, textbook and clerical services, but too often those are patronage jobs schools don’t want to give up. Also, onlikne learning could make a big difference for rural students fro things like AP classes, but it rarely happens. - Doug - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 1:21 pm: More entities, more opportunities for graft and corruption. - Aldyth - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 1:26 pm: You’d be amazed how many consolidations in rural areas are torpedoed over the risk that someone’s kid won’t make the football team. - ZC - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 1:47 pm: Closing schools for any reason unites Chicagoans and Downstaters: never popular. That said, there are plenty of good reasons to do it at times. While we’re at it, could we also abolish a few water districts? And townships? The list goes on and on … - anon2 - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 2:06 pm: Significant consolidation must be mandated. A voluntary approach doesn’t work, for reasons listed previously. The legislature has been averse to such a requirement. So long as that’s true, Illinois will continue to have an inordinate number of districts. - anon2 - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 2:09 pm: It’s not just downstate. 3. Skokie with a population of 65K has 5 elementary districts that send their grads to a 6th h.s. district. River Grove with 10,668 residents has 2 elementary districts. About 220 districts have just one school. In fiscal year 2014, less than 1 percent of all Florida school district spending covered general administration costs—about $78 per pupil. Compared to 4% in Illinois that year — about $518 per pupil. - Demoralized - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 4:31 pm: ==onlikne learning could make a big difference for rural students fro things like AP classes, but it rarely happens.== You have to have technology to do that. You want to buy the computers these kids will need? - Anonymous - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 4:55 pm: Bottom line is that people want local control of their schools. They also want a community school. Not that long ago, home, school and church were the anchors of our society. Home and church (for some) have fallen by the wayside. Schools are doing more of what those two used to do for kids. So, no corporatizing is desired by many. - Last Bull Moose - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 5:31 pm: Computers are cheap. Busses cost money. - Lynn S. - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 6:27 pm: Computers and online learning don’t work so well when your small, rural high school refuses to provide them. Or you happen to be a student in a school that does have computers, but no access to broadband. - anon - Tuesday, Oct 17, 17 @ 3:13 pm: Our county is one school district. We have a K-12 at the south end of the county, and a grade school in the north part of the county. There has been talk in the past of combining the grade school with the K-12, but more class rooms would need to be built. Also, the small town that the grade school is located in would probably disappear if it closes. It is the largest employer in the town. There are practically no other businesses in town any longer. - Paul - Tuesday, Oct 17, 17 @ 3:55 pm: I would guess this is the result of tax caps. The district is capped; but an elementary district and a high school district could raise more than one district confined to CPI or 5% - whatever is less. It is also an explaination for unit of governments. When one unit is capped; they create a second unit for the service - i.e. mosquito abatement districts. Thus, this unit is taxes and provides a service when the main unit of government can’t afford it. It’s not rocket science. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.