Legislative Update: District Consolidation

In a more logical world, David Davare's conference presentation would have been unnecessary. (Merger/Consolidation of School Districts: Does it save money and improve student achievement?) But the issue refuses to go away.

A key part of the session was the discussion of several pre-merger studies showing the potential for savings, one of which was produced by Standard & Poor. Not included in that study: the impact of salaries, benefits, transportation or debt service. 

Then, with just a touch of irony, Davare added: "no post-merger studies have documented any savings."

What explains this?

Consider a "trivial" issue such as school mascots. Just think of the controversy, the effort, the administrative time - and the money - that would be expended coming up with new mascots, logos, colors, uniforms and signs for three schools who, by virtue of physical proximity, have probably been fierce rivals for decades. (I think “Bald Raiding Rams” has a nice ring to it; don’t you?)

When the last major state-wide consolidation occurred almost forty years ago, some districts were designated NSDs (Necessarily Small Districts). The necessity was related to geography: do you really want to bus your kids over the mountain in the middle of a western Pennsylvania winter?

Then there are the more substantive issues: teacher contracts that would have to be aligned across the new district – and not just by salary. You would also have to resolve different salary scales (the degree to which experience and education are compensated), benefits, and contract expiration dates. And that’s just one of the employee contracts that would have to be renegotiated. (Which do you think is more likely: would contracts migrate towards to high end or towards the low end of the merging districts?)

On top of that, every district has its own curriculum - would you toss out half your textbooks?  Try to picture a 27-member school board deciding on who the new superintendent would be.

All of this ignores the fact that school districts already have a mechanism that allows them to pool resources: Intermediate Units were created specifically for that purpose. In addition, nothing prevents PDE from assisting those districts who think consolidation might be a good idea.

Overheard at breakfast the next day: if the governor was really serious about this, he wouldn't have waited until the last two years of his administration to bring it up.

It's a waste of everyone's time that we're giving this idea any attention at all.