In rural Oregon, the one-school, 240-student K-12 Perrydale school district faces the possibility of consolidation with another school district. Oregon's Ballot Measure 5, passed in 1991, reduced property taxes to equally low levels around the state, drying up much of the locally raised money that is the lifeblood of school districts. In addition…

Many school districts in sparsely populated areas of the Midwest and West are contending with dwindling enrollments. Nevertheless, small communities such as Robinson, North Dakota, are resisting pressure from the state and neighboring districts to merge with other school systems. A graph depicts North Dakota enrollment since 1963. Arguments for…

Describes how community members from Newburgh, New York, successfully battled against a school board proposal that called for expanding the town's high school to an enrollment of over 3,000 students. Rejects the notion that "bigger is better" and criticizes state funding formulas that create large schools by offering higher reimbursement…