School finance and school consolidation concepts have been researched to great lengths in previous studies on school finance and increasing spending efficiency. This quantitative research study seeks to identify variables in school district finance while evaluating school consolidation to better evaluate potential financial efficiencies at the…

Some school districts have centralized school operations as a means to ensure universal access to schools of choice. Yet, centralization can infringe on charter school autonomy. We explore how district and charter school leaders in three contexts perceive and negotiate the trade-offs between centralized versus school-based autonomy. We find that…

This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of school leaders who worked through the processes of school mergers in New York State. The central research question that guided the study was: What are the lived experiences of school leaders who worked through the processes of a school merger? In addition,…

This paper evaluates economies of scale and scope, and the merger effect among national universities in Japan. We apply SUR for the total translog cost function in FY2014 and FY2018. The main results are: (i) there exist economies of scale as a whole university; (ii) but there exist no clear economies of scope except for in research; (iii) there…

School district consolidation is one of the most widespread education reforms of the last century, but surprisingly little research has directly investigated its effectiveness. To examine the impact of consolidation on student achievement, this study takes advantage of a policy that requires the consolidation of all Arkansas school districts with…

The mission of all primary schools includes offering all pupils educational quality and equality. Municipalities struggle with the negative consequences of school segregation, and some local councils decide to implement extensive changes in their school organization to offer all pupils equal opportunities. This study analyzes the experiences of…

This paper engages with an innovative approach to school consolidation in regional New South Wales, Australia. Adopting a 'one school, two sites' model, it is argued that this innovative approach to school consolidation requires new theoretical resources to understand 'the school'. Theoretically informed by Eacott's relational approach and drawing…

This embedded mixed methods case study described the decision-making influences relevant to Wisconsin rural school district's consolidation. In 2015, Wisconsin's K-12 schools experienced financial cuts that were amongst the largest in the country. As a result, school district interest in consolidation was a natural topic of discussion for many of…

In rural Canada the issue of school closures and consolidations due to low enrollment and heightened fiscal constraints has become a contentious and highly charged issue for citizens and communities. This literature review synthesizes the major effects of school closure on rural communities, identifying economic impacts, social impacts, and…

In 2009, a major metropolitan urban school district in Southeastern Michigan, under state emergency management, implemented a massive school restructuring plan affecting 100+ elementary, middle, and high schools. The consequences of the plan included a high turnover rate of staff and students, violence at local school campuses, low morale among…

This study examines how student achievement changes following a transfer to a newly opened school. Using comprehensive data on students and teachers from Michigan schools that opened or closed between the 2010-11 and 2018-19 school years, the study employs event study models to evaluate changes in student outcomes as the local supply of schools…

The authors argue that from the perspective of distributive justice, school district fragmentation--meaning both the existing reality of hyper-proliferated school districts and the practice of further breaking larger districts into smaller ones--produces three distinct injustices. First, it undermines racial solidarity and the bonds of community.…

As schools have been required to provide more and more services and as more and more people have left rural areas, school consolidation has become the answer. During the 1990s, it was ruled that the state of public school funding was unconstitutional. To solve this problem the state legislature passed Act 60 of 2003. Act 60 set the minimum…

School district consolidation has been a trend throughout the United States as state departments of education are mandating that nearby school districts consolidate with other nearby districts. This trend is being mandated in an effort to decrease funds being spent by having many small districts. This includes funds being spent on salaries and…

In December of 2012 administrators for the University of Texas (UT) System announced a proposed merger of University of Texas-Brownsville and the University of Texas-Pan American "with an eye toward securing increased state funds and potentially building a medical school." The status of University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) and…