School district boundaries define more than just the area where a certain group of children attends a given set of schools. They also determine the taxing jurisdiction that supports those schools with local property taxes. Big differences in property value can lead to large funding gaps, even between neighboring districts. These disparities in…

Over the past few decades, many state departments of education have taken over low-performing schools or districts as a school turnaround strategy. Recently, that strategy has shifted to creating new districts--managed by the state--that include schools and parts of districts that face challenges in performance. The governance structure brings…

The author's "School District Consolidation Study in 10 Michigan Counties" study was published in August, 2010 by The Education Policy Center at Michigan State University. It was intended to measure the financial impact of consolidation of schools at the county level akin to other states like Virginia, Florida and Maryland. The study was…

School district consolidation enjoys a unique status among strategies to reduce education costs. It promises to cut spending, without lowering service quality, by improving the efficiency of service delivery. In contrast to strategies aimed at lowering employee salaries or benefits--which are hard to avoid when cutting spending in any labor…

In recent years, Michigan has seen a great deal of discussion of consolidation of school districts. In this brief essay, the author hopes to make clear that it is "impossible" to come to a definitive, airtight conclusion that is beyond controversy. School district consolidation, like so many other issues of public policy, is…

As Duncomb and Yinger (2001) have stated, "School consolidation represents the most dramatic change in education governance and management in the United States in the twentieth century. Over 100,000 school districts have been eliminated through consolidation since 1938, a drop of almost 90 percent (NCES 1999, Table 90). This longstanding…

High-poverty schools in rural areas and small towns are under attack from state policy makers who want to consolidate these schools in order to save money. In addition to calls for consolidation, rural schools also are threatened by unfair and inadequate funding formulas.

Few educational responsibilities have greater far-reaching importance to the people of a State than the establishment of a sound local district structure for administering the schools. Keeping that structure adapted to changing conditions in society by reorganization of small ineffective districts into larger administrative units more capable of…

Results of school district reorganization may be viewed in a number of ways. Frequently progress is measured in terms of the number of local districts eliminated by incorporating their territory in larger units. Results may likewise be measured by increases in the number of new districts having certain characteristics of size or other features…

Presents major portions of U.S. District Court Judge Fox's ruling in the Oliver case against the Kalamazoo School Board and the Michigan State Department of Education, among others; the former had voted on July 6, 1971 to abandon an integration plan adopted May 7, 1971. (JM)

This study empirically tests the notion that consolidating smaller public school districts will save taxpayers money. Multiple regression analyses are employed to analyze the relationship between district size and per-pupil expenditures in the state of Michigan, focusing on the five most recent school years for which data are available. The…

PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES HAVE BEEN ORGANIZED IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BOTH WITHIN THE STATES AND FROM STATE TO STATE. IN SOME CASES SCHOOL DISTRICT STRUCTURE IS COTERMINOUS WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL UNITS AND IS "DEPENDENT" ON THEM. HOWEVER, 78 PERCENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS ARE IN "INDEPENDENT" SCHOOL DISTRICTS…

THE 83 INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN MICHIGAN HAVE BEEN RECONFIGURATED AND NOW INCLUDE ONLY 60. INTERMEDIATE DISTRICTS ARE THE MIDDLE ECHELON OF A STATE SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS MADE UP OF A STATE EDUCATION OFFICE, NUMEROUS LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND LESS NUMEROUS INTERMEDIATE DISTRICTS. THESE INTERMEDIATE UNITS ARE SERVING THE OPERATION OF MODERN…

THIS 1962 REPORT CONTAINS THE FINDINGS OF A 2-YEAR ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITIES IN THE DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ALTHOUGH FACTORS ARE EXAMINED WHICH AFFECT THE EDUCATION OF ALL PUPILS, THE REPORT PARTICULARLY FOCUSES ON RACE RELATIONS, DISCRIMINATION, AND THE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISADVANTAGED YOUTH. SPECIFICALLY DISCUSSED ARE…