"Gerrymandering" is known best as a tool to manipulate boundaries for voting districts, but school districts have long used the same tool to manipulate school boundaries. The author used geospatial techniques--mapping various kinds of demographic data onto school boundaries--to examine public school attendance zones and their effect on…

The 1968 Spainhower Commission planned extensive changes in the organization of public education in Missouri, proposing larger, comprehensive districts throughout the state. Intended to increase efficiency and reduce inequities, its reform proposals spurred widespread opposition from both rural and suburban communities. In the suburbs hostility…

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…

Position papers on planning for school district organization were prepared for the project staff of the Great Plains School District Organization Project, a four-state study. A total of 104 studies and reports were prepared by personnel from secondary schools, institutions of higher learning, State Departments of Education, and related educational…

In one Missouri farming community, school district consolidation threatens the existence of the town's only school and the town itself. The school is the area's largest employer, and it carries the town's history. Though consolidation is not being forced, the financial burden of supporting the school is overwhelming. (SM)

This document contains the 1991-92 report on the Missouri public school system. Following an organizational chart of the State Board of Education and information on the State Board, part 1 presents highlights of education-related events that occurred during the 1991-92 school year. It contains an overview of state legislation that dealt with the…

The Great Plains School District Organization Project, approved by the State Boards of Education in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota and financed by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, had two objectives: (1) To strengthen the State Departments of Education, and (2) to seek ways and means of strengthening the Departments…

Small rural school districts in Missouri with low pupil/teacher ratios generate a small amount of revenue per teacher, pay low teacher salaries, and draw a large amount of salary supplement money per teacher. Suggests that districts reorganize into larger units, thereby increasing teacher pay and reducing the need for teacher salary supplement…

MANY FACTORS ARE RELATED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OPTIMUM SIZE FOR SCHOOL ORGANIZATION. BEFORE A STATE CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION OF SIZE, IT SHOULD PERHAPS FIRST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS--WHAT DO WE WANT THE STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO ACCOMPLISH, AND WHAT ARE THE STRUCTURAL ALTERNATIVES THAT WILL BE BEST FOR OUR STATE. WHEN THESE ARE ANSWERED, SIZE THEN…

Plans and procedures are described for providing equal access to educational opportunity for all children in Missouri. Historical development of school district organization in the State is traced. The need for further school district reorganization is examined, and methods of achieving effective organization are evaluated. A recommended statewide…

The impact of recent technological, social, and economic change has necessitated a re-examination of educational structure, and has resulted in school district reorganization projects in many states. The purposes of this paper are to review the various legislative techniques employed by 33 states in their attempts to merge or reorganize school…

By means of a case study of the Saint Louis, Missouri school desegregation and reorganization program, administrative procedures for avoiding desegregation or creating an appearance of compliance are discussed. The strategies used include public relations, inbreeding of staff, coopting and/or dividing citizen action, and stalling for time. (MH)