SCHOOL DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION? Yes? or No?

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn proposed in his budget address  to consolidate the state's 868 school districts down to 300 because it would save $100 million or more in administrative costs. Since there are 3912 public (and charter) schools in Illinois, that idea would seem to make sense. This would mean an average of approximately 13 schools per district. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) supports the plan because right now there are 200 districts with only ONE school in them!

Since there are 247 school superintendents earning more than the governor's $177,000 salary — and 172 earning at least $200,000, it seems like there is a lot of fat that could be trimmed.

Before we make our final decision on where we stand on the issue, let us look at some facts from the 2009-2010 ISBE Annual Report.

Slight increase in the number of public schools. The number of public schools increased slightly from 3,908 in 2001 to 3,912 in 2010. These figures include charter schools and regular public schools which issue school report cards.

Increase in average school size. The average school size increased by about three percent, from 514 in 2001 to 528 in 2010.


Student enrollment declined in 2010. Student enrollment in the regular Illinois public schools increased steadily from 2,007,170 in 2001 to 2,077,856 in 2007, then declined to 2,064,312 in 2010.

Why would there be an increase in the number of schools and an increase in the average school size, if student enrollment declined? Those facts really have nothing to do with consolidating school districts, but I always get suspicious when I see numbers that make no sense. It makes me question other statistics we are told about schools.


So if Illinois consolidates school districts the taxpayers could save a lot of money, right? Wrong! The reason is that if two districts combine, teachers in the lower-paying district get their salary raised to the higher paying district’s level!


An Associated Press story on the subject said, “As an example, Palatine could be a target for consolidation with its seven elementary school districts feeding into one high school district. The Illinois Association of School Boards estimates that merging those districts would save $1.6 million in administrative salaries but cost at least $10 million in higher pay for elementary teachers.” That is because, according to Quinn spokeswoman Kelly Kraft, “Illinois law requires the state to make up the salary difference between districts when a merger takes place. She said the governor wants a commission to determine how to accomplish that.” AP reported that Kraft had no comment on how higher teacher salaries would affect Quinn's prediction of $100 million in savings.


So Quinn can “predict” $100 million in savings by consolidation, but he forgot to subtract from the savings the cost of the higher salaries! AP spoke to some experts and reported, “Ben Schwarm, associate executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards, said any debate about consolidating school districts must take higher teacher salaries into account. ‘That will generally eclipse administrative savings’ Schwarm said.


Illinois could stop the salary increase by changing teachers' collective bargaining rights. But Schwarm predicted that would ignite the kind of firestorm seen in Wisconsin, where Republicans have gutted collective bargaining rights for most public employees.


Rep. Roger Eddy, a Hutsonville Republican and a school superintendent, said the state agreed years ago to cover salary differences as an incentive for districts to consolidate. He questioned whether Quinn has calculated how much the state spends on those incentives and whether they outweigh the governor's estimated savings.”


Accounting problem or stupidity in the Governor’s Budget Office? I think answering true to both options would earn you an A+.