State Education Reform Commission Suggests School Consolidations

Consolidating some of the state's nearly 700 school districts has long been touted as a way to save money on administrative overhead.

Fostering more consolidations was one of the preliminary recommendations released recently by the governor's Education Reform Commission. In fact, the reform commission noted that more than half the state's school districts have fewer than 2,000 students.

Consolidating could allow combining administrative staff and possibly teachers, as well as support services such as transportation, janitorial tasks and cafeterias. That's despite extra state aid offered as an incentive and the fact that student counts in many upstate districts are shrinking. There are fewer students upstate even as the per-student cost – and subsequent tax bills — continues to rise.

The reasons why there have been so few consolidations vary but they also illustrate how hard it is to effect change in the state's education system.