Schools oppose Quinn’s consolidation idea

Though it might have played well as a part of Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to reduce the state’s deficit, a proposal to force consolidations of two thirds of the state’s school districts is getting some push-back from educators.
Quinn announced his proposal to cut the state’s 868 districts down to 300 in his budget address last month. Such cuts, he said, could save taxpayers as much as $100 million each year. Since then, he’s gotten an earful from legislators and school officials across the state.
“If they went that route,” said Vandalia Superintendent of Schools Rich Well, “it would be one more way we’re losing local control and the ability to do what’s best for our community. And they think it would save big money; it won’t.”
While acknowledging that students in some smaller districts might benefit by consolidation – through expanded class offerings and the ability of a larger district to offer better programs – Well said that forced consolidations also have significant downsides.
“For example, in our county, the kids would be on buses way too long,” Well said. “This proposal affects districts like us most because we have the most territory to cover. The governor failed to look at how it would affect us because of the distances. We haven’t been getting our transportation funding from the state, and now they are asking schools to transport students significantly longer distances. It just doesn’t make sense.
“I don’t know who the governor is listening to on this, but if you put a pencil to it, it just doesn’t add up. It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors.”
To date, Quinn’s proposal hasn’t been brought to committee in either side of the Illinois legislature.
Some educators and legislators are advocating an incentive-based plan rather than a mandated one.
But Quinn spokesperson Kelly Quinn said such voluntary consolidation wouldn’t produce enough savings.
“The incentive-based approach has been in place for at least a decade,” she said, “and even though it had early success, this approach has not led to the consolidation the Quinn administration feels is needed to bring about more efficiencies in the operations of schools, as well as a reduction in administrative costs to save taxpayers money.”
For Well, however, the efficiencies being sought by the governor are not worth the loss of local control, the dubious savings or the downsides of the larger districts.
“Bigger is not always better,” Well said. “If consolidation is going to benefit the quality of education districts can offer, then it’s worth considering. But this just seemed like a stab in the dark.”