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Superintendents: Consolidation of districts should be handled locally
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Barbour suggested consolidating the state’s 152 public school districts into 100 for the 2011-12 school year, recommending that a blue-ribbon committee study the issue.
“I’ve never seen evidence where consolidation ever saved any money,” Chickasaw County Superintendent Kathy Young Austin said. “I’m not for it.”
Austin said that bigger is not always better and that smaller schools have advantages.
“I couldn’t tell you when we’ve expelled a child in the school district or when we’ve had a child here with a weapon or drugs,” Austin said. “I just think that in a small school district, your children are safer, and I don’t support consolidation.”
Lee County Superintendent Mike Scott and Tupelo Assistant Superintendent Diana Ezell both said that consolidation should be decided locally.
“Until someone proves to me that it improves students’ achievement, I don’t know whether it is best for kids,” Scott said.
Prentiss County Superintendent Matt Smith said the next six months will be a big changing point in Mississippi education.
“I don’t know what route needs to be taken, but when you have to do more with less, you have to change somewhere,” Smith said.
Barbour also proposed that for the 2010-11 school year, teachers would have their salaries frozen and would not receive their normal raise for an additional year of service or an advanced degree. He said those savings would allow the state to continue its $6,000 supplement for National Board Certified teachers.
Ezell said that it would be hard for teachers having their salaries frozen but that she is glad the state will continue its funding for National Board Certified teachers.
“If we’re going to increase the level of student achievement,” she said, “great teachers are the main resource we have for making our schools better.”
Contact Chris Kieffer at (662) 678-1590 or at chris.kieffer@djournal.com.
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comments (6)
« bigdeal wrote on Tuesday, Nov 17 at 08:02 PM »
I've read the comments and ask one question of these learned people: How does cutting out an office deduct from the same teacher teaching the same lesson? Education is in the classroom and in the home, not in the office a few miles form the school. Hey, why not have all those offices on a school campus and why can't they help with a class or two? Well, maybe I had more than one question. Education should be about teaching kids, not about the coordinating of the non-teaching parts.
« Mikoma wrote on Tuesday, Nov 17 at 01:43 PM »
Ironic, isn't it, that we now have anywhere from three to six school districts in a single county in Mississippi and yet DeSoto County, our state's largest, has but one school district! Somebody needs to tell DeSoto County that it needs several more districts and significantly more administrative expense! I'm proud of Grenada County where consolidation into one district took place many years ago. Kathy Young Austin says she can't see that consolidation saves money. Could it be it's because she's never tried it? This is a classic statement from a school superintendent who's #1 objective it is to protect her turf and to heck with the tax payers!
« sandlot1959 wrote on Tuesday, Nov 17 at 10:27 AM »
Say what you want about consolidation. 150 school districts in only 80 counties is ludicrous. And there has been no mention of increasing the size of classes. As far as education being so important, most every state has been throwing pile after pile of cash on the education system for decades and our schools still don't pass muster, especially in Mississippi. In my opinion, money has never been the issue, per se' as much as lack of accountability. You can do the money dump as long as you want but if teachers and administrators aren't held accountable for methods they use, as they relate to student outcomes, some will be crying "MONEY" from now til doomsday. Money seems to be an excuse for most every failure in society. It seems to me that the last 50 years of marginal progress, at best, would dispell that shallow theory.
« gabesmomma05 wrote on Tuesday, Nov 17 at 10:06 AM »
I don't believe consolidating our school districts and cutting the bonuses that teachers get will help the budget any. Smaller school are more personal than larger schools, consolidating the districts will hurt that relationship. Also, by cutting out the yearly raises and raises for a higher degree will hurt Mississippi's chances of getting good teachers. Education is the future and now that our economy is more of a service industry and not a farming industry we need good teachers,doctors, and Marketing. We can only have that with good education and that starts in the local schools.
« 1davidverna1 wrote on Tuesday, Nov 17 at 09:21 AM »
While Gov. Barbour's target of cutting the budget is within reason, the direction he is going should be out of the question. We hear, and believe, that our children's education is vital to their future. Why does Gov. Barbour want to cut back on education at a time like this? If anything, education needs to be strengthed. Gov. Barbour needs to look at where the real waste is instead of endangering our children's future.
« jteasler wrote on Tuesday, Nov 17 at 09:19 AM »
Nobody should take the word of the superintendents and especially not Kathy Young Austin and others with her school district size. You are not going to get an honest answer out of people that might lose their jobs. Chickasaw County has 3 school districts, Chickasaw County, Houston, Okolona. It is so wrong for people to use the scare tactic of doing this is going to make our kids do drugs or increase crime. The schools will be the same just you wouldn't have Ms. Austin making the 83,811 for only having 572 students.(2007-2008) There are a lot of high schools in the state that have that many students. Superintendents know that they might not have a job. Would you not want putting $200,000 and more (depending on the school district) back into your children's education. They will say that money won't go far that it won't pay the bills but we already pay the bills. Let us consolidate based on size. The schools aren't combining just the districts. Your kids are still safe as much as they are now.
