Consolidating large school districts in Texas would increase costs and cause student performance to fall, according to a study by researchers from Texas A&M and Utah State universities.
The study was done for the Texas Education Agency to find out if merging large districts would lower the per-student cost of education. Researchers looked at the state’s five largest counties, which include major cities such as Dallas and Houston.
The study said those districts are already optimally sized. Consolidating them would reduce school choice and costs would rise, the study argues, because districts might operate less efficiently with more bureaucracy and less competition.
