Redistricting & Consolidation
Equity & Diversity
Wealthier Enclaves Breaking Away From School Districts
Over two years, 27 communities have split from their home districts, and the new districts are mostly wealthier, whiter, and more property-rich than the ones left behind.
School & District Management
The Splintering of Wealthy Areas From School Districts Is Speeding Up
The school funding group EdBuild finds neighborhood attempts to secede popping up in more school districts, with racial and economic isolation increasing in their wake.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Vt. Officials Face Backlash Over Mergers
The state board of education released its final plan this month to merge 45 districts in 39 towns to form 11 new districts.
Education
In District Consolidations, States Leave Poor Residents Adrift, Study Says
As wealthy, white communities split their schools off from their poor, black and Latino neighbors, few states have legal recourse to intervene, the advocacy group EdBuild says.
States
Vermont State Chief Resigns Amid Ambitious District Consolidation Effort
State Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe has been officiating over the state's politically thorny district consolidation process, and many are asking for it to be placed on hold until the state board replaces her.
Equity & Diversity
A Quest to Give Minority Voters a Bigger Voice on School Boards
Across California, school districts are shifting from at-large elections to single-member districts to make it easier for Latinos and other minority communities to elect candidates to local offices.
States
Fighting to Close Budget Hole, Oklahoma Again Debates Teacher Pay, Consolidation
Oklahoma's school spending habits have long been the focus of political battles, and the legislature will soon enter a third special session to debate its budget.
School & District Management
When a Community Loses Its Schools
School closures often affect poor students, African-American students, and rural communities like Hughes, Ark.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Wyo. Consolidation Proposal Seen as Politically Toxic
A proposal to slash the number of school districts in Wyoming by more than half in order to save money doesn't appear it will make the grade in the state legislature this year.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Gov. Seeks Consolidation Of Superintendents in Maine
Gov. Paul LePage believes Maine has a glut of school superintendents, and he intends to pressure districts into consolidating administrations with the two-year budget he will propose in early 2017.
School & District Management
New Plan Would Keep Nevada’s Sprawling Clark Co. District Intact
A year after state lawmakers moved to break up the nation’s fifth-largest school district, a new plan instead would reorganize and decentralize it.
Families & the Community
Vt. Residents Vote Against Consolidating School Districts (Video)
In a small region of Vermont, a fierce debate raged over consolidating five tiny school districts into one.
States
Vermont Consolidation Effort Profiled by NewsHour Fails
By consolidating some of the state's 280 school districts state officials are hoping to save millions of dollars and give students in small towns greater access to academically rigorous programs and more electives like the arts.
School & District Management
Video
Merging Small School Districts: Showdown in Vermont
With a plummeting student enrollment and skyrocketing education costs, Vermont lawmakers decided last year to begin an ambitious and controversial experiment to consolidate its vast system of public schools. The law, Act 46, intends to dramatically reduce the number of districts in the mostly rural state-there are currently 280 of them-by 2020 using a series of tax incentives.
Supporters argue that by sharing resources more efficiently, the state will save millions of dollars and give students access to academically rigorous programs and more electives like the arts.
But opponents say the initiative stabs at the very heart of Vermont, with its hundreds of tiny school houses and, more importantly, Vermonters' deeply-felt sense of local control.
In this report, John Tulenko of Education Week profiles a northern region of Vermont where residents are sharply divided on whether to combine its five school districts.
Read more about this issue on edweek.org. This video aired on PBS NewsHour on May 31, 2016.