OP-ED: SCHOOL DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION SHOULD BE WELCOMED IN NEW JERSEY
When it comes to local school districts, small isn’t beautiful -- it’s usually inefficient and expensive
Former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman
It was nearly 20 years ago that I called for a nonbinding referendum that would allow the state to force some of its smaller school districts to merge. That vote never took place, and the state is still home to more than 600 school districts. I am pleased to see, however, that recently there has been some movement toward consolidation in a few pockets throughout New Jersey.
The state did ultimately direct county school superintendents to develop a plan to eliminate smaller school districts that do not offer grades pre-K or K-12; recommendations were due by March 2010. More than 85 percent of voters in West Amwell, Stockton, and Lambertville cast ballots to disband their small school districts and create a unified South Hunterdon school district, which occurred July 1 of this year. And in Hunterdon County, where per-pupil costs average $17,651, the county freeholders are offering to match the cost for school consolidation studies.
Despite these positive steps, a lot of work remains to be done to improve the small, inefficient school districts in the state. State auditors released a report this summer recommending the state Department of Education push for consolidation. The report notes there are 278 school districts in New Jersey servicing students in only grades K-6 or K-8, yet with total administrative costs of $270 million. Of that number, 144 are school districts with just one school, costing taxpayers $63.5 million. Auditors discovered even more potentially wasteful spending, including the fact that 90 of these single-school districts employed a schools superintendent and/or a full-time principal with combined salaries of $13.4 million, while 70 of these mini-districts also spent $5.3 million combined for school business administrations. Moreover, it was noted that 18 school districts with just a single K-6 or K-8 school had both a full-time superintendent and full-time principal, each earning an average of $121,000 in fiscal Op-Ed: School District Consolidation Should Be Welcomed in New Jersey - NJ Spotlight:
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