Consolidations

Recently, the Greater Ohio Policy Center and The Brookings Insitution made the recommendation to reduce the number of Ohio public schools by one-third in their "Restoring Prosperity" report. In 1915, there were 2,674 school districts in the State of Ohio decreasing to 1,986 districts by 1935. Today, there are 613 districts not including joint vocational schools. With the crisis in school funding and the burden placed on our local residents to fund schools, many of us believe that consolidation of smaller schools would be much more economical. After all, administratively, you wouldn't need two superintendents, two treasurers, two high school principals, and the list goes on. However, what would be lost is local control and the school pride shared by students and parents alike over the many years. Larger is not always better, as reported in the OSBA Journal, "Of the 271 school districts rated "excellent" on the State Board of Education Local Report Card, 173 fall below the threshold of 2,500 students set by "Restoring Prosperity." Will this ever come to fruition? I don't think in the near future. However, I did't think I would ever see the recession we are in now. I do think we need to be reminded of the possibilities of what could happen and if nothing else, this reminder makes us better stewards of our taxpayer's dollars and makes us appreciate the wonderful happenings here at Marlington. Until next time, Sandy Moeglin