Maine Learns a Lesson About District Consolidation
This is an excellent article about the statewide consolidation of school districts in Maine. Advocates always talk about economies of scale and how consolidation will reduce district expenditures. As this story points out, most of a district’s expenditures are personnel costs, and since labor agreements won’t allow downsizing after districts merge, the consolidation saves no money at all.
In fact (surprise!) large districts may actually spend more money than several small ones.
So the question to ask in Maine is why wasn’t this excellent article written before the consolidation law was passed.
