HAVE YOU EVER driven around an area and passed a real estate development sign that explicitly calls out an independent school system that is zoned for that subdivision? While this may seem like an innocuous effort to market new homes and prop up the advertised schools as a desirable commodity, consider the underlying statement that I find less innocuous: Other schools nearby are not good enough for the potential buyer’s children.
Is this acceptable? I view these sales promotions as social justice malpractice.

The conservative political movement has brought an increased push for vouchers, charter schools, home schooling and school choice. The politicization of education with its accompanying rhetoric, sensationalism and elitism serves as an attempt to create a market-based public school system. 

The desire to keep kids from well-to-do families out of schools populated by students from economically depressed families — a phenomenon that previously lurked quietly under the surface — has become vocalized with “us versus them” statements. School vouchers and school choice mostly benefits families who have the means to move their children to another school.

Financial Efficiency

Economies of scale occur when the cost per unit decreases as the volume of units produced increases. In this context, it is easy to understand why a high school with more students can offer more subjects than a school with fewer. If the smaller school wants to offer the same array of classes, it has to rely on taxpayers’ willingness to pay more to support what will be smaller classes.

This concept has been applied to school districts. Larger local education agencies have a greater ability to spread out operating costs.

My experience with this situation was both perplexing and exasperating. As a former assistant superintendent of finance and operations of a county school system that had two city school systems operating entirely within its boundaries, I often wondered what would happen if all three districts within the county were combined. The total enrollment would be approximately 13,000 students, a healthy size for a school system. Instead, our county had three of everything: three superintendents, three transportation operations, three human resources departments.

The redundant programs and services decreased the financial efficiency based on the economies of scale. Moreover, businesses, local government, homeowners and the county Chamber of Commerce faced the daunting task of determining which millage rate to apply to each capital venture. Three school districts, each with its own taxing authority, create unhealthy competition for available dollars.

A Matter of Justice

If a single tax dollar is spent inefficiently and any student is negatively impacted by the structural divisions that politicians, education leaders, boosters and communities have created, it is incumbent upon those stakeholders to ensure all students receive the best possible education. District consolidation could address these issues.

Those who disagree would say the market will force out the weakest LEAs or that larger systems are top-heavy with bureaucracies that make it difficult for parents to have a voice. Further, some will claim a historical basis for staying separate.

But even in the divisive climate of the moment, the topic of consolidation deserves consideration. The structure of LEAs varies across our country with each system presenting a unique mix of socioeconomic levels, disability status, English proficiency and/or racial makeup. Social justice dictates equity regardless of variations.

Of course, risk looms in taking on this controversial issue. In the end, I would ask those who push for educational equity consider this: How is it fair to allow one dollar to be spent inefficiently when 80 percent of the students in the county schools are so poor they qualify for free- or reduced-price lunches? We should care and be ready to act.

JAMIE HITZGES is principal of Chicopee Woods Elementary School in Gainesville, Ga. E-mail: Jamie.hitzges@hallco.org. Twitter: @jamiehitzges