Aaron Metz
Consolidation leads to cruel schools
Friday November 10, 2000

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Our state Department of Education strongly promotes school consolidation because of "economies of scale."

But I have piles of evidence on my desk showing that consolidation undercuts hope of achieving higher test scores. In other words, it is pretty much proven scientifically: Consolidate and test scores fall.

Education Week magazine reported on 150 small schools Chicago is studying. The evidence concludes that with smaller schools, there are fewer days missed, fewer classes cut, less violence, less expense per pupil, higher grades, and the teacher can call each student by name.

In the frenzy to consolidate, as Tara Tuckwiller reported, the small Hannan rural school in Mason County was stripped in hope the state would provide consolidation money for a bigger school. But a Marshall University professor brought scholars to the school and transformed it into a school of excellence.

Likewise, researchers find that small schools help students overcome the effects of poverty. Craig Howley of Ohio University and Robert Burke of Marshall University did research that came to the conclusion that smaller schools in poor communities "tend to maximize the school's performance as measured by standardized tests."

Harden Elementary in Harrison County earned the designation "School of Excellence" in June. In spite of this, the school was lost to consolidation because it "exceeded all goals and standards except economies of scale," according to the state Department of Education.

Smaller schools, smaller classes, is what many parents and teachers have been saying for years. A Tennessee study proves that "small classes in early grades" can help kids to do better, all the way through college, and "they should be provided in all our elementary grades."

Times change. On my first day of school, I cried while the teacher held me in my seat as my mother started walking home. I wasn't too upset though, because I was going to run home at recess.

Now with consolidation, mothers put their tiny tikes on a big yellow bus full of absolute strangers. The first day of school can be very cruel and can leave lasting impressions. That mother may cry too as the big bus vanishes from her view. And her little one doesn't have the options I had on my first day at school.

And so on. The Putnam County Board of Education recently approved a $90 million school facilities plan that includes consolidation of Poca and Buffalo high schools. Tim McCoy, a father of two, said, "The worst thing I can think the school board can do is sit with their arms crossed and their minds closed, and not listen to what the people of Putnam County have to say about the issue."

In the Harts High School gym, Gov. Underwood said, "We need to look at ... the need for consolidation." And just like that, the people were on their feet. They were electrified. They were applauding, hooting and hollering, according to a Gazette report. Don't the people of West Virginia have any constitutional rights?

School consolidation prepares students for prison. Twelve-year-old Sarah Lusk is smart enough to know that consolidation can be cruel. She writes in the Gazette, "I feel very strongly against the consolidation plan. I believe the bigger the school is, the more violence there will be. Sometimes I feel as if the adults don't think this thing through all the way and at times like this, the kids are smarter ... We truly don't want it to work, so we are going to work our hardest to make sure it doesn't." (Sarah earned an A-plus in civics.)

Most every small school has one or two more-or-less violence-prone students, probably from dysfunctional homes. Consolidation brings them together. And there just might be a Hitler-type among them who has a natural, innate urge to lead a gang. Don't be surprised if they add more than expense and frustration to the educational institution.

"A study by the New Jersey Boards Association found that size was the most important predictor of school violence, " crime expert F.A. Fox said. "The most effective strategy for preventing school violence is to limit school size."

The consolidation of Roosevelt Junior High School in Charleston should never have happened. But the die has been cast and it's too late now. Parents were angry and the students cried. Why did the county board take a school away from a community teeming with children? Don't communities have any constitutional rights - right here in Charleston with more than 1,400 lawyers (see Yellow Pages)? Now, who is forcing Pete Thaw to choose another "Roosevelt school" for consolidation?

It is all over. Roosevelt has gone the way of the bowling teams. The heart of the community is gone like the village square or the public well. Soon the neighbors and the young people won't know each other by name anymore.

Consolidation can be cruel. As a lady in Eleanor said: "Many people don't understand what the school means to the small town of Eleanor. It's been the pillar of the community for over 50 years. "

Consolidation can be cruel - and where is the evidence for "economies of scale"?

Metz is retired as a West Virginia State College economist.