/redistricting-consolidation Redistricting & Consolidation en-US 2021 (c) Education Week Wed, 26 Jun 2024 17:50:08 GMT /leadership/opinion-enrollment-down-achievement-lackluster-should-this-school-close/2024/06 An equity researcher describes how coming district-reorganization decisions can help preserve Black communities in central cities. Wed, 26 Jun 2024 17:50:08 GMT /leadership/opinion-enrollment-down-achievement-lackluster-should-this-school-close/2024/06 /leaders/2024/with-a-steady-hand-a-superintendent-guides-her-district-through-big-changes When Aleesia Johnson became superintendent of the Indianapolis schools, Indiana’s largest district needed much more than a patch job. Mon, 05 Feb 2024 05:01:00 GMT /leaders/2024/with-a-steady-hand-a-superintendent-guides-her-district-through-big-changes /leadership/researchers-used-ai-to-rezone-school-districts-heres-what-they-found/2023/09 The experiment created more diverse schools, while cutting students' travel time. Thu, 07 Sep 2023 21:08:06 GMT /leadership/researchers-used-ai-to-rezone-school-districts-heres-what-they-found/2023/09 /leadership/opinion-how-two-districts-managed-to-consolidate-during-the-pandemic/2021/08 The trick to being ready when disaster strikes? Be ready well before that. Tue, 10 Aug 2021 19:38:48 GMT /leadership/opinion-how-two-districts-managed-to-consolidate-during-the-pandemic/2021/08 /leadership/why-dont-struggling-k-12-districts-just-dissolve/2020/02 Emotions remain raw as educators and residents in a rural Wisconsin district dig for solutions after being denied the option of dissolving. Wed, 12 Feb 2020 02:09:14 GMT /leadership/why-dont-struggling-k-12-districts-just-dissolve/2020/02 /leadership/a-school-district-in-fiscal-free-fall-scrambles-to-avoid-crash-landing/2020/01 Emotions remain raw as educators and residents in a rural Wisconsin district dig for solutions after being denied the option of dissolving. Sat, 01 Feb 2020 02:36:10 GMT /leadership/a-school-district-in-fiscal-free-fall-scrambles-to-avoid-crash-landing/2020/01 /leadership/secessions-exacerbate-segregation-study-finds/2019/09 Court-ordered school desegregation has been more successful in the South than in any other region of the country, but researchers have noted a new threat: the growing number of communities that are seceding from larger school districts to form their own. Wed, 11 Sep 2019 01:01:47 GMT /leadership/secessions-exacerbate-segregation-study-finds/2019/09 /leadership/wealthier-enclaves-breaking-away-from-school-districts/2019/04 Over two years, 27 communities have split from their home districts, and the new districts are mostly wealthier, whiter, and more property-rich than the ones left behind. Wed, 01 May 2019 02:27:02 GMT /leadership/wealthier-enclaves-breaking-away-from-school-districts/2019/04 /leadership/the-splintering-of-wealthy-areas-from-school-districts-is-speeding-up/2019/04 The school funding group EdBuild finds neighborhood attempts to secede popping up in more school districts, with racial and economic isolation increasing in their wake. Tue, 16 Apr 2019 04:01:36 GMT /leadership/the-splintering-of-wealthy-areas-from-school-districts-is-speeding-up/2019/04 /leadership/vt-officials-face-backlash-over-mergers/2018/12 The state board of education released its final plan this month to merge 45 districts in 39 towns to form 11 new districts. Tue, 11 Dec 2018 23:06:43 GMT /leadership/vt-officials-face-backlash-over-mergers/2018/12 /education/in-district-consolidations-states-leave-poor-residents-adrift-study-says/2018/07 As wealthy, white communities split their schools off from their poor, black and Latino neighbors, few states have legal recourse to intervene, the advocacy group EdBuild says. Tue, 24 Jul 2018 14:58:31 GMT /education/in-district-consolidations-states-leave-poor-residents-adrift-study-says/2018/07 /policy-politics/vermont-state-chief-resigns-amid-ambitious-district-consolidation-effort/2018/04 State Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe has been officiating over the state's politically thorny district consolidation process, and many are asking for it to be placed on hold until the state board replaces her. Tue, 03 Apr 2018 20:50:18 GMT /policy-politics/vermont-state-chief-resigns-amid-ambitious-district-consolidation-effort/2018/04 /leadership/a-quest-to-give-minority-voters-a-bigger-voice-on-school-boards/2017/12 Across California, school districts are shifting from at-large elections to single-member districts to make it easier for Latinos and other minority communities to elect candidates to local offices. Wed, 13 Dec 2017 02:31:46 GMT /leadership/a-quest-to-give-minority-voters-a-bigger-voice-on-school-boards/2017/12 /policy-politics/fighting-to-close-budget-hole-oklahoma-again-debates-teacher-pay-consolidation/2017/11 Oklahoma's school spending habits have long been the focus of political battles, and the legislature will soon enter a third special session to debate its budget. Tue, 28 Nov 2017 15:22:17 GMT /policy-politics/fighting-to-close-budget-hole-oklahoma-again-debates-teacher-pay-consolidation/2017/11 /leadership/when-a-community-loses-its-schools/2017/06 School closures often affect poor students, African-American students, and rural communities like Hughes, Ark. Wed, 07 Jun 2017 00:41:40 GMT /leadership/when-a-community-loses-its-schools/2017/06 /policy-politics/wyo-consolidation-proposal-seen-as-politically-toxic/2017/01 A proposal to slash the number of school districts in Wyoming by more than half in order to save money doesn't appear it will make the grade in the state legislature this year. Wed, 18 Jan 2017 01:54:37 GMT /policy-politics/wyo-consolidation-proposal-seen-as-politically-toxic/2017/01 /leadership/gov-seeks-consolidation-of-superintendents-in-maine/2016/10 Gov. Paul LePage believes Maine has a glut of school superintendents, and he intends to pressure districts into consolidating administrations with the two-year budget he will propose in early 2017. Tue, 11 Oct 2016 21:39:03 GMT /leadership/gov-seeks-consolidation-of-superintendents-in-maine/2016/10 /leadership/new-plan-would-keep-nevadas-sprawling-clark-co-district-intact/2016/08 A year after state lawmakers moved to break up the nation’s fifth-largest school district, a new plan instead would reorganize and decentralize it. Wed, 03 Aug 2016 01:13:30 GMT /leadership/new-plan-would-keep-nevadas-sprawling-clark-co-district-intact/2016/08 /leadership/vt-residents-vote-against-consolidating-school-districts-video/2016/06 In a small region of Vermont, a fierce debate raged over consolidating five tiny school districts into one. Thu, 09 Jun 2016 15:52:31 GMT /leadership/vt-residents-vote-against-consolidating-school-districts-video/2016/06 /policy-politics/vermont-consolidation-effort-profiled-by-newshour-fails/2016/06 By consolidating some of the state's 280 school districts state officials are hoping to save millions of dollars and give students in small towns greater access to academically rigorous programs and more electives like the arts. Wed, 08 Jun 2016 20:33:40 GMT /policy-politics/vermont-consolidation-effort-profiled-by-newshour-fails/2016/06 /leadership/video-merging-small-school-districts-showdown-in-vermont/2016/06 With a plummeting student enrollment and skyrocketing education costs, Vermont lawmakers decided last year to begin an ambitious and controversial experiment to consolidate its vast system of public schools. The law, Act 46, intends to dramatically reduce the number of districts in the mostly rural state-there are currently 280 of them-by 2020 using a series of tax incentives. Supporters argue that by sharing resources more efficiently, the state will save millions of dollars and give students access to academically rigorous programs and more electives like the arts. But opponents say the initiative stabs at the very heart of Vermont, with its hundreds of tiny school houses and, more importantly, Vermonters' deeply-felt sense of local control. In this report, John Tulenko of Education Week profiles a northern region of Vermont where residents are sharply divided on whether to combine its five school districts. Read more about this issue on edweek.org. This video aired on PBS NewsHour on May 31, 2016. Fri, 03 Jun 2016 19:13:12 GMT /leadership/video-merging-small-school-districts-showdown-in-vermont/2016/06 /education/newshour-profiles-vermont-school-consolidation-effort/2016/06 A law aiming to cut in half the number of school districts by 2020 is full of carrots and sticks and has set off some fierce local battles. Thu, 02 Jun 2016 16:25:27 GMT /education/newshour-profiles-vermont-school-consolidation-effort/2016/06 /leadership/the-controversy-over-school-consolidation-in-rural-vermont-video/2016/06 Plummeting student enrollment and skyrocketing education costs have led Vermont lawmakers to begin a controversial consolidation of its vast mostly rural education system. But are Vermont residents willing to give up their small community schools? Wed, 01 Jun 2016 20:38:29 GMT /leadership/the-controversy-over-school-consolidation-in-rural-vermont-video/2016/06 /leadership/rural-districts-merge-close-as-enrollment-drops/2016/06 The majority of Iowa's counties have experienced population declines since 2010. Wed, 01 Jun 2016 15:43:05 GMT /leadership/rural-districts-merge-close-as-enrollment-drops/2016/06 /policy-politics/consolidation-push-roils-vermont-landscape/2016/02 A state law aimed at encouraging—or prodding—small, rural districts to merge has hit some speed bumps on the road to implementation. Tue, 16 Feb 2016 18:28:18 GMT /policy-politics/consolidation-push-roils-vermont-landscape/2016/02 /leadership/s-c-superintendent-proposes-rural-consolidation-virtual-programs/2016/01 State lawmakers must create a plan to improve rural schools in response to a 2014 state Supreme Court ruling. Wed, 13 Jan 2016 16:54:23 GMT /leadership/s-c-superintendent-proposes-rural-consolidation-virtual-programs/2016/01 /policy-politics/education-department-begins-to-assess-essa-era-role/2016/01 The new K-12 law contains checks on the U.S. secretary's authority, but the agency still has policy tools in its shed, especially in the areas of civil rights and data resources. Wed, 13 Jan 2016 04:04:13 GMT /policy-politics/education-department-begins-to-assess-essa-era-role/2016/01 /policy-politics/west-virginia-board-votes-down-controversial-fayette-county-consolidation-plan/2015/12 The county's citizens fought state efforts to close down schools and build a new $56 million high school with a 15-year $11 million loan. Mon, 14 Dec 2015 22:34:46 GMT /policy-politics/west-virginia-board-votes-down-controversial-fayette-county-consolidation-plan/2015/12 /leadership/school-facilities-fuel-state-local-tensions-in-w-va-district/2015/12 A consolidation plan for Fayette County schools pushed by the state schools chief that aims to shutter dilapidated facilities and open a new one has proved divisive. Wed, 09 Dec 2015 02:46:14 GMT /leadership/school-facilities-fuel-state-local-tensions-in-w-va-district/2015/12 /policy-politics/programs-fate-complicates-path-to-esea-deal/2015/10 The House and Senate bills to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act take very different tacks on the future of certain federal education programs. Wed, 28 Oct 2015 00:49:55 GMT /policy-politics/programs-fate-complicates-path-to-esea-deal/2015/10