Return to all Resources
Study of the Cost-Effectiveness of Consolidating Pennsylvania School Districts
Like most states, Pennsylvania is grappling with the escalating costs of operating its public education system. In recent years, the regular operating costs of the Commonwealth’s 501 school districts have grown at nearly three times the national rate of inflation. Although average per-pupil costs exceed $10,000 in Pennsylvania, actual spending per pupil varies significantly from one district to another.
In the interest of helping school districts save money and meet more of their students' needs, the Pennsylvania Legislature commissioned this study of the cost-effectiveness of consolidating school districts and sharing services. The potential benefits of consolidation rest on the hypothesis that per-pupil costs vary among school districts, in part, as a function of enrollment and economies of scale.1 The assumption is that smaller districts spend more per pupil because they pro-rate fixed costs over fewer students, and because they are unable to leverage their purchasing power to obtain volume discounts to the same extent that larger districts can. To test this hypothesis and to analyze related issues, this study focuses on five legislative research objectives identified in Resolution S208 from the 2006 legislative session.
(
Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
, June 2007).
Legislative Objectives for the Study
1. Determine whether consolidation could help smaller and more rural districts save money with regard to purchasing power of supplies and services.
2. Evaluate whether the consolidation of school districts at the county, intermediate unit, or other level would enable larger school districts to provide more services such as extensive special-needs programs, after-school programs, and other services that poorer districts traditionally cannot provide or afford.
3. Analyze whether services could be shared among two or more school districts, much like many municipal services on other levels, without necessarily consolidating the districts.
4. Investigate whether, by pooling state moneys together to provide better services for more rural school districts, the Commonwealth could run a more efficient and ultimately a better system of education for its young people.
5. Study the effects of consolidation on transportation issues, logistical issues, and other situations that may not be considered on the surface.
View Detail
View PDF
|
EMAIL
PRINT
