The following address provided by school board candidate Patty Crump. Patty addressed the Stanly County Board of Education on Thursday night to share her research on the dangers and outcomes of consolidation. Her comments reflects research where the empirical evidence points to the dangers that consolidation has on students and communities. ACES would also like to say that we have conducted significant research in this area and we have concluded the same all across America.
The Chicago Teachers Union Research Department recently published a document titled, Twelve Months Later: The Impact of School Closings in Chicago and I’d like to read directly from the
conclusion of this paper: “One year after massive school closings in Chicago, what has changed for the students? Have they gotten the support they need? Do they have smaller classes? Do they attend integrated schools in greater numbers? The tragic answer to these questions is “NO”. School closings have done nothing to improve the education of CPS students, nor have they saved money, but the same policies that led to massive closures continue to be implemented.”
What research has shown is a direct relationship between school size and academic achievement. As schools get bigger, student performance suffers. The larger the schools, the higher the percentage of absenteeism, discipline problems, and disorder. Smaller schools overwhelmingly show an increase in
academic performance, student participation in athletics and other extracurricular activities, and overall success. So why does the research continue to be ignored?
As a licensed English teacher who taught and encouraged independent research, I have to say, my findings have been eye-opening. Even though I was inclined to be in favor of community schools, I took the time and researched this topic from every angle. I searched for the benefits of closing and
consolidating schools. While I have found a few studies and a handful of articles noting negligible financial benefits, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to link any increase in academic performance to school closings and consolidations. Every time I began researching the subject matter, I found page upon page, chapter upon chapter, of negative results and growing evidence where smaller schools actually promoted better academics, access, participation, and overall success.
The two primary factors supporters of Plan B are using to justify school closures and consolidation are:
1. Funding, and 2. Improved educational opportunity. There are hundreds of studies out there and none of the available research supports the notion that Plan B will achieve positive outcomes. As a matter of fact, according to an article titled Consolidation of Schools and Districts: What It Says And What It Means, the author concluded that, those types of assumptions are no more than “dangerous oversimplifications.” Adding, “Research also suggests that impoverished regions, in particular, often
benefit from smaller schools [and districts], and they can suffer irreversible damage if consolidation occurs.”
As elected officials, you have the responsibility to do this research. It’s your obligation. So reasonable people should be concerned when you continue to push a plan that research proves would create more negative outcomes than positive. As a parent, a former teacher, a tax payer, and candidate for the School Board, I ask you to drop Plan B; not based on emotion, but after careful consideration based on the facts.
