In response to my comments about the large number of municipalities in the metro area M. Hohmann asks: > How about the 300+ local school districts in Minnesota? Or the > many large > metro districts--- all with duplicated management/administrative > functions? > Why not target a reduction in the number of school districts within the > state, by say 50-60 percent, consolidate functions and save > millions of tax dollars? I think my answer when it comes to schools may be different due to the type of services a school provides compared to those provided by a municipality. I don't know what the optimum school district size is but do I think that above some size the student becomes to separated from those managing his/her education. We seem to know, for instance, that if an elementary school gets to over several hundred students it is to big. Statewide I do think we have some districts that are to small, we have seen more consolidation of school districts than we have municipalities. I can't think of any municipalities that have been merged (there may be some), we have eliminated a number of school districts. I've often wondered if the Minneapolis school district was split into 2 competing overlapping districts would the competition force a better district? Does the ability to transfer in or out of a district via open enrollment force districts to get better for fear of losing students and the money that comes with them or does the necessity of providing transportation make good use of open enrollment difficult? How about the ability to transfer under the deseg plan where transportation is provided? Terrell Brown Loring Park [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
