Critics speak of hidden costs, impact on educational quality

By JENNIFER PRICE
The News Journal

Consolidating Delaware's 19 school districts could save the state $50 million a year,http://www.delawareonline.com/assets/pdf/BL1476461130.PDF">a new report suggests, though critics say the needed salary adjustments would outweigh much of the savings.

Eliminating 741 administrative positions, including 330 secretaries, would directly create the savings, said State Auditor R. Thomas Wagner Jr. He proposes creating countywide districts, with the exception of New Castle County's Appoquinimink merging with the Kent County districts, and one consolidated vocational district.

"Unless you are losing student population, the last place you should cut is teachers and paraprofessionals. But there is certainly plenty of fat in administrative costs in the school districts you can cut out," Wagner said.

Some elected leaders and educators, who have debated the merits of school district consolidation for more than four decades, say the savings wouldn't be as great as Wagner suggests and contend the quality of education would suffer in larger districts.

Colonial Superintendent George Meney said the only fair way to consolidate would be to level up salaries, bringing the salaries of administrators, teachers and other employees in lower-paying districts in line with the highest-paid -- a change the state's largest school employee union also says would be imperative. While the state pays about 70 percent of salaries, districts provide 30 percent, and the local portion varies among districts.

"Is it really fair to have people working side-by-side doing the same job with the same experience making significantly different dollars?" Meney said.

Wagner said his office did not consider leveling up salaries because those would be negotiated by local unions.

"We're not going to get into the guestimates of union negotiations," he said. "That's really not our place."

Meney suggests Wagner remember what happened in 1978 when 10 New Castle County suburban districts and the Wilmington Public School District merged into one district under a federal desegregation order.

When salaries were not leveled up to the highest-paid district, about 3,000 of the district's 3,900 teachers went on strike, despite a prohibition in state law.

Schools were closed for five weeks. In the end, the salaries were leveled over three years, and the New Castle Education Association was fined $108,000 for violating the strike law.

In 1981, the New Castle County district split into Christina, Red Clay, Colonial and Brandywine -- giving the state 19 districts.

"It didn't work in '78 because we ended up with a much bigger complicated organization that wasn't responsive to schools," Meney said. "Bigger is not always better."

Indian River Superintendent Susan Bunting said one superintendent could run all Sussex County school districts but worries education services would suffer.

"You're going to be much further removed from the students and the teachers. You simply can't by virtue of proximity and time have those same kind of relationships," she said.

Lake Forest Superintendent Dan Curry agreed.

"I live in my district, go to church in my district and shop in my district. People know me. They can get a phone call returned in a day," he said.

Howard Weinberg, executive director of the Delaware State Education Association union, said cost savings shouldn't be the only reason for consolidating.

"Consolidation impacts communities, the cultures of schools and the learning quality," he said.

In 2002, then-Secretary of Education Valerie Woodruff studied the feasibility of establishing county districts in Kent and Sussex. While she found that consolidation would bring about $1.37 million in savings, her report suggested that those savings would be overridden after leveling salaries of administrators, teachers and other employees. Such a process would cost more than $8.54 million a year, she found.

Current Education Secretary Lillian Lowery referred questions to Mike Jackson, associate secretary for finance and services, who said leveling up salaries likely would outweigh cost savings from consolidation.

'19 sets of everything'

Wagner's report proposes one superintendent per district, eliminating three in what he calls the "northern district," five each in the "central" and "southern" districts and two in the vocational-technical district. Wagner compared the proposed districts' enrollments to those of districts of similar sizes in other states to determine how many positions to cut.

"A little state with a population less than Philadelphia needs less than 19 districts," said Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, who introduced a bill earlier this year that calls for the same four districts in Wagner's report. "It doesn't make sense to have 19 sets of everything -- superintendents, deputy superintendents, directors of food service.

"We're throwing all of our money at doing things 19 times instead of putting the money in the classroom," she said.

In 2007, the Leadership for Education Achievement in Delaware Committee, established by former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, identified between $46 million and $71 million in savings from consolidating services such as transportation, purchasing, energy and human resources. The study found about 70 percent of the administrative staff in district offices could be shared without sacrificing quality or customer service.

"With or without consolidation, we are administratively top-heavy in Delaware," said Sen. Dave Sokola, D-Newark, a member of the committee. "The way the system is now isn't as efficient as it could be. And I don't know if that's because we're not consolidated or because we don't work together enough."

Gov. Jack Markell has said his administration will continue to study the potential impact of a full-scale consolidation but wants to see districts consolidating in areas such as purchasing and professional development now.

Curry, Lake Forest's superintendent, questions some of Wagner's proposals, such as cutting the number of secretaries and clerks in the "central district" from 72 to 2.

"He's suggesting that two people can do the work of 72 secretaries?" he said.

Bud Mullin, the state Parent Teacher Association president, said the biggest problem with consolidation is the loss of local control.

"Parents like having a say in their kids' education," he said.

If districts were consolidated, tax rates would have to be merged and the referenda process would change.

"The more you shut out the community and local decision-making, the harder it is for people to support their schools," said John Mackenzie, a Christina School Board member.