Taking Attendance is an excellent report by journalist Johanna Seltz in today's Boston Globe, in which she describes the problems associated with dwindling enrollment at in the town of Hull, particularly in its high school. Anticipating one of my first questions, she is careful to document this as a demographic trend, rather than a shift toward private schools. She then documents some of the reasons for the trend, including changes in available housing. The article also hints at a bit of a positive-feedback, or spiraling affect, as the problems of shrinking schools are to some degree self-feeding: fewer families lead to fewer families.
Shrinking enrollments reduce variable costs and crowding, allowing for a more tranquil and perhaps more productive learning environment. But the fixed costs of maintaining a building are spread over fewer students, the ability to offer specialized courses is reduced, with the definition of "specialized" eventually extending to basics, such as shop and foreign language. In Massachusetts, high fixed costs at the district level are an additional burden, and Seltz reports on the efforts of Hull Superintendent Kathleen Tyrell to address this through regionalization.
As I have written in some of my earlier posts on this topic, only in Massachusetts (and perhaps New Jersey), would the combination of two tiny towns be considered a regional consolidation. Even this, as Tyrell has found, is difficult, especially for a district that is isolated on a long peninsula, limiting its potential partnerships. Even more limiting than the physical situation of Hull, however, is the ideological commitment to "local control" in school districts. It is sadly ironic that school committees and the citizenry at large is not willing to set aside ego in order to cooperate in genuine regional districts at the county level.
The state provides some incentives to regionalize, but it aims too low. Massachusetts has a few hundred school districts, where states of similar size might have a few dozen. Nobody actually agrees on exactly how many -- one has as few as 2 children. (That is not a typo.) Combining Hull with another small town would be an improvement in the short-run, but county-wide districts would be a more reasonable long-term goal.
As illustrated in Hull, the cost of maintaining 351 fiefdoms is simply too high. A regional district could allow for some real creativity, too, perhaps to include magnet schools or shared resources for 50/50 online courses in some subjects.
I understand why Gov. Patrick and Lt. Gov. Murray have been slow to act on the recommendations on this issue from the 2009 Citizens Task Force Report (the relevant section of which I authored). Inertia is difficult to overcome both at the local level and within the state bureaucracies employed to oversee them. But it is long past time for the state to offer stronger incentives to encourage districts that combine the back-office functions not of two or three towns, but of ten or twenty.
As the Globe report suggests, regionalization would not solve all of the problems associated with Hull's slipping demographics. But it would certainly help!
Geography asks three questions:
Where is it? Why is it there? So what?
~~~
Geographers apply spatial understanding to the real world.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Ideas
coffee
(25)
GEOG381
(24)
GEOG388
(23)
GEOG470
(18)
climate change
(17)
GEOG130
(16)
geography
(16)
GEOG332
(13)
GEOG431
(12)
musica
(11)
GEOG 381
(9)
Mexico
(9)
Brazil
(8)
GEOG286
(8)
Texas
(8)
education
(8)
migration
(8)
GEOG298
(7)
borderlands
(7)
GEOG199
(6)
GEOG331
(6)
Massachusetts
(6)
US-Mexico
(6)
deBlij04
(6)
immigration
(6)
GEOG 286
(5)
GEOG 332
(5)
GEOG287
(5)
climate justice
(5)
cultural geography
(5)
fair trade
(5)
food
(5)
geographic education
(5)
nicaragua
(5)
water
(5)
Arizona
(4)
GEOG 130
(4)
GEOG 171
(4)
GEOG171
(4)
GEOG295
(4)
Safina
(4)
africa
(4)
deBlij05
(4)
music
(4)
politics
(4)
Bolivia
(3)
Boston
(3)
COVID-19
(3)
Detroit
(3)
Ethiopia
(3)
Managua
(3)
Obama
(3)
border
(3)
cartography
(3)
drought
(3)
land protection
(3)
libraries
(3)
pesticides
(3)
suburban sprawl
(3)
trade
(3)
unemployment
(3)
Alaska
(2)
Amazon
(2)
Bridgewater
(2)
Canada
(2)
Chiapas
(2)
China
(2)
Colonialism
(2)
EPA
(2)
EarthView
(2)
Economy
(2)
Environment
(2)
GEOG 199
(2)
GEOG 287
(2)
Google Maps
(2)
Government
(2)
Hawaii
(2)
India
(2)
Lexington
(2)
Maldives
(2)
Mozambique
(2)
NOLA
(2)
NPR
(2)
National Monuments
(2)
National Parks
(2)
New Orleans
(2)
Religion
(2)
Rio Grande
(2)
Taunton River Wild and Scenic
(2)
Tex-Mex
(2)
The View from Lazy Point
(2)
United States
(2)
Venezuela
(2)
anthropocene
(2)
cape verde
(2)
censorship
(2)
central america
(2)
chocolate
(2)
corn
(2)
deBlij07
(2)
deforestation
(2)
demographic transition
(2)
demography
(2)
education reform
(2)
employment
(2)
environmental geography
(2)
film
(2)
forest fire
(2)
global warming
(2)
islands
(2)
librarians
(2)
maps
(2)
organic
(2)
peak oil
(2)
refugees
(2)
sense of place
(2)
soccer
(2)
sustainability
(2)
television
(2)
water rights
(2)
whales
(2)
#bbc
(1)
#nicaragua
(1)
#sosnicaragua
(1)
#sosnicaragua #nicaragua
(1)
100 Years of Solitude
(1)
ACROSS Lexington
(1)
Accents
(1)
Adam at Home
(1)
Alice
(1)
Alt.Latina
(1)
American Hustle
(1)
April
(1)
Association of american Geographers
(1)
Audubon
(1)
Aunt Hatch's Lane
(1)
BSU
(1)
Baby Boomers
(1)
Banda Aceh
(1)
Bay Circuit Trial
(1)
Bechtel
(1)
Beleza Tropical
(1)
Belize
(1)
Beloit College
(1)
Ben Linder Cafe
(1)
Bet The Farm
(1)
Bhopal
(1)
Biafra
(1)
Bikeway
(1)
Bikini
(1)
Bill Gates
(1)
Bill Moyers
(1)
Boeing 777
(1)
Brazilian
(1)
Brazilianization
(1)
Bridge
(1)
British Columbia
(1)
Brockton
(1)
Bus Fare
(1)
Bush
(1)
Cabo Verde
(1)
California
(1)
Cambridge
(1)
Cape Cod Bay
(1)
Carl Stafina
(1)
Catholic
(1)
Ceuta
(1)
Chalice
(1)
Chipko
(1)
Citgo
(1)
Climate risks
(1)
Cochabamba
(1)
Colombia
(1)
Common Core
(1)
Commuter
(1)
Computers
(1)
Cuba
(1)
Cups and Summits
(1)
Dallas
(1)
David Byrne
(1)
Deans Beans
(1)
Delaware Valley
(1)
Dunkin Donuts
(1)
Earth Day
(1)
Earth View
(1)
Easton
(1)
El Salvador
(1)
Elizabeth Warren
(1)
Ellicott City
(1)
Emilia Laime
(1)
English-only
(1)
Environmental History
(1)
Euphrates
(1)
European Union
(1)
Evo Morales
(1)
FIFA
(1)
FYS
(1)
Fades Out
(1)
Farms
(1)
First-Year Seminar
(1)
Food Trade
(1)
Frederick Kaufman
(1)
French press
(1)
Fresh Pond Mall
(1)
GEOG 388
(1)
GEOG 431
(1)
GEOG 441
(1)
GEOG213
(1)
GEOG490
(1)
Gabriel García Márquez
(1)
Garden of Gethsemane
(1)
Gas wells
(1)
Gateway Cities
(1)
General Motors
(1)
Gini Coefficient
(1)
Girl in the Cafe
(1)
Google
(1)
Gordon Hempton
(1)
Gravina Island Bridge
(1)
Great Migration
(1)
Great Molasses Flood
(1)
Guy Lombardo
(1)
Haiti
(1)
Hawks
(1)
Heart
(1)
Higher Education
(1)
History
(1)
Holyhok Lewisville
(1)
Homogenous
(1)
Honors
(1)
How Food Stopped Being Food
(1)
Hugo Chavez
(1)
IMF
(1)
Iditarod
(1)
Imperial Valley
(1)
Income Inequality
(1)
Indonesia
(1)
Iraq
(1)
Irish
(1)
Japan
(1)
Junot Diaz
(1)
Kenya
(1)
Ketchikan
(1)
Key West
(1)
Kindergarden Students
(1)
King Corn
(1)
Kiribati
(1)
Latin America
(1)
Limbaugh
(1)
Literature
(1)
Living On Earth
(1)
Louisiana
(1)
Love Canal
(1)
Luddite
(1)
M*A*S*H
(1)
MCAS
(1)
MacArthur Genius
(1)
Maersk
(1)
Malawi
(1)
Malaysia
(1)
Malaysian Air Flight 370
(1)
Mali
(1)
Manu Chao
(1)
Map
(1)
Marblehead
(1)
Mary Robinson Foundation
(1)
Maryland
(1)
Massachusetts Bay Colony
(1)
Math
(1)
Maxguide
(1)
May
(1)
Maya
(1)
Mayan
(1)
Mayan Gold
(1)
Mbala
(1)
McDonald's
(1)
Melilla
(1)
Mexicans
(1)
Michael Pollan
(1)
Michelle Obama
(1)
Micronesia
(1)
Military
(1)
Military Dictatorship
(1)
Minuteman Trail
(1)
Mongolia
(1)
Monsanto
(1)
Montana
(1)
Morocco
(1)
Mount Auburn Cemetery
(1)
Muslim
(1)
NPS
(1)
Nantucket
(1)
National Education Regime
(1)
Native American
(1)
Native Americans
(1)
New Bedford
(1)
New Hampshire
(1)
New York City
(1)
New York Times
(1)
Nigeria
(1)
No Child Left Behind Act
(1)
Norquist
(1)
North Africa
(1)
Nuts
(1)
Oakland
(1)
Oaxaca
(1)
Occupeligo
(1)
Occypy
(1)
Oklahoma
(1)
Oklahoma City
(1)
Oppression
(1)
PARCC
(1)
Pakistan
(1)
Pascal's Wager
(1)
Peanut
(1)
Pearson Regime
(1)
Philadelphia
(1)
Philippines
(1)
Pink Unicorns
(1)
Poland
(1)
Portuguese
(1)
Protest
(1)
Public Education
(1)
Puebla
(1)
Puritans
(1)
Quest University
(1)
Rachel Carson
(1)
Reading
(1)
Republican
(1)
Retro Report
(1)
Robert Reich
(1)
Rock Legend
(1)
Ronald Reagan
(1)
Rondonia
(1)
Rosa Parks
(1)
SEXCoffee
(1)
Safety
(1)
Samoza
(1)
Sandino
(1)
Sara Vowell
(1)
Save the Children
(1)
Scotch
(1)
Scotland
(1)
Seinfeld
(1)
Senegal
(1)
Sergio Mendes
(1)
Severin
(1)
Sharrod
(1)
Silent Spring
(1)
Sinatra
(1)
Slope
(1)
Smokey the Bear
(1)
Somalia
(1)
Sombra
(1)
Sonora
(1)
Sonoran desert
(1)
Sonoran hot dog
(1)
South America
(1)
Spain
(1)
Stairway to Heaven
(1)
Storm
(1)
Suare Inch of Silence
(1)
Sumatra
(1)
Swamp
(1)
Tacloban
(1)
Tanzania
(1)
The Amazon
(1)
The Amazon Trail
(1)
Tigris
(1)
Tucson
(1)
Tufts
(1)
U.S Federal Reserve
(1)
U.S Government
(1)
U.S. economy
(1)
USDA
(1)
USLE Formula
(1)
Uganda
(1)
Unfamiliar Fishes
(1)
Union Carbide
(1)
Vacation
(1)
Vexillology
(1)
Vietnam
(1)
ViralNova
(1)
WNYC Data News
(1)
Wall Street
(1)
Walsenburg
(1)
Walt Disney
(1)
Walt and El Grupo
(1)
Ward's Berry Farm
(1)
West
(1)
Whaling
(1)
Wilson
(1)
Winter Storm Saturn
(1)
Wisconsin
(1)
World Bank
(1)
Xingu
(1)
YouTube
(1)
Zombies
(1)
agriculture
(1)
antitrust
(1)
aspen
(1)
austerity
(1)
aviation
(1)
banned books
(1)
bark beetle
(1)
bean
(1)
bicycle
(1)
bicycling
(1)
bike sharing
(1)
binary
(1)
biodiversity
(1)
bioneers
(1)
books
(1)
boston globe
(1)
cacao
(1)
cafe
(1)
campaign
(1)
campus
(1)
cantonville
(1)
capitals
(1)
carbon dioxide
(1)
carbon offsets
(1)
carioca
(1)
cash
(1)
cashews
(1)
census
(1)
chemex
(1)
chemistry
(1)
chronology
(1)
churrasco
(1)
civil rights
(1)
coffee grounds
(1)
coffee hell
(1)
coffee prices
(1)
coffee quality
(1)
college
(1)
compost
(1)
computerized test
(1)
congress
(1)
conservation commission
(1)
corporations
(1)
countries
(1)
cubicle
(1)
dams
(1)
deBlij06
(1)
deBlij08
(1)
death
(1)
deficit
(1)
development
(1)
dictatorship
(1)
distracted learning
(1)
distraction
(1)
drug war
(1)
dtm
(1)
earth
(1)
economic diversification
(1)
economic geography
(1)
election
(1)
embargo
(1)
energy
(1)
enhanced greenhouse effect
(1)
environmentalist
(1)
ethnomusicology
(1)
exremism
(1)
failed states
(1)
farming
(1)
financial crisis
(1)
football
(1)
forestry
(1)
forro
(1)
fracking
(1)
free market
(1)
free trade
(1)
fuel economy
(1)
garden
(1)
genocide
(1)
geography education
(1)
geography games
(1)
geography of chocolate
(1)
geography of food
(1)
geologic time
(1)
geotechnology
(1)
gerrymandering
(1)
global pizza
(1)
globe
(1)
goodall
(1)
green chemistry
(1)
ground water
(1)
guacamole
(1)
guatemala
(1)
high-frutcose
(1)
home values
(1)
hospitality
(1)
hourglass
(1)
housing
(1)
illegal aliens
(1)
income
(1)
indigenous
(1)
interfaith
(1)
journalism
(1)
kitchen garden
(1)
labor
(1)
landscape ecology
(1)
language
(1)
libertarianism
(1)
library
(1)
linguistics
(1)
little rock
(1)
llorona; musica
(1)
macc
(1)
maccweb
(1)
magic realism
(1)
maple syrup
(1)
mapping
(1)
masa no mas
(1)
massland
(1)
medical
(1)
mental maps
(1)
mi nina
(1)
microlots
(1)
microstates
(1)
mining
(1)
mltc
(1)
monopoly
(1)
municipal government
(1)
nautical
(1)
neoclassical economics
(1)
new england
(1)
newseum
(1)
newspapers
(1)
noise pollution
(1)
pandas
(1)
petroleum
(1)
piracy
(1)
pirates
(1)
poison ivy
(1)
police
(1)
political geography
(1)
pollution
(1)
provincial government
(1)
proxy variables
(1)
public diplomacy
(1)
quesadilla
(1)
rabbi
(1)
racism
(1)
real food cafe
(1)
regulations
(1)
remittances
(1)
resilience
(1)
resistance
(1)
respect
(1)
rigoberta menchu
(1)
rios montt
(1)
romance
(1)
roya
(1)
runways
(1)
russia
(1)
satellites
(1)
science
(1)
sea level
(1)
selva negra
(1)
sertao
(1)
sertão
(1)
sex
(1)
sex and coffee
(1)
simple
(1)
sin
(1)
smokey
(1)
solar
(1)
solar roasting
(1)
south africa
(1)
sovereignty
(1)
species loss
(1)
sporcle
(1)
sports
(1)
state government
(1)
taxes
(1)
tea party
(1)
teaching
(1)
textile
(1)
texting
(1)
tortilla
(1)
training
(1)
transect; Mercator
(1)
travel
(1)
triple-deckers
(1)
tsunami
(1)
urban geography
(1)
utopia
(1)
vermont
(1)
vice
(1)
video
(1)
wall
(1)
water resources
(1)
water vapor
(1)
whiskey
(1)
whisky
(1)
widget
(1)
wifi
(1)
wild fire
(1)
wildfire
(1)
wildlife corridor
(1)
wto
(1)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment and your interest in my blog. I will approve your comment as soon as possible. I had to activate comment moderation because of commercial spam; I welcome debate of any ideas I present, but this will not be a platform for dubious commercial messages.