California 2011 study of their smaller school districts

California published a study on whether to consolidate its smaller school districts it did in 2011. It looked at costs and benefits. There were some interesting findings.

1. They found among other things that medium-sized districts did better in student performance than the large or very small sized districts.
2. While very small districts cost much more, districts of over 1000 students were considered as economical as large districts.
3. Most communities preferred their own school district and did not want to consolidate.
4. They determined that there would not be substantial savings financially for consolidating nor would there be improvements in student performances.
5. In the end, they recommended not forcing consolidation, but rather to eliminate disincentives for consolidating for districts under 100 students (which I agree with).

This video is almost 10 minutes long, concise, and worth watching.