3/23: States consider reducing number of schools

Stateline: States consider reducing number of schools

In Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour has asked a blue-ribbon commission to come up with a plan for reducing the state’s number of school districts by a third. “If you picture a state with 82 counties and 152 school districts you start to see part of the problem,” says Dan Turner, a spokesman for Barbour. “This is both an educational opportunity and an economic necessity.” The governor’s office claims that the change will save $65 million, but acknowledges that as a “guesstimate.”

In Arkansas, school districts in many small towns include only one school, so district consolidation and school consolidation are often synonymous. Julie Thompson, director of communications for the state Department of Education, says that consolidation has helped provide students in some small towns with academic opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise. But she concedes there are serious problems. “Anecdotally, there have been administrative type savings, but it hasn’t always been easy,” she says. “There have been some very painful transitions that communities have gone through as school buildings have closed down. But it's the only way that they can afford to provide a quality education for their students.”

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Sen. Shelby says 'health care turned upside down'

ARKANSAS: Gov. Beebe says state will abide by health care reform

FLORIDA: "Fast train" will make five stops along 84-mile route

GEORGIA: Georgia Hospital Asso. reverses stance to support Gov. Perdue's tax proposal

KENTUCKY: Senate approves spending plan; House calls it a 'budget buster'

LOUISIANA: Report says federal funds for raising Katrina homes have been misused

MISSISSIPPI: Narcotics Task Force busts 21 meth labs in 8 days in Jackson County

NORTH CAROLINA: UNC study says NC could produce 100% of power from off-shore wind turbines

SOUTH CAROLINA: SC Student Loan Corp. to take a big hit with health care passage

TENNESSEE: State lawmakers look at costs of federal health care bill

VIRGINIA: State AG ready to challenge health care law

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