What do you want, lower property taxes or local control of schools?
It's difficult to have both, as legislators around the nation are discovering as they struggle to meet the conflicting demands of residents who want the best for their children and the most for their money.
The experience of New Jersey and other states shows how hard it can be to satisfy both desires. The eight states with the highest property taxes are the eight states with the geographically smallest school districts.
New Jersey leads in both categories. With the nation's highest property taxes and smallest school districts, the state has ideal conditions for a collision of competing interests. Consolidating school districts could save money but weaken the cherished connection between communities and their schools.
States such as Florida and Maryland, where there is a single school district per county, "have tighter control on taxes, but there's also less of a connection that people feel with the school district," said Michael Griffith, a school finance consultant with the Education Commission of the States in Denver. "Hand in hand with local control is, typically, higher funding costs."
Pennsylvania, a much larger state than New Jersey, consolidated its school districts decades ago and now has 501 for its 1.8 million students compared with New Jersey's 616 districts (593 of which operate schools) for 1.4 million students. Both states have far more districts than the single-district-per-county states.
Maine Gov. John E. Baldacci recently proposed eliminating hundreds of locally elected school boards and scores of superintendents and replacing them with 26 regional boards and schools chiefs. Baldacci, a Democrat, said the consolidation would save nearly $250 million over three years.
School-district size is not the only factor in school costs. New Jersey's lower-than-average state and federal aid for schools, above-average teacher salaries, and high costs for special education also contribute.
And balanced against the issue of costs is the quality of education. New Jersey regularly ranks well above average in measures of academic performance, such as graduation rates and standardized test scores. This month, Education Week rated New Jersey second best in the nation for academic achievement.
Bigger districts
