Report Indicates Schools May Close as Fiscal Cliff Approaches
The Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University urges education leaders to explore innovative cost-saving strategies already implemented in rural schools.
With decreasing birth rates in the U.S. and dwindling enrollments in districts nationwide, experts anticipate that education leaders will increasingly contemplate school closures as a budgetary measure.
The $190 billion in federal pandemic aid for schools was depleted this year, creating a fiscal cliff for districts that largely utilized these funds on personnel and may struggle to sustain current staffing levels in their state and locally funded operating budgets going into the 2025–2026 school year. When budget deficits persist post-layoffs, school leaders frequently assess which expenses can be cut, such as facilities that are underutilized or schools that are under-enrolled.
“However, smaller schools don’t necessarily have to incur higher costs per pupil. In fact, some demonstrate strong academic outcomes.”
The report highlights California as a case study, indicating that smaller districts typically incur higher per-pupil expenses compared to larger ones ($19,976 versus $15,359) because every building still necessitates central staff like a principal, counselor, librarian, physical education teacher, and reading coach, regardless of the teacher-to-student ratio.
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The report emphasizes that a viable solution for smaller schools is to consolidate staff roles. For instance, a school near Yosemite with merely 55 students has one teacher covering grades two through four, with various faculty or staff taking on multiple responsibilities, such as school nurse, physical education teacher, and counselor, at a cost of approximately $13,000 per student.
“Instead of traditional athletics,” the report observes, “students participate in skiing and hiking activities.”
In large urban districts with a high ratio of support staff but a diminishing number of students—termed “zombie schools” by the Edunomics Lab—lower staffing levels should be considered, where staff members adopt multiple roles akin to those in rural schools. This is particularly pertinent given the strong opposition from parents in cities like Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Pittsburgh, Oakland, and San Francisco towards school closures, as noted in the report.
“The last decade has seen a significant emphasis on inputs-based models, asserting that every school requires a counselor or a nurse,” the report states. “As enrollments decline, these rigid one-size-fits-all strategies hinder the viability of smaller schools.”
To further cut costs, districts might augment online course offerings, merge sports teams from multiple schools, plan for temporary classroom mergers in case of a shortage of substitute teachers, and involve community groups and parents in supporting library and athletic activities, as suggested in the report.
“When executed effectively, the small size of a school can be an advantage, even with limited services and staff. While a counselor might be essential in a larger school to provide support to students, smaller student populations in a compact school facilitate relationship-building.
“Educators may have more capacity to help struggling students,” the report continues.
“This is not to assert that every school should stay open. Many will inevitably close.
“However, for those that yield favorable outcomes for their students, it may be time to reconsider the conventional schooling model.”
“Reducing class size does not inherently lead to improved student outcomes,” stated NCTQ President Heather Peske previously to The Epoch Times. “Instead of hiring less effective teachers, determine how to connect effective teachers with students.”
