Implications for State-Level Decisionmakers
State policies can both implicitly or explicitly support the notion that "bigger is better" as well. Funding for school facilities is a complex mix of state and local resources, rules and regulations. Funding approaches for schools and the facilities that house them differ considerably from state to state, with some states taking a greater fiscal responsibility and others playing a greater regulatory role.
Each state needs to take a careful look at the incentives created by both state funding and regulatory policies relating to schools and facilities. These incentives may be leading districts to design and build large schools despite research about school size.
The following is a list of questions that might be included in such a review:
- Do policies or practice encourage districts to build large facilities housing one school?
Most states have guidelines or rules that districts must follow when building or renovating facilities. Some states must approve facility plans before bonds can be issued. State requirements often include square footage requirements for classrooms, laboratory space, and shared space, etc. In some cases, these regulations may result in larger schools, and they may not be sufficiently flexible to allow creative solutions involving shared physical space with other government or non-government organizations.
Some states, such as Minnesota, have special grants for school districts that cooperate on one larger, shared facility instead of two or more smaller facilities in each district. These policies are often designed to push sparsely populated school districts to consolidate. Other states require smaller districts to merge, which can result in the creation of larger schools. These policies are not supported by research, which shows that students in smaller schools do better, even in rural areas (Howley, 2000).
Some state agencies provide school districts with model school building designs or design principles in order to assist them in their thinking. It is important that these design principles reflect the research about school size. If models are provided, it is key that a variety of models be shared, including shared facilities, stand-alone small schools, and a number of distinctive schools sharing one building.
- Do general operation funding formulas for students (per pupil) encourage the creation of larger schools?
States vary considerably, again, in how money is allocated to schools and districts for general operation. Most provide some per-pupil funding that is a mixture of state and local resources. In addition, many states have funding that is designed for specific purposes, in many cases, but not all, these funds are based on the number of students served (perhaps in a special category such as low income). Many incentives and disincentives are purposefully created through funding formulas. No doubt some of these have an impact on school size.
- Do policies penalize leasing arrangements?
The ability to lease space provides the added flexibility that may be necessary to create an innovative small school, especially one that shares space with others.
- Does your state have a charter school law? Does that law address the unique facility needs of charter schools? Does the charter law in the state provide sufficient opportunities for this form of small schools to thrive?
In states that allow for the creation of charter schools, many small school options have been created. Most charter schools are small in size and many include other elements of successful schools such as a distinctive educational approach, parent and community parnerships, and involvement by choice.
Since charter schools do not have a traditional tax base or bonding authority, their ability to raise funds for facilities is extremely limited. Some states, such as Minnesota, recognize this and provide additional financial resources to help these schools handle facility costs.
Some state charter laws include restrictions that make it difficult for charter schools to get started. While some regulation of charter schools is desirable and appropriate, certain restrictions, such as limiting the overall number of schools in a state, or limiting sponsorship to one entity, may be keeping strong, effective small schools from being opened.
- Are there state regulations regarding the use of public funds that make it difficult for schools and other governmental or non-governmental agencies to work together on smaller facilities?
Some states have laws regarding intermingling of public funds, for example, that make it difficult for a city and a school district to work together on a facility.
- Are state curriculum requirements or standards flexible enough to allow small schools to make creative use of community, business, and other resources to educate students?
Collaboration in many forms is an important way that small schools can offer students experiences in a wide range of curriculum areas. For example, a small school might be co-located with a science museum where the students use museum resources to learn biology, chemistry, or physics. State requirements need to be sufficiently flexible to allow students to learn required content in a variety of ways or settings.
