Given the interest in New York in consolidation of all sorts, this post from a newspaper website in Michican reveals some interesting findings:
Consolidation of school districts as a money savings strategy is not supported by the research, which concludes: consolidation will not reduce the costs for education, and it may very well have a negative impact on student performance.
And
... “a systematic review of evidence on school systems in Michigan demonstrates that larger school districts are no more efficient or effective than smaller districts” and further (as for) "the argument for economics of scale, there is very little evidence that larger educational units will achieve economics of scale in administration or operations.”
And
The study from the Mackinac Center (Coulson, 2007) indicated that “consolidating small districts could save $31 million while breaking up large districts could save $363 million." Another study in Michigan (LeTarte, 1992) revealed that there would be an increase in administrative costs, and there would be a significant increase in teacher costs due to a correlation between teacher salaries and district size, given that Michigan is a strong union state.
And
The study from Syracuse University (Duncomb & Yinger, 2001) noted some benefits to consolidation, but the disadvantages are more significant: higher transportation costs, negative labor relations effect, lower staff motivation, lower student motivation.
And
An Arizona study (Murray & Groen, 2004) summarizes that “contrary to expectations, research overwhelmingly shows smaller decentralized school districts have superior student achievement and efficiency” ...
Finally,
The American Legislative Council (2002) indicated that “on average, fewer students per school and fewer schools per district are associated with higher SAT, ACT, and NAEP scores.
