Oklahoma’s massive budget crisis means state legislators have begun talking about consolidating school districts as a way to save money. Oklahoma has 516 districts, reports member station KOSU. That is, admittedly, an abnormally high number of school districts compared to other states with similar student populations. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the state is spending more money.
One researcher, Gary Ritter, has been studying school consolidation in Arkansas for 10 years. He says there’s no evidence consolidation saved Arkansas money. Senator John Ford, chair of the Senate Education Committee says consolidating districts won't make administrators disappear, either. Instead, those employees would just slide in to other administrative roles—like principal or assistant superintendent.
Oklahoma state officials point to Louisiana as a model, where they have only 70 school districts. But in 2014 Louisiana spent $100 million more than Oklahoma on administrators.