Does Size Matter?

Hah, made you look. Now get your mind out of the gutter and back on educational matters.

Education has been debating the merits of both small class size and small school size for some years. Small has its advantages.

The debate I never hear revolves around smaller school district sizes.

Here’s my proposal – no districts larger than 10,000 students.

Now I say this based on my own experiences, of course. Mankato at about 7,000 kids seems to be the perfect size. A school board that is non-political and easily reached by parents, teachers and the community. We’re an organization without many bureaucratic layers – anybody can visit with the superintendent without a hassle. As a district administrator, I know all the other administrators, all the media specialists and techies, and a majority of the teachers. Communication is flat and speedy.

Yet we are big enough to support some administrative specialists - curriculum director, assessment coordinator, Title I director, special education director, and, of course, a technology and media director. Folks who all actually provide direct help to classroom teachers.

I’ve worked with “gianormous” districts, doing inservices and training. And while the leaders I’ve worked in those districts are terrific people, I simply don’t know how they are able to manage, let alone manage change. These mega-districts have hundreds of administrators, librarians and techies, and thousands of teachers. Responsibilities get put in silos, communication gets tough, and bureaucracy sets in.

The little joke below seems to apply not just to “government” but any large organization – public or private.

Governmentium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.

A tiny amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of four years; it does not decay but instead it undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypocritical quantity is referred to as “Critical Morass.” You will know it when you see it.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element which radiates just as much energy since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons. From “The Dull Men’s Club” website

Smaller organizations tend to be flatter organizations with better communication, more personal accountability, and greater likelihood of change. I really don’t know the advantage to kids, parents, teachers or a community of the mega-district.

So what about it readers, what’s the ideal district size or does size make a difference when it comes to student performance? Any fans of the huge school districts?

An aside: When I was first looking for a job in Minnesota, I tried to get hired by a school in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area – big city action, glamour, fame and power, right? When I wound up down here near Mankato, I thought I got the booby-prize.

As it turns out, I got the grand prize. The Mankato area (45-50,000 population) has been a terrific place to raise kids and live without traffic and other urban hassles. I know both the mayor and city manager. We have 95% of the shopping and entertainment one could hope for. We have a state university here. And we are about an hour and a half from Minneapolis so it’s easy to take advantage of the cultural events up there.

Funny sometimes how you get what you really wanted even if at the time you didn’t know that you wanted it.