Last Friday (April 11)*, the Columbus Dispatch editorialized in favor of a bill by State Representatives Larry Wolpert and Larry Flowers to consolidate local governments and school districts with fewer than 2,000 students. At first blush, this looks like a good idea – local governments are expensive and efficiency is a good thing, right? In some cases, consolidation probably does make sense, especially with townships in urban counties that are very small and fragmented. Perhaps a reform of township and village government could reduce the number of elected officials. However, as a general rule, we should be empowering government at the lowest level, not taking it away. Empowering local government enables individuals to have greater influence on their government – it builds community and is the essence of democracy.
I also object to setting an arbitrary minimum enrollment for local school districts. As long as the district is able to meet Ohio’s graduation standards, whether it has 500 students or 500,000 should be of no consequence to the State.
* Archived link temporarily unavailable.
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