Sunday Reading, January 20th
Well, it’s too cold to go outside, so let’s catch up on some local issues with the Pal-Item this morning:
First, be sure to check out the article on school consolidation that is part of recommendations Justice Shepard’s task force. Basically, the idea is to gain efficiency and save money by consolidating school districts to the size of 2,000 students. Local educators wonder about these claims: the biggest consolidated school around, Richmond Community School, is topped by a high school with a 54% graduation rate (labeled a “dropout factory” in a recent study: example), whereas the small “inefficient” unconsolidated rural schools tend to do quite well by their student: Foes: Where’s the benefit? and Indiana features long history of consolidations. The proposal aims for 2011 for school consolidation. The full plan can be read <here. The print edition of the paper has a nice Q&A with Justice Shepard in which he explains why the committee was unable to provide an accounting for the financial impact of the group’s recommendations, but it does not appear online. . . .
Then, be sure to check out Bob Hansen’s thoughtful article about eating local: Help the local economy by requesting locally grown food. Bob is the business and retention manager for Wayne County’s economic Development Corporation. I have heard him speak in the past and I am impressed that we have someone with his vision in this position:
Using national averages provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans spent an average of about $2,245 per person on food in 2002. Multiply that by Wayne County’s 2006 population of 68,846 and it comes to $154.5 million. If only 1 percent more of Wayne County’s food was purchased from local sources, it would be $1.54 million more staying in the local economy.
