In New Jersey, there are nearly 600 districts and more than 2,400 individual schools. This number highlights the growing problem of the differences within each area.

Taxpayers pay an abundant amount of money for education; with the new school consolidation, this would ease the burden on taxpayers and potentially save millions by reducing the number of districts by half.

Stephen Sweeney, the New Jersey senate president, states that school consolidation would save millions of dollars in administration by proposing a more efficient way of running the new reform. Along with the growing tax burden from numerous school districts, New Jersey faces the challenge of accommodating for the different educational techniques used in K-8 school districts.

In the debate over school consolidation in the state of New Jersey, consolidation will greatly benefit the educational system and benefit residents through tax reductions and more efficient education reforms.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney stated that the inefficiencies within all levels of government have influenced the educational decline of New Jersey school districts. These inefficiencies resulted in higher costs and reduced levels of service within New Jersey school districts.

However, opposition has risen and concerns have been voiced by may New Jersey residents to the new consolidation program. In the article “NJEA is Right to Oppose Merging School Districts” by Bill Spadea, an American businessman and television host from New Jersey, he states the growing concern from local residents about the rise of government intervention: “You can’t trust politicians who have shown themselves to be nothing more than reckless with our money. They say one thing and do another.”

These critics fear Stephen Sweeney’s new reforms, viewing him as a corporate giant. In the article “Sweeney says it’s time to get serious about consolidating schools in New Jersey” by John Mooney, Sweeney states he wanted to open the floor by holding a statewide discussion: “‘Right now, we want to start with a dialogue,’ he said. ‘There will be legislation, but we need to work through this.” Sweeney is not just interested in saving money for the residents of New Jersey but also delivering a better education at a lower cost.

As the New Jersey educational system changes and evolves, residents must examine the flaws within our system. As a student at Eastern Regional High School, I have fallen victim to the current system we are currently operating on.

Eastern is not part of a K-12 school district; however, Voorhees, Berlin, and Gibbsboro are all K-8 school districts. By merging these three separate districts into one high school, the board of education must accommodate for all the different styles of teaching and curriculum each district runs on. Each districts sets up different student growth objective, which are long-term academic goal that teachers set for groups of students.

When the three districts merge into one district their freshman year, students from Voorhees Middle School are on a seperate level than students from the Berlin and Gibbsboro middle schools. However, this problem can be resolved by consolidating the three districts into one large district with the same student growth objective. This will help maintain the same level of education required for all students who are apart of that district.

For example, if one district taught their students only how to play baseball and another district only taught their students to play football, when the baseball students are asked to play football they will not be able too. This same logic goes for school student growth objectives, students from Berlin and Gibbsboro may have different SGOs then Voorhees students take. By consolidating the school districts, administrators can eliminate these factors that play a role in class rankings.

School consolidation in New Jersey will also benefit taxpayers. An article titled “NJ School District Consolidation and Tax Apportionment” stated that on average, a K-8 school district with less than 480 students spends 17 percent more than districts with 1,000 students or more. Therefore, smaller school districts are spending on average about $3,400 per child; by consolidating the smaller K-5 and K-8 school districts into a K-12 district, taxpayer money can be used more efficiently than in a smaller district.

Overall, New Jersey smaller districts also have disproportionate share of the state’s overall tax, relative to the K-12 districts. However, smaller districts have a much wider variation in wealth than the K-12 districts, smaller districts range from being the poorest district in tax base to the richest in tax base. With school consolidation in place, taxpayers will save thousands of dollars by not spending it on districts with less than 1,000 students, which cost taxpayers 10 percent to 15 percent more per pupil than larger districts. The new consolidation reform will allow for a diverse curriculum in the new, and wider districts.

Smaller school districts need money. School consolidation allows districts to profit financially. Therefore, small school districts should combine with others to form larger districts which will have access to more money.

The idea of school consolidation has been an overlooked idea in the state of New Jersey for decades. However, New Jersey school officials, senators, and taxpayers must consider the long terms effects of the fiscal crisis on state citizens. Stephen Sweeney, the senate president of New Jersey is not looking to corrupt the citizens of New Jersey; rather hell them benefit financially and with better education.

Therefore, school consolidation will benefit students, citizens, and school administration by reducing the number of obstacles smaller districts would have to face. By having one large K-12 district in the Camden County region, this would eliminate the concern of school districts not coordinating curriculums or teaching methods, textbooks or specialized services with the desperate districts.

Therefore, all high schools would be introduced to the same skill sets. Having a larger district would save taxpayers hundred of thousands each year by not spending thousands in each individual student, but putting the money to other educational reforms. School consolidation is a topic New Jersey residents should take into consideration and have a discussion about. It is time for better education at a lower cost.