How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

I was just reading about how almost all the SD passed their budgets this week... and although I guess in comparison to other years, this increases this year were lower - they were still INCREASES, making our already insane taxes HIGHER!

It seems to me the only real way to alleviate the taxes on LI is consolidate SDs - get rid of some super-high paid superintendents, etc.... what do you think? Is there another solution?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

im not sure it would necessarily decrease taxes anyway.

you will still have the same number of students and need just as many teachers and admin anyway. its not like the south that yes they have county SDs, but they also have lower population densities.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Getting rid of a few administrators and superintendants with low to mid-six figure salaries isn't going to ease the tax burden.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

I think some consolidation makes sense. And if it meant there could be some specialized schools like there are in the city, then I'd be all for it.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

i worked for palm beach county schools in florida and the population is just as high, with the number of students and schools.

I think the county schools work out so much better and I actually was talking about this with DH not too long ago.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Most Long Islanders are very proud of their schools. DH and I made a decision to stay here when many our friends left because we want our future children to get the Long Island education. Yes, it sucks to have to pay but good schools come with a price.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

I think we'd see some substantial savings from consolidation of services - maintenance, transportation, legal services, consolidated meetings, public relations, insurance, etc. Much of this could be consolidated in terms of the oversight of the department as well as the ability to negotiate better terms due to increased size. Since the school portion of my taxes will now be close to $6000 every year (up about $2000 in the last 5 years) I would be very happy to see some decreases of any kind in my school taxes.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

I don't think the consolidation of school districts would do anything to decrease taxes. If people don't like the way things are on LI and they can't afford the high taxes, then they need to reconsider living here. You get what you pay for.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

OK i went home after posting this and never got to see the responses... To counter the "you get what you pay for" mentality, I don't know about that. DH lived upstate and the SD he went to could be considered on par with many of the top districts here on LI, and taxes there are no where near what they are here. In fact, his brother pays a total mortgage of $800/month - including SD taxes.
The taxes here are out of control, and I don't think it has to do with the quality of education. I am not sure what it has to do with, really.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

I read a study the other day that noted the very high amount of local governmetns in LI. THey compared Northern VA suburbs to LI and they noted that LI residents are getting far less for their tax dollars than Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in VA. Here it is below
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Report may bolster case for government mergers



ALBANY - Members of a panel studying how to shrink the number of local governments in the state said yesterday that they hope a new report that found government costs far higher on Long Island than in a similar area of Northern Virginia will help them make their case.

"I think it's a compelling case when you compare counties that are very similar and find one has fewer units of municipal government and fewer school districts and also has lower property taxes," said former Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine. He is the chairman of a commission appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in April to study how to consolidate local governments. The panel is slated to make recommendations next year.

The new study, done by the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester, found that taxpayers on Long Island spend 30 percent more for local government services than those who live in Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia, which are similar in wealth, housing costs and demographics.

Despite their lower costs, residents in Virginia are more satisfied with the services they get from their local governments, and more Virginians (79 percent) than Long Islanders (64 percent) had a favorable opinion of their county governments.

Another key difference: Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties) has 439 units of local government, compared to nine in the two Virginia counties.


Political scientists and budget watchdogs have complained for decades that the state's crazy-quilt system of more than 700 school districts, 553 villages, 932 towns, 863 fire districts, 62 cities and 62 counties is not only inefficient but also expensive.

But consolidation has proven a hard sell politically, as people generally have wanted to stick with local boards and officials they know.

Yet experts say that's one reason the state's property taxes, which fund the bulk of local-government operations and more than half of school spending, soared 42 percent between 2000 and 2005 - about triple the inflation rate. The property taxes New Yorkers pay are among the highest in the country.

Long Island's property taxes were among the highest in the state per person in 2002 - $2,400, according to the report, but still behind Westchester's $2,684.

In comparison, the figure for Fairfax, Va., was $1,547.

The figures for schools were among the starkest. The per-pupil spending on education in Northern Virginia was $12,032, compared to $17,392 for Long Island.

One reason: the two counties in Virginia are served by three school districts. The two Long Island counties have 127.

"It stands to reason there is a lot less overhead with fewer districts," said SUNY New Paltz Dean Gerald Benjamin, another member of Spitzer's consolidation commission.

But there is another cause as well: the report found that teachers on Long Island make far more than those in Virginia. The cost was $4,609 per student in Virginia compared to $7,187 on Long Island.

"Teacher salaries isn't something our commission is going to get into," Lundine said. But he added that reducing the number of administrators should save money.

"There has been some nibbling" at the benefits of teachers and other public employees in New York, Zettik said, as the costs of things like defined-benefit pensions and health insurance have increased rapidly.

Spitzer's two immediate predecessors, Republican George Pataki and Democrat Mario Cuomo, appointed similar commissions, but little changed as a result. There have been a small number of consolidations, mostly villages being merged into towns.

Last year the Legislature set aside $25 million for grants to encourage consolidations, although only about $11 million was allocated. More grants will be announced next week, a spokesman for the Department of State said.

If this latest effort to sell consolidations is to succeed, "we have to stop tilting at windmills," Benjamin said. "People are attached to local governments. We have to be smart and respectful of that" while at the same time pointing out the advantages of mergers.

"People like simplicity," said Benjamin, a former county legislator who recalls getting stopped frequently on the street by people asking about issues he had no power over. "In terms of democracy and accountability, simplicity is better."

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

I have ALWAYS said that LI has WAYYYYYY too many SD's!! why does every town need it's own? IMO, they should definitely start merging them!! that's one of the main reasons why property taxes here are everything is redundant!

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Message edited 5/18/2007 9:15:08 AM.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

I think Charter Schools sound great.

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?

Re: How do you feel about consolidation of school districts on LI?