This time, merger/consolidation talk getting traction

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November 10, 2009

Sid Salter The Meridian Star Tue Nov 10, 2009, 10:39 PM CST

From the state College Board to the State Board of Education to the Legislature and at all the political pressure points in between, political talk about possible merger and consolidation is beginning to get political traction.

Traction, mind you, doesn't always translate into public policy. There are few issues more politically volatile than discussions of the merger or closure of a university or K-12 merger or consolidation of any kind.

People tradition favor university merger or consolidation so long as their alma mater is not impacted. In K-12 schools, the debate is even more politically dangerous.

In those debates, one is walking through the valleys of both community pride and high school sports. Such issues, as they say in the Legislature, can take one's legislative picture off the wall.

There are a few mitigating factors to these discussions: a) State legislators all face re-election bids in 2011 along with all eight statewide elected officials; and, b) when considering all other factors regarding these issues, refer back to the previous mitigating factor A.

But with the state budget in dire straits and trending to get even worse over the next two years or longer, economic reality begins to be the real mitigating factor.

There is currently a state task force actively working on a plan to improve underperforming schools. Consolidation, particularly possible consolidation of districts, is one topic that the task force is studying.

Mississippi currently has 152 school districts. The Colorado-based consulting firm of Augenblick, Palaich and Associates crunched the numbers for the task force and reported that despite widespread anecdotal beliefs to the contrary, "the average size district in Mississippi is virtually the same as in the United States."

According to the consultant's report, the average district in Mississippi has an enrollment of 3,238 students compared to 3,297 nationally.

Bottom line, K-12 school consolidation won't pass legislative muster and it's unlikely that school district consolidation will fare much better.

But in terms of elimination of duplication of programs, consolidation of so-called "back shop" functions like accounting, human resources and other necessary functions, the state's eight public universities and colleges appear headed in that direction.

The College Board has broad powers to make such structural operating changes and the current board is leaving no stone unturned in examining ways to achieve substantial operating cost savings in concert with the individual universities.

But the fact remains that only the Legislature can merge or close a university. However, mitigating factors A and B still hold true.

Strangely enough, the difficult economy has made talk of university mergers less politically nuclear than such discussions were 20 years ago.

The most likely target for merger? Mississippi University for Women.

Why? Infighting among MUW alumni has weakened the solid front that once struck terror in the halls of the State Capitol.

Closure doesn't appear to be on the political horizon at any university, but Gov. Haley Barbour's executive budget recommendation is almost certain to target the state's universities for some dramatic spending cuts and such cuts will be difficult to achieve without substantial restructuring of how the existing system operates.

Contact Sid Salter at (601) 961-7084 or e-mail ssalter@clarionledger.com. Visit his blog at clarionledger.com. His talk radio show, On Deadline with Sid Salter, is broadcast on the SuperTalk Mississippi network.

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