1. The Crossroad of Challenge
and Opportunity in Fiscally
Stressed Schools and
Communities
John W. Sipple, PhD
Associate Professor
NYS Center for Rural Schools (NYRuralSchools.org)
Community and Regional Development Institute
Cornell University
North Country Symposium, April 2013
2. My Goals
• Stimulate a discussion of opportunity in an era of
challenge
• Share insight from recent research on the
interface between schools and the communities
they serve.
• Offer a view of schools linked to communities
• Offer tools & ideas: Immediate and long-range.
3. Central Questions
• Schools Communities
• Communities Schools
• When did Schools and Communities become
separate?
• What are key Policies/Programs?
• What should WE do?
4. A bit of History
• 1910 - Administrative Progressives
• 1953 - US Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare
• 1979
US Dept. of Education
US Dept. of Health and Human Services
9. Key Tensions & Actions
Short-Term Long-Term
School-based
Big
Community-
based Also Big
10. Key Policy Levers (e.g.)
• Early care and UPK
• District Consolidation/School Closure
• Curriculum (Local vs. Common Core)
• Teacher Hiring
• Teacher Quality (APPR)
• Revenues? Expenditures?
• Each of these shapes schools and communities
14. Ability to Levy Tax
$0
$200,000
$400,000
$600,000
$800,000
$1,000,000
$1,200,000
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Median Property Wealth/Pupil
NYC
Big 4
Small City
HN Rural
Ave Need
Low Need
$20/$1000 = $20,000/pupil
15. Lyson Hypothesis
• A school is vital to the survival of rural
communities.
• Viable villages generally contain schools: dying
and dead ones either lack them or do not have
them for long.
• The capacity to maintain a school is a continuing
indicator of a community's wellbeing.
• School district consolidation has deleterious
effects on small rural communities.
16. Rural Villages in NYS
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Small with
school
Small without
school
Large with
school
Large without
school
Numberofvillage
1990
2000
2010
26. Next Steps – What to do?
• Easy access to Data – Tools (NYRuralSchools.org)
• Informed Local Decision making
• Local and Regional Analysis and Planning
• Demographics & Enrollment
• Financial Planning/Scenarios
• District Reorganization Analysis
• Public Participation and Communication