Posted by
John R. LaPlante on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 12:56:06 PM
No, this isn’t a light bulb joke. Instead, it’s a reminder that the work of the Murphy Commission, a project of the Arkansas Policy Foundation, is still paying dividends.
The Murphy Commission recommended that the state’s 311 school districts undergo reorganization. Specifically, it called for the districts to be organized into
not more than 134 "administrative units" where an administrative unit is defined as "one superintendent and an associated superintendent's staff.
Since this recommendation was issued, sixty-five districts have shed administrators. In July, the Altheimer School District started the process of merging administrative functions with the Dollarway district.
Thanks to the recommendations offered by the commission, taxpayers save $175 million over a 10-year period.
The foundation emphasizes that school identities remain intact: “"Every school can keep its mascot, football and basketball team and preserve long-standing rivalries with other schools.”