Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Déjà Vu

  • By Deb Moore
  • 02/01/11
As I sit watching the news I hear about international competition, our students falling behind, the need to upgrade our math and science programs, school consolidations and workforce development. Call it déjà vu (or maybe old age), but I remember hearing the same things before.

It was 1957, and the talk was about the Soviet Union, Sputnik, the space race and how American students were falling behind in math and science. Our sense of superiority was being challenged and our strategy was to emphasize math and science, and to expand vocational programs in schools. District’s wrestled with this challenge and came up with a solution, school consolidation. In 1950, there were 83,718 regular public school districts in the United States. In 1960, the number was reduced to just over 40,000, and by 2010, there were less than 14,000 public school districts left. While schools were consolidating, enrollment was doubling — from 25 million students in 1950 to 50 million public school students in 2010.

Why consolidate? The perceived benefits were an expanded curriculum and specialized courses focusing on math and science, efficiency (borrowed from the private sector) and a need to demonstrate a commitment to science, progress and modernization. Somewhere between the ‘50s and the 2000’s we did a 180. The push was for smaller schools and a white-collar workforce. We decided that bigger is not always better, that cost effectiveness to the taxpayers should be measured by graduate, not by student, and that only five- to12-percent of students in large schools take advantage of the “extras” a larger school can provide.

Then, on the news tonight… science, math, technology, engineering, workforce development and school consolidations. Are we sure this time, or did we just forget?

Featured

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.