Issue Position: On solidation Position

Issue Position

Brecheen said he strongly opposes forced school consolidation, citing studies showing top ten college graduates often come from small rural schools. "If forced school consolidation was in place, then great programs like Cottonwood School would not have the opportunity to thrive and try innovative methods as they have. More local control and more school choice for competition purposes are conservative positions", said Brecheen. He believes if consolidation is to occur it needs to be locally driven and not state mandated. "Shutting down certain schools in rural areas will not save as much money as some contend. Shutting down one school to build on to another to accommodate increased number of students doesn't make much sense. Many times consolidation occurs because it is locally driven if there is a low quality of education occurring and inefficient use of state resources. The school I grew up in consolidated with my graduating high school of Coalgate, however, the decision was not forced by the state.

Source