As enrollment in many urban school systems steadily declines, districts have typically responded in three ways: They've cut budgets to reduce spending on operations such as building maintenance, school bus transportation, and in some cases, shuttered schools and shed jobs. They've launched initiatives to improve schools and attract new families to enroll. And they've done a combination of both.
But keeping efforts alive to raise achievement in schools becomes nearly impossible when districts continue to lose students—and the revenue that comes with them.
In a new report from business consultants with a track record (at times controversial) of working with urban systems (New Orleans post- Hurricane Katrina, for example), districts are being advised to adopt a longer-term approach to managing the downsizing. The Boston Consulting Group, which recently has been working closely with school leaders in Philadelphia to reshape how that system does business, lays out what it calls "eight levers" districts can pull to manage costs while insulating classroom instruction.
