More than two-thirds of residents questioned in a 16-county northeast Ohio region are in favor of seeing more collaboration among school districts, according to a survey by the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.
However, only about 45 percent of those surveyed believe school district consolidation is a good idea.
More than 70 percent of Mahoning County residents surveyed and nearly 75.4 percent of Trumbull County residents surveyed were in favor of seeing more collaboration between districts.
Slightly more than 40 percent of Mahoning residents and nearly 50 percent of Trumbull residents were interested in some form of school consolidation.
Columbiana County residents had the highest rating for consolidation with 51.8 percent saying they were interested in studying the concept.
"It is clear that more people are interested in schools collaborating than they are in seeing them joining together," Kathryn Wertheim Hexter, one of the authors of the survey, said. "Although it does not say how people may want to work together."
The survey, "2008 Northeast Ohio Barometer of Economic Attitudes," was done for The Fund for Our Economic Future, which conducts annual surveys of area attitudes related to economic development in northeast Ohio. In this year's survey, there was an increased focus on how the quality of education affects the region.
Lakeview Local Schools Superintendent Robert Wilson said he is not surprised survey respondents favored school districts collaborating rather than consolidating.
"People do not want to lose the identity of their school districts," Wilson said. "In many communities, the local schools are are focal point of the area."
School districts in Trumbull County already are working with one another to reduce costs, he said.
"We, for example, have a health insurance consortium and work with one another with our special education bussing services," Wilson said.
Chris Thompson, spokesman for The Fund for Our Economic Future, said increased emphasis on residents' views about education is being done because studies show that a region's prosperity is tied directly to its education level.
"We want to know whether the public understands that fact," Thompson said. "We also want to know whether they agree that higher education is important to economic development and are they personally doing anything about it."
Areas experiencing the highest percentage of growth are those where 30 percent or more of their residents have college degrees. In survey region, about 25 percent of residents have college degrees. In the Mahoning Valley, that drops to about 20 percent.
"It is clear that we have to get adults back into the classroom and trained for careers that demand a higher level of education," Thompson said.
When questioned about the possible passage of a supplemental tax to improve public schools, 46 percent of the survey respondents in Mahoning and Trumbull counties and nearly 48 percent of Columbiana county residents support the idea.
Wright State University's College of Urban Affairs conducted telephone surveys of 2,304 residents living in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Lake, Mahoning, Trumbull, Wayne and Richland counties. Approximately 100 Trumbull and 200 Mahoning county residents participated in the survey. The surveys were conducted July 26 through Sept. 14.
