Research: Make Schools Smaller

RALEIGH — Why has entrepreneur Bill Gates vowed to commit billions of dollars to the public education system? Gates is a committed advocate of small schools, and part of a growing chorus of voices calling for scaled down, safer, and more effective secondary education. Research shows that the cost savings theoretically associated with large schools have been overstated, or don’t exist at all. A 1983 analysis shows that average costs “decline, reach a minimum, and then begin rising ” as enrollment increases. But North Carolina continues to build massive high schools.