The Journal Star reports this morning that Dunlap schools (District 323) have added 167 new students this year. More students means more federal dollars; it also means more people are moving into the Dunlap School District, bringing more property tax revenue into the system. Dunlap School Superintendant Jeanne Williamson is quoted as saying, “I welcome our growth, it says to us the school district is attracting families to Dunlap … and we’ll continue to serve them.”

But when she says they’re attracting families “to Dunlap,” she doesn’t mean more people are moving into the village, just the school district. Williamson was interviewed in a recent issue of Peoria Woman and had these interesting statistics to share (emphasis mine):

For the past two school years, we’ve tracked where our new Dunlap students come from. Only about 15 percent of our growth is a shift from District 150. The majority of our new students are from families moving into the Peoria area from other locations. There’s been extensive new construction and development of subdivisions in the City of Peoria that are located in the Dunlap School District; this enhances the decision for families to buy these homes. Since approximately 70 percent of our students live in the City of Peoria, it’s been a great marriage between the city and the Dunlap School District.

I would argue that it hasn’t been a “great marriage” for the city. It’s more like a divorce because it divides the city and damages our sense of community (and by “community,” I mean, “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals”). We now have a situation where the northern part of the city has an economically-advantaged student base with a growing school district budget, and the southern part of the city has an economically-disadvantaged student base with a growing school district deficit. District 150 is trying to educate the neediest, most at-risk children with dwindling resources while all the tax revenue from Peoria’s growth area is going to the least needy.

It’s the age-old story of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. And something needs to be done about it.

As readers of my site know, I’m a proponent of the Heart of Peoria Plan and related initiatives to revitalize our older neighborhoods in the core of the city. But everyone acknowledges that the biggest things we need to be working on in Peoria are crime and schools. We’ll leave crime for a later discussion; right now, let’s talk about what can be done to improve the schools.

I propose (and this is not original with me) that we consolidate school districts 150 and 323. Since 70 percent of the students in District 323 are from Peoria anyway, I don’t see any reason to have separate school districts that divide our city and cause an ever-increasing economic disparity that hurts the neediest of our city’s children. Our civic leaders should begin a campaign now to lobby for consolidation. I realize it will be an uphill battle and may take years to succeed, but someone needs to get the ball rolling.

I think it should start with the District 150 school board working directly with the District 323 school board. If those two boards vote to consolidate, a referendum can be put on the ballot. Otherwise, it would take petitions with 50 signatures from District 150 residents and 50 signatures from District 323 residents to get a referendum on the ballot. However, if the school boards were for it, I think that would carry more weight with the public.

Under a new law for school consolidation, the way it could work is that both District 150 and 323 would be dissolved and a new district formed with a new school board elected at the same time. Thus, it wouldn’t be like one district joining the other, but a new district with new leadership formed all at once. This could be the renaissance that Peoria needs to improve education for all the children of our city.

The last time Peoria experienced massive growth — back in the ’60s when Richwoods township was annexed — civic leaders (and the media, including the Journal Star) campaigned tirelessly and passionately about the importance of having a united school district, and they succeeded. I’m confident that it can be done again.