Some Districts Giving Up Middle School Ideals?

A recent story in the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on some nearby Illinois school districts that are "reverting to the junior-high model, rather than the middle-school model, in an effort to save money." Others, the newspaper says, are adopting hybrid models but abandoning enrichment programs, smaller class sizes and team teaching that were signatures of the middle school concept. The switch will allow districts to eliminate teaching positions in the face of state budget shortfalls. Says one district business manager: "Educationally that's a mistake, but financially this is a requirement. The state has no idea the damage they are doing to these kids."