Better Together Marin
The Better Together Coalition was formed to explore the unification of school districts in Marin to promote educational excellence, efficiency, and greater opportunities for students, teachers and families, while preserving local oversight and enhancing our community.
EXPLORING PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT UNIFICATION IN MARIN
We believe that the current structure of 17 separate school districts, and specifically the 10 K-8 districts that feed into the Tamalpais Union High School District, is an ineffective duplication of resources, and that a consolidation to fewer school districts would increase educational opportunities for students, teachers and the communities served.
Today, with limited resources, our local school districts have more needs than ever. Rising costs of pensions, healthcare and other administrative costs restrain improving opportunities for students including a more diverse and integrated education. Schools struggle to retain valuable curricular programs, and are often unable to add new programs. Fiscally, we are seeing growing taxpayer fatigue from frequent bond and parcel tax measures. We believe that now is the time to examine our current structure to understand the efficiency and effectiveness of our Marin public schools.
As an organization, we do not have a position on what the solution should be. Our intention is to create awareness and foster a discussion with the goal of having a study commissioned to formally evaluate our current structure and the pros and cons of a potential consolidation.