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large an undertaking, you're talking about something that does have a very high risk of creating problems, you have a very high risk of actually making both systems worse, and I would ask you to consider whether or not there aren't alternative approaches for dealing with the funding issues, that simply require a little more political will than both the citizens and maybe the Commissiers are willing to exhibit. Is there an alternative way to address it? Well, I've seen several thrown about. Is there less risk to children, less risk to the good things about both systems from those alternative approaches? It sounds to me like there probably is less risk from those approaches. And then the last thing I would say is that the process that you follow makes a difference on the outcome. can imagine merger for these systems in 20 different worlds, in 20 different scenarios. And I can imagine that a process that isn't supported by the people in both communities that leaves people afraid, that leaves people not understanding the reasons, that leaves people suspecting the motives for the process will actually be radically less likely to be successful, radically less likely to be supported, and radically less likely to be good for the children in both systems. So I ask you to consider a process, not just being about the democratic process, but also being about the results. How likely would a merger that you're considering be successful? I have some real questions about the process and think it might have a negative impact on the result if you did choose merger. Thank you. Allen Spalt: I'm Allen Spalt. At your work session on the merger report in September, you each asked questions of the public, and I'd like to respond to some of them. Commissioner Carey, you asked if we were starting today, would we design our schools with two districts as they are now. The answer is probably not, but that's not reason enough to merge them. There are many current institutions, including county lines for that matter, that would almost certainly be different if we were starting today from a blank slate. We are not however starting from scratch. We have two good local systems that have long traditions, active involvement of parents, students, and staff. They should not be abolished lightly. I've lived in this County too long and been to too many hearings on school budgets to believe that two school systems have been forced on the County as a way of maintaining an inferior system. Circumstances are changing and we can change to meet new realities while minimizing disruption rather than maximizing it. Commissioner Gordon, you asked if people were more interested in equity and equalizing funding or in merger per se. Perhaps the most important information to come out of the examination of merger is that equity can be achieved without merger. You've heard a lot about that tonight. And that being so, it is preferable to do so. Commissioner Halkiotis, you asked if bigger were better. The more we learn about schools, the more we find that smaller is better -smaller districts, smaller classes, smaller elementary schools, smaller middle schools, smaller high schools. They foster more personal attention, greater parental and community involvement, and better student achievement. Why would we trade two smaller systems for one bigger one? There would have to be compelling educational and not just fiscal reasons. If they exist they have not yet been documented. A merged system would not be big by some