I heard Murray Smith of United Future state that if schools are the fence at the top of a cliff, and CYFS the ambulance at the bottom, then for every dollar saved on the fence, two dollars will have to be spent on the ambulance.

This is explained really well in the report Dollars & Sense. It is an article summarising research on the education and social benefits of small schools, and the negative effects of large schools, as well as the diseconomies of scale inherent in large schools.

It shows that all the ambulances and rehabilitation centres at the bottom of the cliff (CYFS, Welfare and Corrections) will need to be upgraded to cope with the fallout of larger schools. Investing tax dollars in small schools does indeed make sense.

10:10:04 PM