Going on 20 years ago, Iowa's department of education (Fanatic, let me make my point) went to the school districts and basically told them that if your district is too small to generate enough property tax to stay open, you closed or consolidated. This caused a lot of hard feelings for a while, but the consolidated districts that have been created since then are strong in every way. Sure, some small towns lost their high schools out of the deal, but what's more important, education or "identity?"
