Justification for school district consolidation is made on the basis of either reducing cost or increasing educational quality. Some cost reduction may be realized through certain economies of scale in some consolidations but it is by no means automatic. The Illinois State Board of Education emphasizes the relationship between high school size and program offering, school size and student achievement, and school size and the number of planning preparations by teachers as the primary rationale for encouraging school consolidation. In scrutinizing the relationship between school size and quality, however, the consolidation movement should probe fundamental questions regarding the economic and quality-of-life relationship between schools and rural communities, factors important in providing quality education (including richness of curriculum, quality of teachers, and parochialism among students) and their relationship to school size, and the vision of quality education in rural schools. Strategies that should be utilized in consolidation planning are sharing of students or teachers between buildings, utilizing instructional technology, restucturing high school grades, reexamining course scheduling, and examining regional/state initiatives. Issues that should be considered in implementing consolidation include deemphasizing bureaucratic aspects, consolidating across regions, maximizing teacher quality, providing transitions for participation in extracurricular activities, and supporting schools during and after consolidation. (NEC)