Martins Ferry school officials are having to lay off 11 part-time workers, including teachers' aides. That will have an adverse impact on the quality of education available to students in the district.

But school officials had no choice. The district needs to cope with an enormous gap between revenue and spending. Part of it results from $800,000 a year in reduced property taxes.

Financial problems are nothing new in East Ohio schools. While several of them have found the money to construct new buildings during recent years, cash for operations always seems to be a challenge.

It would be less of a problem if Ohio legislators did something about school district organization. Ohio, including our area, would be better off with fewer school districts.

The state has about 600 districts. Belmont County alone has seven, while Jefferson has five. Often, districts have high schools within a few miles of each other.

Evidence that reducing the number of districts would work is provided by the schools themselves. Many of them attempt to increase the amount of state aid they receive by recruiting students from adjacent districts. If those students are near enough to District "A" to attend school there instead of in their home District "B," why could the districts not be combined?

Various studies have pointed out the fiscal inefficiency of Ohio's large number of districts. The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Studies reported a few years ago that Ohio public schools had an average of one administrator for every 20.9 teachers. That compared to a national average of 55.6. The potential for savings is obvious.

State officials don't like to talk about consolidation because they worry about losing votes. But that isn't leadership. It is wasteful spending solely for political reasons.

Ohio's system of school funding is being discussed - again - under the leadership of Gov. Ted Strickland. The governor should make school consolidation to save money part of the discussion.