As farms get larger and farmers become fewer, it's no surprise rural communities are struggling to deal with the realities of dwindling populations. To compound the problem, newly-amalgamated school boards see closing rural schools as their only realistic way to deal with declining enrolments.

But is closing a bunch of schools really the only option

One can't help but wonder if the politicians are missing the forest for the trees. Isn't there a better way to approach the rural school issue without a string of knee-jerk closures Maybe, just maybe, the school system itself is the problem.

While many schools have just a handful of students from K-12, it doesn't necessarily follow that these schools are "unsustainable." In terms of per-pupil expenditure, many rural schools are less expensive to operate than big schools in Regina and Saskatoon. Moreover, rural property taxpayers are asked to pick up a much greater proportion of school funding than city dwellers.

Even if small schools are more expensive to operate than big ones, should that matter if local ratepayers are willing to pay for them Take a look at an average farmer's school tax bill - which ranges from $4,000 to $15,000 a year depending on how much land is owned - and one fairly concludes rural people are paying more than their fair share. In contrast, the average Saskatoon resident paid $1,500 in school taxes last year.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has received a flood of phone calls in recent weeks from concerned ratepayers - all of them saying they don't mind paying more so long as they can keep the school in their community.

And therein lies the rub - rural taxpayers aren't given the choice. Since the forced amalgamation of school boards, trustees have become ever more distant and less accountable. Schools which are chosen for closure are at best victims of cold math, and at worst, pork barrel political patronage.

Many snickered when the government said amalgamation would save tax dollars and result in lower mill rates. It's now safe to say amalgamation was an unmitigated policy disaster. It's a pity former NDP education minister (and amalgamation architect) Andrew Thomson isn't sticking around for the next election to be held to account for it.

Adding salt to the wounds of many rural taxpayers are skyrocketing mill rates. Take the community of Gray, southeast of Regina. In the past few years, area taxpayers have seen their school mill rate hiked by as much as 15 per cent while two schools in close proximity - Gray and Kronau - are scheduled for closure. Now children as young as five are facing more than two hours on the bus each day.

So what's the answer Choice.

If taxpayers in Gray - or any other community for that matter - want to send their children to a school with 20 kids, who are we to judge So long as they are willing to support the school (as they always have) through fundraising and tuition fees, they should be given every opportunity make that happen.

If rural communities want to establish charter or private schools, we should move mountains to enable them to do so. The problem is the extraordinary school tax burden carried by rural ratepayers. It would be a tough sell to ask a farmer to chip in for a local private school when she's already being nailed for $10,000 in school taxes.

That's why the province should give taxpayers the choice to choose who to support with their school tax dollars - the amalgamated school board or the local school of their choice. In other words, local ratepayers can vote their conscience by supporting whatever school system they see fit. A perfectly sensible system is already in place with taxpayers choosing between the public and separate systems. It's not a stretch to extend that choice to local private or charter schools.

It's patently unfair for taxpayers to be forced to pay ever increasing tax bills while seeing the services returned for that fee stripped away or eliminated outright.

Would a "school choice" program save all the rural schools from closure Of course not. But never underestimate the perseverance and ingenuity of community members empowered by the freedom to choose their own destiny.