Paula Wood, dean of Wayne State University's College of Education, commented about the Detroit schools' budget crisis and planned closures and job cuts. Small schools are the least economical, but have an academic advantage, Wood said. \"The smaller the school, the less anonymous the child ever has a chance to be, and that\'s a benefit,\" Wood added. The risk in closing schools is that it can drive more parents out of the district if their child is assigned to a school that\'s farther away or the parents deem is not as acceptable as other nearby alternatives, Wood said.