Gov. John Baldacci says the school consolidation plan presented by the Legislature’s Education Committee last week appears to be too timid and may not go far enough to reduce excess school administration while cutting state aid to local districts by $36.5 million.
“I am concerned that they have not gone far enough and that they have pushed the most difficult decisions down the road,” Baldacci said.
The governor spoke directly to Maine residents this weekend during the first airing of what will become a weekly radio address on various issues affecting the state. He asked listeners to contact their legislators and demand change to improve the state’s schools and lower property taxes.
“Too many voices have fallen silent,” he said. “Those with a vested interest in the status quo are dominating. I need your help.”
The governor’s response was not surprising, given that he is calling for cutting the existing 290 school districts in the state to 26 by school year 2008-2009, and the Education Committee’s proposal would create around 100 districts in 2009-2010. But he was not alone in his skepticism.
Members of the Appropriation’s Committee, which reviewed the Education Committee’s proposal on Thursday, questioned whether the plan could achieve all that was promised or went far enough to force school consolidation.
“I have been a proponent of reducing the number of superintendents in this state for years,” said Sen. John Martin, D-Aroostook County. “I’ve seen the number of superintendents sitting through every meeting” of the Education Committee’s deliberations on consolidation, he said. “I now know there are too many superintendents in Maine. It’s been documented.”
The Education Committee took a more cautious approach to school consolidation than the governor, saying first there should be planning alliances that would find $36.5 million in savings in the 2008-2009 school year through cooperation on non-instructional services. Those alliances would then recommend consolidation plans to create districts no smaller than 1,200 students by 2009-2010.
Communities whose schools would be consolidated would vote to reject or accept the plan in November of 2008.
Martin said he was a proponent of larger districts, putting the average number at 2,500, and said a ballot vote should be held only for those who want to opt out.
Others questioned whether the projected $36.5 million savings in the plan was real or simply a cut in state aid.
“I’m not willing to assume that level of savings is going to be achievable,” said
Rep. David Farrington, D-Gorham, a member of the Education Committee, who voted against the plan.
Rep. Linda Valentino, D-Saco, wanted to know if the state was going to honor its commitment to pay 55 percent of the cost of education in the 2008-2009 school year, even if the projected $36.5 million in savings were not realized.
“As I see it were planning this $36.5 million cut based on a lot of assumptions,” she said, and they may not work out.
Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said the state would still be paying 55 percent, but of a smaller amount. “It’s reduces the costs of education,” she said of the plan.
The proposal would create 26 planning alliances along the lines of the existing vocational/technical school districts. They would be charged with creating cooperatives, or services districts, to save 10 percent in non-instructional areas like purchasing, bookkeeping, staff training, building maintenance, food services and transportation. Those savings would need to be realized by fiscal year 2009, which starts July 1, 2008, because the governor booked $36.5 million in savings in the state budget based on his plan to consolidate.
Rep. Sawin Millett, R-Waterford, said legislators would be wary about breaking their promises to increase state aid.
“We will not be seen as honoring our commitment at the local level if were seen as manipulating the base,” he said.
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