Education: October 2007 Archives

The Brunswick Times Record, which last week became one of the first daily newspapers in Maine to editorialize against the state's current school "reorganization" effort, was kind enough to publish an op-ed I sent them arguing against the proposed Bath/Union 47 consolidation plan, which goes before voters there in a couple of weeks. The plan has already been the subject of one of our Issue Brief reports.

Looking to be fair and balanced, the Times Record also published a response to my piece, from one of the members of the Bath-area team that developed the merger proposal. The author, though, seemed far more interested in personal attacks than in refuting my main argument that the Bath area merger plan will eliminate school choice in the region while driving up property taxes and school spending. My piece is variously described as "grossly inaccurate," "misleading," and "incorrect" despite my having used state Department of Education data for my piece. The author concludes that my statements "clearly lack credibility" and that I should just "stay out of our business".

Good to know that people are free to disagree with the all -knowing, all-powerful Bath-School Union 47 Transition Team! Let's hope the people of Union 47 vote down this proposal, which would deal a severe blow to the cause of school choice in Maine.

Could it be that Maine's newspapers are beginning to turn against the school district consolidation effort? The Brunswick Times Record published the following editorial on Wednesday, calling for a halt to the consolidation processes so that better alternatives can be developed.

Beyond repair
10/17/2007

A more productive tact would be to place the whole process on hold.

Read the full editorial on the Times Record Webpage.

Good to know folks are reading our stuff. The following Letter to the Editor, appearing in today's Bangor Daily News, borrows heavily from our report on the Sinclair Act.

A lid on consolidation

Since John Baldacci and Susan Gendron opened the Pandora’s box of school consolidation, much that has been written about it has been confusing, contradictory and subject to constant change. Maine Heritage Policy Center’s Aug. 23 report has been a breath of fresh air. It reminds readers of the 1957 Sinclair Act and spells out its unintended consequences and their relevance to us today.

Many of us are concerned that we’ll lose meaningful control of the schools our precious children attend. Let’s see. The Sinclair Act caused a 50 percent drop in the number of local school boards. As regional school units blend large and small districts, citizens in small districts may totally lose representation to large districts that may not share their communities’ values.

The Sinclair Act caused Maine to lose 40 percent of its schools. Susan Gendron says our schools can’t be closed outright. If an RSU votes to shut down a school, a community can keep that school open if it can pay the increased costs of doing so. Can your town? Said costs are determined by Susan Gendron with no process of appeal.

The rationale for consolidation is that too large a percentage of the educational dollar is spent on administration. It’s an attempt to cut this so more can be spent on actual teaching. This is what they were trying to do in 1957. So why did spending on school administration then go up by 40 percent from 3.4 percent to 6.7 percent of overall education costs? Inquiring minds want to know.

I know education spending can’t go on the way it has forever. But let’s put a lid on this nightmare of a plan and really involve the people of Maine in creating a rational alternative.

Julia Emily Hathaway
Veazie

The Maine Department of Education has gone out of its way to insist that all is well with the current school district consolidation effort. The movement to repeal the bill, though, is spreading. In the past two days, two separate school boards, in South Berwick and in the Camden-Rockport area, have adopted resolutions in support of a repeal.

According to Foster's Daily Democrat, the SAD 34 board drafted a letter this week advocating for repeal of the law. The Village Soup Times reports that the Five-Town CSD school board voted 9-2 to adopt a resolution in support of the repeal as well.

These developments come on the heals of similar action by the Mount Desert Board of Selectman, and the suggestion from a Cape Elizabeth School Board member that school leaders there tell the state to "Go to Hell"

Supporters of the consolidation law, who are getting harder and harder to come by, would love to characterize resistance to the new law as being limited to a few rural parts of the state, but the news suggests otherwise.