Maine to consolidate 152 school administrative systems into 80
Maine’s Governor John Baldacci has signed a $6.3 billion state budget that includes a provision for consolidating the state’s 152 school administrative systems into 80 in the biggest public school system reorganization since the Sinclair Act of 1957, which set off a decade-long process of consolidation of Maine school districts. According to the governor, the budget both cuts and reorganizes administration in the Education and Health and Human Services departments, which comprise about 80% percent of the budget. The budget is designed to provide tax relief as a result of $36.5 million in savings in the education component. Maine Senate President Beth Edmonds points out that nearly $2 billion of the budget's total is earmarked for the state subsidy to local schools, while about $553 million goes to higher education, and $1.2 billion for health care for Maine's poor families and the elderly. Governor Baldacci applauded the state legislature’s effort saying, "You have been able to grapple with at least two major departments ... in terms of cutting administration, reorganizing administration and providing tax relief to our citizens both in health and education." Because the state has been able to implement service cuts and funding transfers, it has been able to avoid raising taxes on tobacco, as the budget Mr. Baldacci submitted in January had proposed.
Boston Globe
By Glen Adams
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: The Maine School Management Association (MSMA) summarizes the legislation at the first link below. The news article below reports that a state senator who backed the measure has filed Freedom of Information Act requests attempting to obtain detailed information on the opposing advocacy efforts of five Maine education organizations. State lawmakers reportedly were upset that parents responding to warnings from school advocates "called lawmakers in a panic, fearing their small children would be bused for miles" when "closing schools was not part of the state's effort to cut administrative costs by consolidating districts and reducing the number of superintendents." A 2006 report by the Rural School and Community Trust, below, on the results of Arkansas legislation, details how what was billed as district consolidations in fact resulted in school closings. The second publication by the Rural Trust below argues that consolidation initiatives not only have little if anything to do with educational goals but frequently fail to deliver on non-educational goals like cost savings. A general resource on consolidations and cost-saving alternatives is provided at the fourth link. Finally, see a Legal Clips excerpt of a Philadelphia Inquirer article on New Jersey’s weighing of the tradeoffs between the educational and fiscal considerations when it comes to property tax financing and district consolidations.]
[MSMA on consolidation measure]
Waterville Morning Sentinel
By Susan M. Cover
[Full story]
[Rural Trust on Arkansas consolidations]
[Rural Trust on state mandated consolidations]
[Leadership Insider on closings and consolidations]
[NSBA School Law pages on New Jersey discussions]