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Governor Baldacci’s controversial plan to crunch Maine’s current 296 School Administrative Unions down to 80 is poised to go into effect. One of the last steps left is local approval. A referendum vote concerning district consolidation on Jan. 15 could mean the difference between suffering a tax hike and receiving government funding.
The upcoming referendum offers communities the chance to reject their school board’s consolidation plan. However, districts that have not met the requirements before July 1, 2009 will face a cut in government funding for their schools and increased taxes to make up for the extra finances needed by a smaller school district.
According to a report from the Maine Department of Education, some of the benefits consolidated administrations can expect are “new educational opportunities and potential savings.”
For the past several months, school districts across the state have been working with their neighbors in an effort to meet the plan’s requirements and save money. According to the Bangor Daily News, over 80 percent of Maine schools have already filed their consolidation plans, but others are still struggling to find partners or refusing to combine.
Some of these districts will be granted waivers because of their size or location. For example, most school districts are required to have at least 2,500 students, but island communities and some other remote parts of Maine have have a minimum requirement of 1,200.
However, there are a few districts, such as Bangor and Augusta, who have not to chosen consolidate. Gordon Donaldson is a professor at the University of Maine and has conducted research on consolidation. “Some districts are currently large enough to stay by themselves. Probably 20 to 35 of them can make a case for not joining. Bangor is one of them,” he said.
Donaldson added that in smaller communities, consolidation might actually cost more money, not to mention independence.
“This law would essentially end a town’s control of its own schools. Our current system has been in place for 250 years – why should [small towns] give up something that has served them that well for a promise of saving money through consolidation?”
While the plan mostly concerns Mainers employed in education and students in public education, University students have also begun to feel its effects, especially those looking toward careers in teaching and administration.
Anne Pooler, interim dean for the college of education and human development, explained that the curriculum for first-year and second-year students presently includes a course on the culture of education. She also said that the class is sure to change in the next few years because of the new resources that will be available to consolidated districts.
“Positions are going to be cut [which will] make it harder to find teaching positions in the state of Maine. It is a little ironic that Baldacci wants to create opportunities and keep college students in Maine after graduation, but here he is cutting jobs,” Sarah Knox, third year Spanish and education major, said.
Those who will be most affected by the district consolidation are graduate students in UMaine’s education leadership program. This program is meant to prepare anyone interested in working in education from an administrative perspective, such as superintendents or principals. Over 1,000 administration jobs are being cut through consolidation, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Done properly, consolidation could be beneficial to Maine, and bring some financial relief to the education system. However, this legislation was passed so quickly that it has some Mainers worried.
If the question of district consolidation were put to a public vote, Donaldson said he seriously doubted that it would pass.
Bangor Daily News