Repeal School Administrative Consolidation! Vote Yes on 3! Pass the Word!!

by George Crawford

Question 3 on Maine’s ballot this year has to deal with the repeal of Maine’s 2007 school administrative consolidation law. As a teacher, I am working to repeal the law. I hope that other teachers and school staff members vote and will encourage others vote to overturn the law.
School administrative consolidation was included in Governor Baldacci’s 2008-2010 budget as an “emergency measure” and originally was going to consolidate Maine’s school districts from 290 school districts to 26. After debate in the Legislature, the law was passed in June 0f 2007 which set a goal of 80 school districts, all to be RSUs or Regional School Units with a minimum size of 2,500 students or 1,200 if you met certain criteria such as being geographically isolated.

$36.5 million dollars was removed from the 2008-2010 Maine state budget for education subsidies to schools. This included reduced amounts for system administration, facilities and maintenance, and also transportation.

RSU have a SAD governance model and weighted votes on a large school board based on population. The law was passed that if you do not vote for consolidation for your school district to join an RSU, then your district penalty in its subsidy from the state.

In 2008, another school administrative structure called an AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) was made an option where school districts could consolidate and not form an RSU. This governance structure gave another path to consolidation.

The law was passed and after “guidance” from the Maine Department of Education, Regional Planning Committees were formed to create the new school districts under the law. After “good faith” efforts, the planning committees submitted their best efforts to the state for approval and then to local voters. Some plans were approved and many others were voted down.

Maine went from having 290 school districts down to 217 in June of 2009. The figures of 290 districts are also misleading. Towns in School Unions where each town runs its own schools and share a central office and Superintendent are each considered a separate school district. School unions share administration and Superintendents.

The consolidation law has many undemocratic aspects in it. The first one being when it was passed it was incorporated into the budget, as an “emergency measure” State budgets should not be used for huge policy changes such as this. The law was also passed that if your current district didn’t vote for consolidation then your district would face a subsidy cut. This point was often stressed at consolidation informational meetings for citizens by the state facilitators who helped the Regional Planning Committees.

The consolidation law causes many problems. Districts who voted not to consolidate were supposed to face penalties if they didn’t vote to consolidate. Districts that did consolidate often found costs shifted from one town to another. School subsidies under the law are not given to each town in a new RSU or AOS but were given to the district as a whole. It is divided up by a cost sharing formula developed by the new district. After consolidation, property taxes in Pownal have risen 25%, Alna 33% and 19% in Durham. These small towns also have less say in their schools due to the large weighted vote on the school board.

The law also takes away a towns ability to run their schools. Many towns would go directly form running their schools and sharing a central office in a School Union to having little or no say on a a large school board. Otis in Hancock County shares a school with Mariaville. Otis voted not to join RSU 4 which stretches from Ellsworth east to Steuben. They would have 2.6% of the votes on the RSU school board and would have little say about their school. Mariaville voted to join RSU 4 and now Otis must pay RSU 4 tuition to send their students to school in Mariaville. They were formerly part of a school union and ran their own school with Mariaville.

Other problems with the law include lack of local control, centralization moving away control of schools to whom they are suppose to serve, and the fact that onc e in an RSU or AOS, you are not allowed to leave. There is no provision in the current law to leave an RSU or an AOS .
Estimated savings on administration are estimated to be $1.6 million once all the savings is added up from passed consolidated plans submitted to the Department of Education.

If consolidation is repealed, then current RSUs can become SADs and AOS can be changed to School Unions. Savings can be found through cooperation between districts. The Maine Legislature can also come up with a consolidation bill that relies on incentives rather than penalties and coercion.

I ask that you vote Yes on Question 3 and repeal school consolidation. Please spread the word to your colleagues and friends. Please also check out the resources below for more points of view on consolidation.

Web Sites

http://forum.mdischools.net

http://www.repealconsolidation.com

http://yeson3me.ning.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=141579293180&ref=search&sid=1601670634.2095766949..1

Pro Consolidation Website
http://www.coststoomuch.com

Community Schools and Declining Enrollments

Enrollments are decreasing in many Maine schools. In most areas, the community school is very important to the citizens living close to it. The Town of Harpswell is part of MSAD#75 and has two elementary schools, the West Harpswell School and Harpswell Islands School. Enrollments are down, which means something has to give in order to keep costs down. One of the buildings has been selected to close next year, and this has been a very controversial and emotional time for many living in this beautiful coastal town with a diverse population .

Signs along the road voice this concern and disappointment.

























Wikipedia: Harpswell, Maine

A Former Harpswell Controversy:

Cribstone Bridge Spans History and Culture
Wikipedia: The Bailey Island Bridge
Explore Maine: The Cribstone Bridge
Cribstone Bridge Undergoing Repairs

Photo Credit: Pam Kenney, Cribstone Educational Services

School Reorganization Status

Proposed Reorganized School Units of Maine
Map
Maine School Reorganization Forum
Maine State Educational Policy Forum

School Consolidation Podcast at Skelton, Taintor & Abbott

Sign up to listen to School Consolidation discussion.

Related Information
Google News Search on "Maine School Consolidation"

ACTEM ONTime Podcast

Check out this ACTEM podcast conversation about the latest issues on using technology in Maine

ACTEM (Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine)

Getting Involved! “The Beginning of the End? “ or “Making the End a New Beginning?”

Jim's comments below and my other post about certainty and uncertainty have made me want to write again. As we begin the new school year, we realize that this year is going to bring some big changes to education in Maine.

Yesterday, August 31st was the deadline for school districts to file their Letter of Intent of whom they want to merge or “reorganize” as DOE puts it, to form the new Regional School Units or RSUs. From now until the end of 2007, school districts will be forming Regional Planning Committees to help form the governance of the new school districts.

As teachers, we are not supposed to be effected by the process and “business as usual” is supposed to continue in the classroom. As a teacher, I am, and probably many of you are also, concerned about this process and what it will mean to Maine schools. Will schools eventually be closed and combined? Will positions in teaching and other areas be eliminated? Will my school or town be given less resources to work with? Will I be given less or more of a voice in decisions about my school or town?

The doubts lay in the back of my mind about the unpredictable future. Some say we can wait for the future to happen. Others say we can seize the future and make it our own. My own belief is somewhere in the middle. We can influence events and try to make a difference in the short and long term.

This year I urge you to get involved in the process of forming the new school districts in two ways. The first involves helping to form the governance of the new districts. If you are asked to serve on a Regional Planning Committee either as a teacher or a citizen, do it. Try to be sure that the governance model created is fair to both your school and the town that you live in. If you don’t want to serve on a Regional Planning Committee, then try to stay up on events that are going on and be sure to give your input. This is for both the school that you teach in and also the town or school district where you live. We have been given the opportunity to create the new districts and participate in the process. We need to be involved. This is democracy!

The second way to get involved is networking. Getting to know colleagues in the other schools and other districts you may merge with is a good idea. Try to find a person or persons in the other districts that teaches the grade level or subjects that you teach in another school that might be in your new district. These will be people that you will be working with in the future and it may give some new insights into teaching.

The next year or so will be a rocky road for teachers. We can depend on things that are certainties in our lives, but we also can try to influence the future. We can change and influence “the beginning of the end” to “making the end a new beginning!”

Things to Think About:

What do I want to see for my school in the future?

What factors help make a good governance of schools?

Who do I know in another district that does a similar job to mine and how can I get to know them?

What do I like about how my school works? What don’t I like about how my school Works?

Web Resources
http://www.mdischools.net
Information and links to School Reorganization and Newspaper Stores from All Over Maine! A Great Site

Maine DOE Page on School Reorganization
http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/index.html

List of “Letters of Intent” of School Districts that are Discussing Merging
(This is a Microsoft Excel File) As of 8/31/2007. Will be updated next Tuesday.
http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/noticesofintent08-31-07.xls