Gov. McKernan on public education

Gov. McKernan told the 79th annual Maine Superintendents Conference on June 25 (BDN, June 26) that his administration has developed “the largest education spending increases over the last four years of any state in the country.” But where was the announcement of the greatest improvement in education over the last four years that Maine citizens had a right to expect?

Hasn’t the Maine Department of Education continued: to add professional personnel? to write regulations with the force of law? to lobby for bills for more money and power for the department? to send delegates to national and regional conferences throughout those years at taxpayer expense?

Hasn’t the largest Maine teachers union continued to lobby our legislators to pass bills for pay raise after pay raise for Maine teachers assuring everyone that better paid teachers produce better educated students? Hasn’t the public school teacher-pupil ratio been greatly reduced to provide more teacher time per pupil? Haven’t our schools been getting the latest in textbooks, adding computer labs and science labs? The answer to these questions is yes — yes — yes!

Since increased spending over the past four years has obviously not produced the desired results, Gov. McKernan should have the good sense and political courage to reverse direction and immediately propose a cutback to the spending levels of four years ago. That would be a creative and practical way to decrease his budget deficit, to win the approval of voters in November, and to set a new course for accountability in public education. Bettina F. Dobbs President Guardians of Education for Maine Cushing