The education pledge

Just about the time Gov. Angus King was submitting his budget last winter, he lamented that the state couldn’t afford to do more for education. But, he pledged, if future revenue forecasts showed increases in available funds, he would dedicate three-fourths of that new money to General Purpose Aid to Education. A generous offer that he now needs to keep.

The budget surplus, at the time of the governor’s pledge in the Bangor Daily News from Feb. 20, stood at $160 million. It is now $290 million. Three-fourths of that added surplus is $97.5 million; the governor has proposed increasing GPA by $43 million since his original budget. The gap he needs to fill to keep his word is $54.5 million.

Though the governor’s promise to use surplus to fund education was well-known in February, he has this spring instead emphasized his desire to cut the sales tax by a half-penny, a decision worth, coincidentally, about $60 million. The tradeoff for the governor is clear: he can fulfill the pledge or reduce the half-penny. It is unlikely that he could do both.

Some lawmakers, in fact, might even think it unreasonable at this late date for Gov. King to put all of that money toward GPA in the budget for the next two years. A compromise position might be to meet or slightly exceed the Education Committee’s funding recommendation, which is higher than what currently is budgeted for GPA, and to support Senate President Mark Lawrence’s plan to reset the trigger for reducing the sales tax. That will leave money available for schools on an ongoing basis.

Though the current budget figures for education, $624 million in the first year and $638 million in the second, represent a legislative compromise, they are not enough to make real headway on meeting the state’s required share of 55 percent for GPA. This is the year to make those changes.

Not only is there a significant surplus, but the good work of the Education Committee and the Department of Education on the school-funding formula and the widespread recognition of the disparities that exist among schools has prompted public demand for a real funding increase. The fact that studies showing property taxpayers in the poorest town are making the greatest effort but still cannot keep pace with wealthier communities is all the more reason to support this funding.

It is late in the session. Legislators are tired. They want to close out the budget by the end of the week and go home; an effort by the governor to fulfill his pledge for education complicates their lives. It would be easy to let the governor slide on this promise, figuring that he spoke long before he knew what the surplus would look like.

We might agree, if schools in many communities weren’t in such tough shape, if property taxpayers hadn’t been required to carry the state for so long on this issue. But these are make-or-break times for many small towns. Either they get the money they need for education or they do without the basic school resources they must have for their children to succeed.

The governor has made an effort to help them. He is about halfway there. Now is his chance to deliver on his word and for education by enthusastically meeting his promise from February.