The Bangor School Committee this week was correct to turn down the opportunity to add their positions to the City Council’s in a referendum on raising stipends. But they should not ignore the intentions behind the offer: The seat on any civic board should be compensated so that the cost of serving does not exclude anyone because of income.

The stipend for the school committee is $250 a year; the rejected proposal would have made it $1,000, a minuscule change relative to the city’s education budget. In voting down the proposal, committee members may have been thinking of the unnecessary entanglement of placing the stipend within the city charter, which could require both the consent of the City Council and a citywide vote anytime a future committee believed there was reason to increase the stipend by even $5 or $10. For what is essentially volunteer work, such a requirement is overly cumbersome.

But the idea of ensuring that the stipend is high enough to allow any interested resident the opportunity to run for the committee is a good one. Public school is one of the great levelers in a community, providing opportunity for anyone to succeed based on merit, not wealth. The committee that oversees the schools should ensure that it provides the same opportunity, and that the costs of running a campaign, getting a baby sitter for meeting nights and for incidentals are not a barrier to service.

Committee member George Eaton says he thinks such a concern is merely theoretical, and he may be right. But a review of the low number of people who have run for the committee suggests that it is worth exploring. For the last five years, school committee races have featured, in three cases, an equal number of candidates as open seats, and in two cases, just one person more than the number of seats. In both of those races, the losing candidate was the same man, Eric Taylor. This year, only three people – two incumbents and Mr. Taylor – have taken out papers to run for two open seats. Given the intense interest in education, such numbers are disappointing and may indicate an unrecognized barrier. A look at stipends in other communities also suggests that a review in Bangor is needed: the rate in Portland is $3,000 a year, Lewiston, $1,200, South Portland, $1,000. Augusta offers $150 per month.

Setting a stipend shouldn’t be a difficult calculation. Figure, say, $100 or $200 for campaign posters or a mailing, add 30 hours worth of baby-sitting time per year, tack on $50 for incidentals. To some committee members, this sum may seem like too little to be bothered with. To people who have to watch their budgets closely, it could mean the difference between running and not running. Those who don’t care about the money, of course, are free not to take it or donate it as they see fit.

The committee can and should review this issue on its own, without help from the local citizen’s group that came up with the rejected proposal. As a simple matter of good government, it needs to ensure that the opportunity to serve is open to all.