There are too many school districts in the state of Maine. That was a blunt assessment of a study group put together by Gov. John Baldacci to look at the efficiency of the state’s K-12 education system. That conclusion, part of an interim report released earlier this month, will not be popular but should guide the task force and the administration as they deal with the tricky issue of allocating state funds to education.

Education Commissioner Sue Gendron has set the right tone. Rather than “prescribing a solution,” her department will nudge communities toward consolidation by emphasizing that they could spend more money on instruction if they spent less on buildings, buses and administrators.

Gendron’s foray in the world of consolidation was in East Millinocket where local residents have long contemplated merging schools and other services with neighboring Millinocket. Their consideration of the issue became more serious when the region’s largest employer, Great Northern Paper, filed for bankruptcy this winter. School consolidation, however, shouldn’t be an issue communities consider only have when economic times are bad. With 286 school boards and 151 superintendents in a state with less than 1.3 million people, it is a discussion that should begin now. Better yet, schools and school districts should do more than merely talk about merging. If it makes sense, academically and economically, they should do it.

The Department of Education can provide carrots, such as higher rankings on the state’s lengthy list of construction projects, to move communities in this direction. Reworking the state’s education funding formula is also necessary so that communities can use money saved by eliminating infrastructure duplication for instruction. The state could also be helpful by reviewing where consolidation makes the most sense and then publicizing the results.

Education costs in Maine’s public schools are about 10 percent higher than the national average because the state’s schools and school districts are too small, according to a review done by the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine. The most cost-effective school districts have about 3,400 students, according to Philip Trostel, an economics professor and one of the study’s authors. Only nine school districts in Maine are that large. The average school in Maine has only 304 students, compared to the national average of 546 pupils.

Small schools could be worth the higher cost if students were getting a better education there. However, the study found that, on average, students in small schools do not perform as well on standardized tests as their peers from larger schools. Large schools can offer a wider range of courses and tend to be able to hire staff members with higher credentials.

A group has recently formed to advocate for small schools in Maine. It is positive that they want to help small schools strengthen their academic programs. However, their desire to show that small schools are better may need more research, which this group has asked for. National studies that tout the benefits of small schools need to be kept in perspective. Even the largest school in Maine, Bangor High School, is not large by national standards.

As Commissioner Gendron tackles what she called “the most contentious issue,” she is right to focus on improving educational quality, not just saving money. If students learn more – even if in larger schools – in the end, the pain of consolidation would have been worth it.