AUGUSTA – A task force has concluded that Maine has an irrational educational system and has recommended aggressive management changes if the state wants to compete and survive in a rapidly shifting global economy.

“Maine does not have a rational system designed to streamline the effective delivery of services to improve student learning,” the Select Panel on Revisioning Education in Maine stated in its report. “There is an enormous cost to the taxpayers that drains resources from the classrooms where they could positively impact student learning.”

Two years in the making, the task force released its report, “The Learning State: Maine Schooling for the 21st Century, at a press briefing in the Hall of Flags at the State House on Thursday. The State Board of Education established the select panel of community leaders in 2004.

The report found that it was unlikely that state taxpayers could continue to afford an increase in their share in the cost of education and that revisions in structure and delivery of education are needed.

The recommendations call for a major push to change the public’s attitude about education, improving teaching and learning methods, expanding the length of the school year by 10 days, contributing $200 into a mutual fund for each child born in the state, increasing class sizes, advancing the use of technology, and reducing the number of school administrators by forming larger school districts.

“Things are radically changing, dramatically changing in the world out there, and education programs need to change to prepare students for the future,” James Carrignan, chairman of the State Board of Education, said when introducing the findings.

Carrignan noted that Maine was listed eighth in the country in per-pupil costs while its per-capita income ranked in the middle 30s. He described the gap between the two as “unsustainable,” and said fundamental changes were needed to correct that disparity.

“We have to have a nimble system,” he said. “It’s a major challenge and also a major opportunity.”

To accomplish that, the panel recommended shifting some of the money used to administer the system into delivery of tools and technology to the schools themselves. A cost analysis of implementing the proposed changes indicated that the state would save about $134 million over the next five years if the recommendations are put in place.

Along with spending more on technology and increasing teacher pay, the panel recommended reducing the number of school administrative units from 286 with 153 school superintendents to 65 units, each with a superintendent. The panel also recommended creating school districts of 3,000-4,000 pupils and restricting new construction of elementary schools to ones holding a minimum of 350 pupils.

The panel noted that the report differed from the draft proposal that suggested school districts be reduced to 35 – one for each state Senate district. Panel member Weston Bonney said the original recommendation caused much consternation statewide and was revised upward in the final report.

“With the high taxation in this state, I don’t think we can find more dollars to support education,” the retired bank executive said. “We have a large slice of the pie, and I don’t think it’s going to get any bigger.”

Former University of Maine System Chancellor Robert Woodbury agreed. Woodbury said technology was on the move and changes happen overnight. He recalled that the slide rule is now unheard of in schools and that the laptop could the be slide rule of the future.

As another indication of how rapidly things are changing, Woodbury said there were hardly any cars in China 20 years ago. Today, that nation’s economy is booming and cars are everywhere. He predicted that Mandarin could join English as the language of world commerce in a matter of decades.

“This is a response to a world that is changing so rapidly that we can’t do business as usual,” Woodbury said.

Carrignan described the final report as “a very important statement about the future direction of education in Maine.” He said that while the panel would not assume the role of creating a detailed plan to implement the recommendations, its members would be talking to legislators, union leaders and education officials about the report in the weeks to come. He said it was imperative to implement the plan in its entirety, rather than accept the easy solutions and overlook those that are more difficult.

“Once you start pulling it apart, it doesn’t make financial sense,” Carrignan said.

He added that many of the recommendations are already in place in other states and that some of the proposals have circulated around the State House for years.

“This is bold, but it’s not alien,” Carrignan said of the plan. “It’s not from another planet.”

A copy of the report may be obtained by writing the State Board of Education at 23 State House Station, Augusta 04333-0023, by calling at 624-6616 or by going online to www.maine.gov/education/sb/homepage.htm