AUGUSTA – As commissioner of education, Susan Gendron has been a lightning rod for a number of policy decisions that often left school administrators, their boards, teachers, parents and taxpayers gasping.

The contentious issues she has dealt with include the mandate that the state pay 55 percent of the cost of kindergarten through 12th grade education, the expansion of the laptop program, the balancing of the federal No Child Left Behind Act with the state’s Learning Results requirement, and the decision to use the college-entrance SAT test as an assessment for all high school juniors.

Then there’s the biggest issue of all: Gov. John Baldacci’s recent proposal to shrink the number of school administrative units from 290 to 26. The number of superintendents would be trimmed from 152 to 26.

Gendron has been on the front line taking the heat, all the while advocating her beliefs about the direction education must take in the future.

And despite the fact that she does not come from a political background, Gendron has been noticeably adroit at navigating through the minefields of public policy debates and winning support for her initiatives.

“I’m an educator; that’s why I took the job. I really believe in the work I’ve done over the years for Maine children,” Gendron said in an interview this week. “I’m a change agent. All of the work I’ve ever done has been to advance the system for our children. However you approach it, change is difficult.”

Gendron was appointed commissioner of education in 2003. A graduate of the University of Southern Maine, she began her career in the classroom as a kindergarten teacher in Windham. Over the next 35 years in positions in Windham or Scarborough, she served as head teacher, assistant principal, director of instruction, middle and high school principal, curriculum coordinator, and assistant superintendent. She was superintendent of Windham schools when she was offered the job as commissioner.

When asked how she felt about supporting a change that would reduce the number of superintendents and, in effect, deny the next generation of educators the opportunity to advance through the system the way she did, Gendron said she believed that other opportunities would present themselves. She said positions such as curriculum coordinators, special education directors and principals would still be available.

“I believe we need very strong leadership for all our school systems,” she said. “Many districts have struggled to hire superintendents, and the larger districts will give them an opportunity to hire superintendents that will be education leaders. By defining the role and providing the necessary support for superintendents, we will enhance the job.

“In smaller systems they have to do it all. It’s a struggle to attract teachers to rural areas. If you are in a larger district, you have more opportunity to attract and hire those folks. I think we have a chance to enhance the system.”

Gendron said it was a chance meeting with Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, shortly after Baldacci’s election that led her to being appointed commissioner. Diamond was a member of Baldacci’s transition team, and when Gendron inquired how the search for a commissioner of education was going, Diamond replied that if she was interested he would submit her resume.

“I never met Governor Baldacci until I interviewed for the position,” she recalled.

Since then she and the governor have worked side by side to change the way education is funded and delivered in Maine.

It has been a whirlwind experience for Gendron.

“It’s one of those jobs that’s 24-7,” she admitted. “I knew it was going to be demanding because I had been a school superintendent and that required a lot of meetings and evenings. But I never really expected it to be like this.”

With state and local government spending about $2 billion a year on education, it has long been clear to politicians of all stripes that something had to be done to slow the rate of the growth in spending at a time when enrollments were on the decline. About 46 percent of the state’s budget and 70 percent of the average property tax bill is used to fund education.

Gendron said the proposal to save $36 million a year by shrinking the number of school districts has been long overdue. Approximately 70 percent of the state’s school districts have fewer than 500 students.

Although the proposal has come under fire from every corner of the state, she remains convinced that something needed to be done to improve education and reduce spending. She may not be enthralled by the heat of battle, she said, but she is firm in her conviction that the state is on the right track.

“Sometime[s] you do need that thick skin,” she said. “I’ve tried to operate on the philosophy that it’s not about me, it’s about getting input. That’s what this conversation is all about. It’s about being able to offer the best we can.

“One of the things I learned in my career as an administrator and commissioner is that I don’t personalize the comments. Instead, I encourage people to offer suggestions and input,” she continued. “The other night in Camden a man came up to me saying he came to the forum ready to do battle and was leaving with the possibility of doing something. That’s the value of the conversation. It opens the door to possibilities.”

Gendron said she and Baldacci are aware that the Local Schools Regional Support proposal will likely take on an entirely different look when it emerges from the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee sometime next week. The part dealing with increased class sizes has been eliminated and revisions are in the works for some of the smaller districts.

She said the department has already met with representatives of the islands and more isolated districts and assured them they would be able to retain local control of their schools when they come under the wing of the new management structure.

“The model allows for a local voice and advisory councils,” she said. “There needs to be some exceptions for the islands and geographically isolated schools.”

She said she expected the committee to recommend reducing the number of districts to approximately 60 instead of the 26 proposed by LSRS. She stressed, however, that any legislation must be revenue-neutral and any of the $36 million in savings given away by restructuring the governor’s plan differently would have to be found elsewhere. The Appropriations Committee is expected to take up the education committee’s legislation within the next two weeks.

“I think there will be a proposal. I’m not sure it will go as far as the governor’s,” she said. “I think that’s how the direction is headed. People know the needs and they know we just can’t sustain 290 school districts.”

Gendron noted that sometimes things have a way of working themselves out in the midst of strong criticism. She pointed to her decision last year to scrap the state’s assessment tests for all high school juniors and replace them with the SAT. The move came under fire not only from local educators, but also from the federal watchdogs in Washington monitoring the state’s compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act.

At first federal officials looked askance at the decision, but after studying the issue the government reversed itself and, after ordering revisions, approved Maine’s decision. Gendron said the federal government is now poised to require states to offer high school students a college-equivalent test under a revised NCLB proposal under review in Washington. The government’s willingness to tweak NCLB left Gendron feeling a lot better about the mandate.

“I actually see some real benefits on NCLB. It needs to be fine-tuned, but it has worked for Maine,” Gendron said. “I believe the SAT was the right decision. I want all high school graduates to be equipped to go to college. … We hear from kids all the time about it. We’ve heard students say, ‘I never saw myself as college material. I’m now going on to college.'”

The mother of two and grandmother of two said she hopes to have a less hectic life once she wraps up her term as commissioner. She said the next phase of her life would probably involve working as a consultant in the field of education.

Her busy schedule has prompted her husband to observe on more than one occasion that she “has no family life,” but Gendron said she enjoys the job and will continue as long as the governor wants her.

“I find the work really rewarding. Every day is new and exciting,” she said. “I do this work because I really want to advance education for every child in Maine. It’s been very exciting and I appreciate every day the opportunity to serve.”