Smart consolidation plan can help state save money

Not every one of the 2,400 bills introduced to the 123rd Legislature is likely to advance the greater social good. You might even find a few bewildering. By way of example, there is a semiannual proposal that would allow the northern half of the state to secede from the southern, more liberal half.

On two occasions I have delivered floor speeches supporting the cessation movement on the following conditions: that Bar Harbor would be designated the capital of the newly formed state; and, that I could serve as its first governor. This probably explains why the bill continues to fail by such wide margins. Still, it may reemerge from the legislative petri dish in the 124th.

Cessation is also on the minds of some of my constituents upset by Augusta-centered deliberations over school consolidation proposals. The unflattering adjectives employed in their thorough, authoritative critiques are loud and clear about their resentment of a misguided incursion of state authority into local public education governance.

Many superintendent jobs and related overhead would be eliminated at an estimated $36.5 million in savings in the next biennium, and more than $200 million in savings for taxpayers going forward. In the intervening weeks the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee and a bipartisan subcommittee of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee have been exploring variations on administrative consolidation plans.

In the face of escalating costs, Maine now enrolls 20 percent fewer students than in 1970. Enrollment has eroded from 250,000 children statewide to about 200,000, and is projected to drop to 177,000 students in the next decade. Nationally, the average school district has 3,200 students. Maine’s districts average 734 students. Among Maine’s 700 K-12 public schools, 120 are high schools. Many of these schools suffer steadily declining enrollment. The smallest nonisland K-12 school has 49 students. The median-size high school enrolls 400 students. Nineteen high schools have fewer than 150 students and one third have fewer than 300.

While enrollments are dropping, we’re still building schools. The average new high school costs $30 million. Despite the decline in school enrollments over the past 40 years, the state has spent $700 million on new school construction. Half of this was used to replace obsolete facilities. The other half, $350 million, was spent on new schools to accommodate population shifts resulting from the sprawling out-migration of families from established urban areas.

Tied to this expansion, school busing costs have skyrocketed from $9 million in 1975 to over $90 million today. This is one reason the State Board of Education may come to the decision to no longer fund new high schools smaller than 450, a policy that will affect more than half of Maine’s high schools.

It’s not hard to see how we ended up having this tough discussion on school consolidation. The evolution of this discussion has origins in referendum after referendum. From 55 percent and Palesky in 2004 to TABOR in 2006, the message has come loud and clear to Augusta: rein in state spending and lower the state’s tax burden. With K-12 education spending one of the largest growth areas in state spending combined with the facts above, it’s easy to see why the governor made his proposal, and why the Legislature is working so hard to get it right for Maine. Draconian referenda like Palesky and TABOR would be far more painful than deliberate, targeted cost-cutting of school administrative overhead.

The reaction to top-down school district consolidation planning from the Legislature and Education Department is understandable. Educators and parents see threats to local control of education policy, budgeting and personnel practices. The governor’s initial proposal was startling and residents feared losing local autonomy to a superdistrict.

Mount Desert Island area communities have the means and desire to provide a high-quality education for our children. Compared to many areas in Maine, the region is blessed with high property tax valuation. And we enjoy higher than average incomes. I suspect that the eventual consolidation plan proposed by the Education and Appropriations Committees will respect MDI residents’ outstanding record of financial and community support for K-12 education. If there are operational efficiencies to be found in our schools, I’m confident local leadership will capture them.

We do need to sort out how state and local governments can most effectively work together to achieve a sustainable K-12 budget that serves our children well. It seems appropriate for the state to set broad, overarching financial goals for state expenditures. Certainly the state is obliged to make sure all Maine children get at least a basic education as defined by the Essential Programs and Services. Children living in communities with low property valuation and low incomes must get a chance to excel. But the state should have engaged regional and local governance authorities earlier and more often, rather than push them into defensive positions.

In the coming weeks the Legislature will deliberate on this matter. Whatever favored planning model emerges, it must recognize regional distinctions and capacities. The plan also must respect local achievements and responsibility. When it comes to deciding why, how and when to consolidate schools; reform curricula; add or delete extracurricular and sports programs; or adjust teacher compensation, local governance should prevail, particularly if local communities are paying the bill.

Still, the state cannot allow unsustainable spending in health care and education to jeopardize funding obligations to other vital services or to trigger referenda that force spending reductions.

Ted Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, is the state representative for House District 35.