A report by the Maine Children’s Alliance helpfully points out that there are educational, as well as financial, benefits to school consolidation. The idea that reducing administrative costs would free up some money to spend in the classroom has been overshadowed by criticism of the mechanics of the consolidation plan approved by lawmakers last year. As the alliance notes, the mechanics can and should be smoothed – which the Department of Education and Legislature are already doing – but those working on local consolidation can’t let obstacles cloud the benefits that will come from their work.

For example, the alliance says that many regional planning committees are hung up on the fact that districts that are considering consolidation pay differing teacher salaries. Districts with lower salaries assume they will have to pay more, therefore negating the savings from consolidation. This is only part of the picture, the report points out.

Since school enrollments have been declining for years, many districts have struggled with how to keep teachers employed. Creating larger districts will create more flexibility to move teachers to classrooms and subject areas where they are most needed. The result likely will be fewer teachers statewide, however, they will be better paid, which should contribute to higher teaching standards.

Focusing on teaching and learning, not solely finances, was a major factor in the completion of the state’s only approved new school district, designated RSU 1. “Every time we got away from education, there was trouble. Whenever we got back to educational excellence, we could agree,” said James Omo, a Bath councilor.

The same day the Children’s Alliance released its report, the Legislature’s Prosperity Committee unanimously voted to look for cuts, worth $75 million, in state government. As it examines the state budget, expect it to come to the conclusion the state’s kindergarten through grade 12 system, which accounts for about a third of the state’s annual expenditures, is not sustainable.

According to figures from Education Week, a national publication about K-12 education, growth in per pupil spending in Maine has far outpaced the national average in the last decade. In 1995, the U.S. average per pupil expenditure was $5,541. Maine’s was $5,623. By 2005, the national average had risen to $8,973, while Maine’s average per student expenditure had ballooned to $10,539, according to Education Week.

A large reason for Maine’s increase is that the number of school-aged students has steadily declined while the number of administrators serving them has not.

In a state that ranks 38th nationally in terms of income, such high education costs are not affordable. Gov. John Baldacci and legislators have reached this conclusion, but many local school boards and residents have not.

Understanding economic reality is a necessary first step. The second is to decide what to do about it. Since importing thousands of kids isn’t realistic, reducing costs is the only option.

Rather than investing so much time and effort in opposing consolidation, opponents must consider what other realistic alternatives exist and compare them against the benefits of consolidation. They’ll likely reach the same conclusion as Elinor Goldberg, president of the Maine Children’s Alliance: “Consolidation … is a goal that has to be reached in order to improve the quality of education and contain taxes.”