Legislative attempts to repeal the school consolidation law reveal some of the shaky math the state has pushed on taxpayers. In the school I work in taxpayers have voted to scrap programs and cut a teacher to help balance the budget. The state’s decision to drop support for rural schools has forced those schools to face drastic cost-saving measures to keep the schools open.

In our school, each classroom teacher will now teach three grades instead of two. So the state is saving money, but communities have gut-wrenching choices to make. So the state isn’t closing schools, but communities will have to consider closure to keep their mill rates manageable. Are the savings worth tearing Maine to pieces?

Paul Beane

Talmadge