Benoit: Shrink-to-fit school districts

Bangor Daily News, February 3, 2007

(excerpt) Merely opposing Gov. John Baldacci’s plan to consolidate school districts in the face of declining enrollment is not nearly enough. A defense of the status quo must explain why Maine still requires the system-level administration it had when nearly 25 percent more students were in school. Certainly the distribution of these lost students means that reform must be more than just cutting the administration to match a ratio from a quarter century ago, but just as certainly there is a chance here for significant savings. And didn’t 27 years of the computer revolution help administration at all?(excerpt)

Opponents also should tell taxpayers why spending more money for fewer students, a habit that has lifted Maine in the national ranks of the most expensive K-12 systems, is worth continuing at the risk of further divisive and harmful tax referendums. And they must do it while sidestepping this embarrassing twist: Under Maine’s current pricey school system (though not because of teacher salaries), its scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress have been falling since 1998. Back then, the NAEP math rankings for Maine’s fourth- and eighth-graders were third and first, respectively; in 2005, they were 20th and 36th. Maine students experienced a similar drop in reading.