Education committee dithers and then punts

Maine Sunday Telegram, March 11, 2007

(excerpt) Instead, a committee larded with teachers, ex-teachers and procrastinators consulted with the Maine School Management Association, which isn't so keen on putting its members out of work. Instead of consolidation, members recommended the creation of another layer of bureaucracy to study ways to possibly consolidate school districts into units too small to achieve real efficiencies. There's no mandate that these recommendations be followed, or that actual savings accrue.

Sen. Peter Bowman, D-York, the committee chair, excused his panel's lame product by suggesting that members wouldn't have approved anything stronger. So he had no choice but to put together a nothing-burger of a concept draft, fudge up some imaginary savings, and punt it to the Appropriations Committee.

Appropriators ought waste no time crumpling it up and starting over.