Budget deal sewed up in committee

Associated Press, May 31, 2007

(excerpts) Completing a compromise that did not always look likely, the Legislature's Appropriations Committee sealed a deal Thursday on more than $6.3 billion in General Fund spending for the two years beginning July 1.

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"So, we're done. We're done," Democratic Sen. Margaret Rotundo of Lewiston, a co-chairman of the committee, said after the last 13-0 vote in late afternoon.

Debate in the full Legislature is expected to begin Monday, when the focus is likely to be the panel's reworking of Gov. John Baldacci's original plan for consolidating Maine's sprawling network of local school systems.

Lawmakers on the Appropriations panel and within the Legislature's rank and file suggest that sentiment on that issue, which has been widely varied to date, could determine the fate of the budget package as long as the package contains the education component.

Baldacci's original proposal was to establish 26 regional education units, a significant reduction from Maine's current 152 school administrative systems.

The revised plan prepared for inclusion in the budget envisions 80 units, based on desired student populations of at least 2,500. Exceptions would be available, but sanctions could face non-complying communities. The budget package counts $36.5 million in savings.

Local reorganization plans would be subject to voter approval. Units that vote against reorganization would face penalties starting on July 1, 2009, including a loss of minimum subsidies, an increase in required mill rates and less favorable consideration in approval and funding for school construction projects.

.....

To take effect by the July 1 beginning of a new fiscal year, the package would need to win super-majorities of at least two-thirds in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Approval by lesser majorities would mean that the legislation would not become law until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.

Appropriations committee OKs budget

Kennebec Journal, May 31, 2007

(excerpts) The final touches of the 2008-09 biennial state budget were approved by the Appropriations Committee late Wednesday night.

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Final approval of the education part of the budget is expected today. The committee reconvened at 9 a.m.

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The K-12 education administration consolidation language was reviewed and adjusted slightly.

The plan sets a goal of 80 School Administration Units to be in place by July 1, 2008. Units will vary in size with a goal of 2,500 resident students per district. except where geography, demographics, population density, transportation challenges and other obstacles make 2,500 impractical.

Budget package almost ready

Portland Press Herald, May 26, 2007

(excerpt) Leaving the door open to one last round of negotiated spending, legislative bargainers put finishing touches Friday on a two-year budget package worth close to $6.4 billion that includes a mandatory school system consolidation plan and does without a major tobacco tax increase originally proposed by Gov. John Baldacci.

"We're going to lose a few of ours and we're going to lose a few of theirs" when majority Democrats and minority Republicans on the Appropriations Committee send their final product upstairs for consideration by the full Senate and House of Representatives, said Democratic Rep. Jeremy Fischer of Presque Isle, the Appropriations Committee's House chairman.

With House and Senate leaders on board and the committee itself strongly united, prospects for passage seem positive.

A wild card, however, is the reception for the school system consolidation component, which seeks to address widespread demands led by Baldacci for a cost-saving reining-in of local school units while accommodating legislative and local concerns about top-down regulation.

Baldacci's original proposal was to establish 26 regional education units, down from Maine's current 152 school administrative systems.

The revised plan envisions 80 units, based on desired student populations of about 2,500. The budget package counts $36.5 million in savings.

SAD 48 taxes could go up 3 percent

Morning Sentinel, May 24, 2007

(excerpt) The overall budget is up about 4.5 percent to $19.2 million, of which $4.9 million will come from local property taxes, said Kelley Carter, business manager for the district. The biggest jumps are in payroll and benefits, which will climb nearly $800,000 next year. Payroll and benefits make up about 72 percent of the overall budget, Carter said. Other projected increases are from energy, repairs to buildings and other services. The district had to adjust to state-determined valuations in each town that rose an average of 15.1 percent, Carter said. Valuations are used to determine state funding for essential programs and services. "The increase in valuation is really impacting the local share of EPS," Carter said.

Legislators make progress on school consolidation

Morning Sentinel, May 24, 2007

(excerpt) A plan presented by Mitchell would require school districts to have a vote on school consolidation in January 2008 and implement consolidation by July 2008.

A plan favored by Rep. Tom Saviello, an independent from Wilton and a member of a rural caucus of legislators active in the consolidation debate, would allow districts to vote on consolidation in January 2008 and implement it in July 2008. But that plan would also allow districts needing more time to wait until June 2008 to vote and July 2009 to implement their new consolidated school district.

"This is a significant step for some communities. We need to allow time to do it right," Saviello said, noting he was not speaking on behalf of the rural caucus. "This allows negotiations to go on. It allows people to adjust to the change that is going to take place."

In a bid to win support from Maine's many rural areas, Rep. Kevin Raye, R-Perry, presented a plan that would allow school unions to continue to exist in the proposed new regional districts.

"The biggest concern I hear about is the governance issue," Raye said. "Constituents ask, 'Is this about the quality of education and saving money for taxpayers, or is this about control?' This (proposal to allow school unions to continue) presents an opportunity for the Legislature to show this is about quality of education and saving money, not taking control."

SADs 48, 53, 38 eyeing consolidation
Bangor Daily News, May 23, 2007

(excerpt) SAD 48 consists of six towns: Corinna, Hartland, Newport, St. Albans, Palmyra and Plymouth. SAD 38 educates Etna and Dixmont primary pupils but contracts with SAD 48 for secondary education. SAD 53 consists of Burnham, Detroit and Pittsfield, with an existing contract for secondary education with Maine Central Institute.

Both superintendents stressed that the initial plan intends to cut 5 percent from administration, special education, building maintenance and transportation, and that - at least initially - no schools are expected to close.

"Obviously the Legislature intends to cut $36 million by July 2008," Gallagher said. "It may be simply that they cut that out of our subsidies."

But both superintendents also agreed that melding the districts presents a lot more questions than answers.

One of the biggest would be how to deal with high school students. Nokomis Regional High School in Newport is bursting at the seams and is surrounded by portable classrooms. It is on the state's list for replacement. MCI, however, has room for additional students, although its boarding population is full.

The biggest difference is expense. SAD 53 pays about $1,800 more than SAD 48 to educate high school students.

This article is not available online. It is excerpted here because of its local interest. We offer this excerpt in the belief that such use of this material falls within fair use guidelines. Back issues of newspapers are available at local libraries. Please support your local newspapers!

Let's start the school work

Bangor Daily News, May 24, 2007

(excerpt) Consolidation benefits everyone. OK, not everyone — those who are the redundancy and inefficiency in our fragmented local school districts will not benefit by consolidation — and it is these special interests who are the primary opponents of the governor’s essential proposal. It has been and will continue to be a mistake to expect 298 local districts to come up with their own curriculums and assessments. Defining what students need to know and measuring student achievement should be done at the state level. On the other hand, hiring staff, creating good school climate and involving parents, are best done at the school level. Students have the most to gain with less money spent on district operations.

We need to help Gov. Baldacci get a consolidated school system in place and then let the new local boards get to work. The Legislature needs to:

• Set the minimum district size at 2,500 students, 20 percent lower than the national average.
• Make consolidation mandatory but leave the choice of the new district boundaries to local communities as much as possible.
• Set a deadline of July 1, 2008, for the new districts to be up and running, getting them immediately involved in making the decisions that matter at the local level.
• Provide a common governance model, eliminating the five different types of school districts we now have.
• Require budget transparency through a common budget format.
• Require that the consolidated districts assume debts that come with school property.

Paul A. Stearns: A school efficiency plan the state can't afford

Bangor Daily News, May 23, 2007

(excerpt) Total spending on education is rising at over 9 percent per year under "essential" programs and services. This is during a time when student population is declining. An educational system that many recognize as one of the nation’s best should not require that amount of growth per year. He is correct by saying that this is not sustainable. Leadership in the Department of Education, Legislature, and yes, Mr. Carignan, your state school board need to make some difficult choices about what is truly "essential" and what isn’t. The increases in administrative spending over the past four years are directly proportional to the increase in "administrivia" required to manage various debacles, such as the "local" assessment system. Cut some of the mandates, both state and federal, and we will cut the administrators, and associated costs, that are required to oversee them.

Where is all the money going? For kicks, I compared the cost per pupil of SAD 4 with cost per pupil in the district where Mr. Carignan resides. His home system is one that happens to have 2,977 students while SAD 4 has 780. His system spends $9,136 per pupil/per year. SAD 4 spends $6,752 per pupil/per year. The difference is $2,384 per pupil every year. If SAD 4 spent that amount per pupil, then every year we could hand each one of our graduates a check for $30,000. Think about that.

Superintendents try to plan for expected consolidation

Kennebec Journal, May 22, 2007

(excerpt) One superintendent.

That's the latest school district consolidation plan, released Monday afternoon, facing residents of Manchester, Mount Vernon, Monmouth, Fayette, Readfield, Wayne, Winthrop, Farmingdale and Hallowell.

Under the most recent plan, those towns would join to created RSU 30 -- a consolidated school district of about 4,000 students.

The plan would mean that, of five school superintendents governing those towns now, one -- or none -- could have a job with RSU 30.

"We already have alliances with all of the schools in the proposed district," said Richard Abramson, superintendent for Maranacook Area Schools, one of five administrators who could compete for the position of RSU 30 superintendent.

Abramson said he wasn't entirely surprised by the proposed district: "If you look at the geography, it's contiguous."

As for there being only one superintendent where there are now five, Abramson said he and his colleagues may wind up doing different jobs in the proposed new school district.

State maps school plan

Kennebec Journal, May 22, 2007

(excerpt) Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Mitchell presented another version of school district consolidation Monday that sets different rules for rural and urban districts, while achieving $36.5 million in savings.

At the same time, the state Department of Education released a map that shows how the number of districts could be reduced from 290 to 62 if nearly all districts had a minimum of 2,500 students.

"This is one possibility," said Education Commissioner Sue Gendron. "We're trying to keep folks informed to be a catalyst for conversation."

Gendron, speaking to the Legislature's Education Committee and a room packed full of school officials, was careful to say the department was merely proposing how things might look. For example, Richmond could have been included in any one of four districts, but was placed with Pittston, Gardiner, West Gardiner and Randolph on the department map, she said.

Mitchell's proposal, which was put together by a working group that included lawmakers and interested parties, sets a goal of 80 or fewer districts.

The proposal would require all districts to vote on school district consolidation in January 2008, and to implement the consolidation by July 1 of that year.

School districts that vote not to consolidate will face "serious financial penalties," though those remain undefined at this point.

Clinton wants pre-K program for all 4-year-olds

Associated Press, May 21, 2007

(excerpt) Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing a $10 billion federal program aimed at providing voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-old children in America.

The Democratic presidential candidate planned to discuss the program in remarks Monday at North Beach Elementary School in Miami Beach, Fla.

Her campaign staff issued an outline of the plan in Washington.

It would provide federal funds to states that agree to establish a plan for making voluntary pre-kingergarten services universally available for all 4-year-olds.

Loving the laptops

Portland Press Herald, May 21, 2007

(excerpt) While some school districts in other parts of the country are scrapping laptop programs, citing high costs and few tangible benefits, Mainers remain high on the machines. A soon-to-be completed study at the University of Southern Maine will give laptop advocates some scientific evidence to back up their claims that the devices can bolster learning.

The lack of scientific evidence continues to fuel the debate about the value of putting a computer into the hands of every student. In recent years, a handful of school districts gained national media attention for backing away from the technology. Liverpool Central School District in New York announced it is phasing out laptops next year because of students' misuse and abuse of the devices. Broward County, Fla., abandoned its plan to give laptops to its 260,000 students, citing the high cost of computer repairs in a pilot program.

Advocates of laptop programs say those failures are the exceptions to the rule, however. Districts adopting laptop programs outnumber the districts that have shelved them, said Matt Hoover, program manager for the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for laptop learning in Bellevue, Wash. He estimates that a half-million laptops are being used in one-on-one programs around the world.

Study Finds College-Prep Courses in High School Leave Many Students Lagging

New York Times, May 16, 2007

(excerpt) Only a quarter of high school students who take a full set of college-preparatory courses — four years of English and three each of mathematics, science and social studies — are well prepared for college, according to a study of last year’s high school graduates released yesterday by ACT, the Iowa testing organization.

The study analyzed about 1.2 million students who took the ACT, one of the country’s major college admissions tests, along with the SAT, and graduated from high school last June. The study predicted whether students had a good chance of scoring a C or better in introductory college courses based on their test scores and the success rates of past test takers. Only 26 percent were ready for college-level work in all four core areas. Another 19 percent were not adequately prepared in any of them.

“While taking the right number of courses is certainly better than not, it is no longer enough,” the report said.

Cynthia B. Schmeiser, president and chief operating officer of the ACT Education Division, said she was stunned by the low level of accomplishment for students who had taken the core curriculum, which was recommended 24 years ago in “A Nation at Risk,” a federal Department of Education commission report that prompted widespread efforts to improve American education.

Students Gain Only Marginally on Test of U.S. History

New York Times, May 17, 2007

(excerpt) Federal officials reported yesterday that students in 4th, 8th and 12th grades had scored modestly higher on an American history test than five years earlier, although more than half of high school seniors still showed poor command of basic facts like the effect of the cotton gin on the slave economy or the causes of the Korean War.

Federal officials said they considered the results encouraging because at each level tested, student performance had improved since the last time the exam was administered, in 2001.

“In U.S. history there were higher scores in 2006 for all three grades,” said Mark Schneider, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the test, at a Boston news conference that the Education Department carried by Webcast.

The results were less encouraging on a national civics test, on which only fourth graders made any progress.

The best results in the history test were also in fourth grade, where 70 percent of students attained the basic level of achievement or better.

The test results in the two subjects are likely to be closely studied, because Congress is considering the renewal of President Bush’s signature education law, the No Child Left Behind Act.

Dexter: Program targets at-risk students

Bangor Daily News, May 14, 2007

(excerpt) The Tri-County Technical Center has proposed a program that could reduce dropout rates by offering younger high school students who founder more of a hands-on education.

The latest state data on dropout rates available to local officials showed that the center’s sending school districts — SAD 4 in Guilford, SAD 41 in Milo, SAD 68 in Dover-Foxcroft, SAD 46 in Dexter, SAD 48 in Newport and the Greenville school system — had much higher rates than the statewide average.

In 2004-05, these school districts had a combined dropout rate of 4.71 percent, compared with a state rate of 2.78 percent that year.

Those statistics were cause to explore alternative ways to educate and motivate students at risk at an earlier age, according to Nicholas Vafiades, the center’s director.

The proposed pretechnical program, conceived during a planning session, would do just that by offering certain freshmen and sophomores additional curriculum based on counseling, academics and community.

Under the concept, the students would alternate days between the new program and their regular classes in their districts.

College not a necessity for all students

Portland Press Herald, May 8, 2007

(excerpt) First, if all high school students applied to college, is it even possible that they all could attend? Of course not. There are not enough spaces in colleges and universities to handle every high school graduate.

More to the point, if all high school students went to college, would they all get high-paying jobs upon graduation?

Despite continually hearing how the economy is changing and work in the future will demand that all employees have college degrees, the answer is no.

Based on Department of Labor Statistics, scholars Jean Anyon and Kirsten Green conclude that 77 percent of new and projected jobs will be low-paying and a meager 26 percent of these will require a college degree. In addition, of the 20 fastest-growing occupations, only six require college degrees.

Dennis Redovich of the Center for the Study of Jobs and Education points out that 53 percent of jobs of the future -- employing 81 percent of all workers -- will be low- or average-paying jobs. Of all of the jobs projected for the year 2014, only 21 percent will require a bachelors degree.

The school district puzzle

Portland Press Herald, May 7, 2007

(excerpt) Some school districts say that so far they have not been able to find out how the Appropriations Committee's plan will save them money. Gary MacDonald, superintendent of SAD 72, which includes Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Lovell, Stoneham, Stow and Sweden, met with administrators at SAD 61, which includes Bridgton, Casco, Naples and Sebago, and SAD 55, which includes Baldwin, Hiram, Cornish, Parsonsfield and Porter.

"We went into this to show how we can make this work," MacDonald said.

After looking at what it would take to administer their combined $60 million budgets, 4,800 students and 1,000 employees, MacDonald said, the school officials determined that the savings from being able to merge business and other functions were offset by the new positions they would need, such as a full-time curriculum director or a full-time coordinator for federal programs, tasks now filled by administrators who do them in addition to other duties.

He said the districts share different educational philosophies. SAD 61 spends more money, for example. "The question becomes, would the level of services be raised to meet that district or lowered to meet the other districts?" MacDonald said.

Other district officials, including Cape Elizabeth's school committee, say they have nothing to gain from consolidation.

"They are very much opposed to what is going on. There is a very strong feeling that we are being very economical in funding anyway," said Alan Hawkins, superintendent of Cape Elizabeth schools.

SAD 46 budget nears $10M in 2007-08
Piscataquis Observer, May 2, 2007

(excerpt) While the bottom line is up $451,582, or 4.86 percent, over last year's budget, the board made more than $400,00 in cuts from the first draft, and has eliminated four Ed Tech positions, one at Dexter Middle School, one in a self-contained classroom at the high school, another at the Dexter Primary School Library, and a fourth in the alternative education program, Superintendent Kevin Jordan explained.

This article is not available online. It is excerpted here because of its local interest. We offer this excerpt in the belief that such use of this material falls within fair use guidelines. Back issues of newspapers are available at local libraries. Please support your local newspapers!

'Blended' approach gains favor

Morning Sentinel, May 5, 2007

(excerpt) Farrington's plan confines the 2,500 minimum student population for school units to Cumberland and York counties only. The remainder of the state would comply with a 1,200 minimum.

Porter, superintendent of School Union 102 in Machias and of the East Machias Municipal School District, points out that the rural caucus has clout.

"As a group, they're a pretty good-sized force," he said. "You need a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate to get this through."

But Sen. S. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, cast doubt on the viability of the blended plan.

"It's just people trying to gin up resistance to consolidation," said Mills, a member of the Education Committee who represents a rural district. "It doesn't make anybody do anything."

Farrington's proposal must pass muster with Appropriations before going to the full House and Senate.

"He's gotten some attention from some members of the rural caucus -- not all of them," Mills said.

Porter said that the blended plan also offers locals an opt-out on consolidation, albeit with a "financial stick," that cuts administrative costs.

"Local control stays in place," he said. "It takes a local vote to make it happen."

Seeing no progress, some schools drop laptops

New York Times, May 4, 2007

(excerpt) “After seven years, there was literally no evidence it had any impact on student achievement — none,” said Mark Lawson, the school board president here in Liverpool, one of the first districts in New York State to experiment with putting technology directly into students’ hands. “The teachers were telling us when there’s a one-to-one relationship between the student and the laptop, the box gets in the way. It’s a distraction to the educational process.”

Liverpool’s turnabout comes as more and more school districts nationwide continue to bring laptops into the classroom. Federal education officials do not keep track of how many schools have such programs, but two educational consultants, Hayes Connection and the Greaves Group, conducted a study of the nation’s 2,500 largest school districts last year and found that a quarter of the 1,000 respondents already had one-to-one computing, and fully half expected to by 2011.

Yet school officials here and in several other places said laptops had been abused by students, did not fit into lesson plans, and showed little, if any, measurable effect on grades and test scores at a time of increased pressure to meet state standards. Districts have dropped laptop programs after resistance from teachers, logistical and technical problems, and escalating maintenance costs.

Fund shortage forces delay of pre-K program
Bangor Daily News, May 3, 2007

(excerpt) Over the past four years, SAD 68 officials have laid the groundwork for a pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds. They had planned to initiate the program with the fall opening of the new SeDoMoCha Elementary School, which includes three specially designed classrooms for the youngsters.

"Had the state followed its plan to move public education to the 55 percent funding level, we would have had enough this year to start the program," SAD 68 Superintendent John Dirnbauer said Wednesday. Since that funding fell short, the program will be shelved until fall 2008 when officials hope funds will be available.

"We are very disappointed," Dirnbauer said. About 50 to 60 children were pre-registered for the new classes, he noted.

Dirnbauer said the district has had much success with its pre- kindergarten pilot program at the Monson Elementary School and wanted to provide the same offerings for Dover-Foxcroft, Charleston and Sebec children. The program at the new school will be delayed, much to the disappointment of parents, teachers and administrators, he said.

The district expects to receive about $6 million in subsidy, of which $493,986 is for the debt service on the new school. Excluding the debt service payment, the subsidy reflects an increase of about $68,000 over last year, Dirnbauer said.

This article has not appeared on the Bangor Daily News web site. Nevertheless I feel it is of great local interest. We offer this excerpt with the hope that such use of the BDN material falls within fair use guidelines.

Disputed Corinth vote spurs town meeting
Bangor Daily News, May 1, 2007

(excerpts) Controversy over a vote at this year's annual town meeting has caused the Board of Selectmen to call a special town meeting later this month to reconsider the previous vote.

At last month's annual meeting, residents voted 66-40 in favor of the town buying the former Corinth Products Co. Inc. building and associated land at 10 Exeter Road for $225,000.
....

A group of residents recently presented the town with a petition to reconsider the previous annual town meeting vote.

"Some of them would just like to have another vote," Town Manager Donald Strout said Monday. He added that there is concern that there wasn't enough research done, and that some residents who go south for the winter weren't at the annual meeting.

This article has not appeared on the Bangor Daily News web site. Nevertheless I feel it is of great local interest. We offer this excerpt with the hope that such use of the BDN material falls within fair use guidelines.

Sex offender slips past state school screening

Portland Press Herald, May 2, 2007

(excerpt) The state Department of Education is reviewing the way it certifies people to work in Maine schools after giving clearance to a registered sex offender who then applied for a custodian's job in Portland public schools.

The state department had issued an employment approval form to the man, who lives in Scarborough, after putting him through a fingerprinting and screening process required by Maine law since 2000.

A spokesman for the department said a new employee had overlooked the lengthy criminal record provided by Maine State Police when the man was fingerprinted and screened.

Portland school officials learned that the man had been convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a child under age 14 when they conducted their own criminal background check as a standard practice.

School officials and others say the error is a wake-up call to school districts who are counting on the state's fingerprinting and screening process to ferret out potential employees who may be a danger to children.

"I was horrified," said Joline Hart, human resources director for Portland schools. "We always do a criminal-records check. This time we got back page after page of criminal offenses, including a picture of him on the sex offenders Web site."

Brunswick school plan hits a snag

Portland Press Herald, May 1, 2007

(excerpt) A recommendation calling for Brunswick to reconfigure its elementary grades to accommodate a new school encountered strong opposition from parents Monday night.

An overwhelming majority of speakers at a public hearing -- about 75 people attended -- urged the School Board to reject the Educational Specifications Committee report, which recommends that the town abandon K-5 schools and have separate schools for students in grades 2 and below and those in grades 3 through 5.

Speakers said the School Department needs to consider more options and involve people in the planning process if it hopes to change its longstanding tradition of operating four K-5 schools.

The opposition that surfaced Monday gives the School Board a lot to think about as it approaches a May 9 vote on the committee's recommendation. The board needs to move forward on the issue because it must also select a site for a new school this spring to receive state aid.

"In order to win public support, we need a new school that reflects our values, yet the Educational Specification Committee report spent many more pages on building specifications than on educational values," said Sarah Laurence of Longfellow Avenue.

Laurence, like most of those who spoke, urged the School Board to find a solution that keeps the K-5 system intact

Augusta school officials ask the city for more funds

Kennebec Journal, May 1, 2007

(excerpt) School officials asked the City Council Monday for an increase of $125,000 from taxes to support the School Department's $28,520,000 budget.

They had hoped to return about that much to the city if the amount of state aid they expected had come through.

But Superintendent of Schools Cornelia Brown said a proposed state limit on increases for school costs working its way through the Legislature would cost her department more than $271,000.

Had it not been for Augusta's increases in costs for loan payments for the new Cony High School, Augusta School Board Chairman William Burney Jr. said, increases in the city's anticipated state school subsidies would have been nowhere near the new 15 percent limitation.

"Without the debt service (for the new high school) we wouldn't even be on the radar" for a cut in state aid, Burney said.

Brown said the state changed the rules after the city's expensive new $30 million high school was built and the bills are coming due.

"We have a big debt payment," Brown said. "The state and the city made that commitment."

In the past, state aid to pay for state approved building projects was not considered part of a school district's cost increases, the superintendent said.

If a state budget that contains the language put forward by the Baldacci administration now under consideration passes, Brown said, school districts like hers will be forced to make difficult choices.