Consolidation permeates 2008 legislative agenda
Portland Press Herald, December 9, 2007
(excerpt) The upcoming debates will deal in part with the fallout from the Legislature's decision earlier this year to cut the number of school districts from 290 to about 80.
While some school districts have embraced the law, or at least quietly resigned themselves to it, the cost-cutting move has come under attack from critics who say the state should repeal the law or fine-tune it to make it work better.
State Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, who works for Baldacci, hopes to improve the law by submitting legislation that would give communities in merged districts more control of how costs are shared.
Her proposal also calls for reinstating state aid to communities that face losses under the merger law and would remove a requirement that communities spend at least $2 per $1,000 valuation on education.
"We believe the bill we're presenting will resolve most of these issues, if not all of these issues," Farmer said.
Yet opposition remains.
Lawmakers initially proposed more than 60 bills to kill or rewrite the law in 2008.
Legislative leaders tossed them aside, arguing that the Legislature can use Gendron's bill as a starting point for reforms.
One critic of the law believes Baldacci will get his way in the Legislature next year, even though the Education Committee will consider competing proposals.
"I think the only changes that will be made are what the governor supports and the commissioner proposes," said Rep. Peter Edgecomb, R-Caribou, a member of the Education Committee and a former school superintendent who backs repeal.
(excerpt) The upcoming debates will deal in part with the fallout from the Legislature's decision earlier this year to cut the number of school districts from 290 to about 80.
While some school districts have embraced the law, or at least quietly resigned themselves to it, the cost-cutting move has come under attack from critics who say the state should repeal the law or fine-tune it to make it work better.
State Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, who works for Baldacci, hopes to improve the law by submitting legislation that would give communities in merged districts more control of how costs are shared.
Her proposal also calls for reinstating state aid to communities that face losses under the merger law and would remove a requirement that communities spend at least $2 per $1,000 valuation on education.
"We believe the bill we're presenting will resolve most of these issues, if not all of these issues," Farmer said.
Yet opposition remains.
Lawmakers initially proposed more than 60 bills to kill or rewrite the law in 2008.
Legislative leaders tossed them aside, arguing that the Legislature can use Gendron's bill as a starting point for reforms.
One critic of the law believes Baldacci will get his way in the Legislature next year, even though the Education Committee will consider competing proposals.
"I think the only changes that will be made are what the governor supports and the commissioner proposes," said Rep. Peter Edgecomb, R-Caribou, a member of the Education Committee and a former school superintendent who backs repeal.
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