forced consolidation

forced consolidation

forced consolidation

Smaller schools are better, the Maine Coalition to Save Schools says. The group is trying to get enough petition signatures to overturn Governor John Baldacci's decision to reduce the number of school districts from 290 to 89.

Wiscasset and other towns in the midcoast region are trying to meet Education Commissioner Susan Gendron's goal for each RSU (Regional School Unit) to have 2,500 students, but that may not be possible in all cases. Wiscasset was to have met with its proposed partners last Thursday, but the meeting was called off because of another snowstorm.

In the meantime, Wiscasset learned this week that the town of Chelsea may be joining Wiscasset's RSU. If that happens, it would bring the number to nearly 2,300 students. Other towns interested in joining this RSU, to be called the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit, include Westport Island, Alna, Windsor, Palermo, Somerville and Whitefield.

However, the Coalition, made up of about 150 citizens, points to a number of disadvantages of consolidation, including long bus rides for students.

Greenlaw says the group will get the necessary 55,087 signatures they need before the January 28 deadline. So far they have over 13,000 certified signatures, another 23,000 reported collected by volunteers, and a lot more signatures from volunteers he hasn't heard from.

"We aren't against school consolidation," Greenlaw said this week. "We're just against forced consolidation."

"I think Maine people are starting to see through this," he said. The cost savings in administration will be well exceeded by other costs, like collective bargaining agreements with teachers and transportation costs, he says.

Greenlaw said he talked to people in one district which owns 19 separate pieces of property.

"They have to pay to have each one of these surveyed and have all the deeds researched," he said. "The list goes on and on." He said the law is "not flexible."

If the legislature decides to overturn the law, or if the petition effort is successful, Greenlaw has confidence residents will come up with their own cost savings solutions.

"Once you unleash the creative genius of Maine people, they will figure out a way to save money," Greenlaw says.

In a recently published brochure, the Coalition lists a number of reasons why smaller schools are better:

• "A higher percentage of children are involved in co-curricular activities at smaller schools;"

• "Small school systems have fewer discipline problems;

• "Smaller schools and school districts require less wasteful bureaucracy than larger regional districts

• "Smaller school systems have lower dropout rates;

• "Underprivileged children achieve higher levels of learning in small schools;

• "A quality educational system won't be created by forcing communities into regional districts;

• "Educational excellence can't be driven by bureaucrats from Augusta;

• "Maine needs educational leaders who know the schools, teachers, students and parents. This happens in small school systems.

The Coalition says consolidation will not save money, and lists the reasons:

• "Promised tax reductions are based on guesses that are overblown and oversold by state politicians and bureaucrats;

• "The cost of bringing multiple school employee union contracts together will far exceed any savings.

• "The consolidation law protects almost all school employees from layoffs through 2010, restricting any savings for the next two years.

• "Tax burdens are shifted, forcing some communities to pay higher taxes to support the costs of regional districts.

• "Regional districts will require middle managers such as directors of curriculum, food service, transportation, and maintenance.

• "Towns with municipal schools will lose control over local school budgets and taxes to regional school boards.

• "Setting up new programs (art, music, guidance, gifted/talented, alternative education, etc. for individual schools that don't have them will increase the regional school budget and raise property taxes for all towns in the regional district.

• "School district consolidation during the 1950's and 60's resulted in the largest percentage increases in school costs in Maine history. Consolidation did not save money then and it won't save money now.

• "The consolidation law attacks the future economic viability of small communities.

• "As political pressure mounts to limit school budget increases, regional school boards will vote to close small schools."

Continuing to present reasons that state residents should repeal the consolidation law, the coalition lists a number of reasons that local control over schools will be lost:

• "All existing school committees will be replaced by huge regional school boards.

• "Regional school districts will take ownership of school buildings away from towns with municipal schools.

• "Small towns voting against a consolidation plan can be dragged into regional districts by a vote of larger towns in an existing S.A.D. or C.S.D.

• "Once a town joins a regional district, there is no provision to withdraw. Maine law has always provided a method for towns to withdraw from a school district.

• "New regional school districts have the authority to close small schools unless the town votes to pay additional costs.

• "Community and parental involvement in local school governance will decrease.

• "Municipal schools will surrender control over their school programs and curricula to the regional district.

• "The consolidation law is undemocratic and coercive. Towns or districts that refuse to surrender to this state mandate will be punished with loss of school subsidy.

• "Many regional districts will have so many towns that parents will have to drive for more than an hour to attend a school board meeting.

• "This law expands the power and authority of the Commissioner of Education to control school redistricting.

• "Commissioner Gendron has unfairly applied the consolidation law. She has refused some school systems' requests to form districts of 1200 to 2500 students but approved others.

• "The consolidation law increases state government control over local school decisions.

• "School board and municipal officials are being forced by the consolidation law to spend hundreds of hours in meetings to plan new regional school districts.