Poll On School Consolidation Repeal
We’re polling our readers on the various initiatives and people’s vetos on the ballot. We will continue with one survey each week, in the order the questions appear on the ballot, and with the same wording. So far we’ve polled on marriage and the excise tax cut. Now we’re on to school consolidation.
Keep in mind this poll is open to anyone who visits our site, so the results are entirely non-scientific and for entertainment purposes only. But that doesn’t mean they’re not interesting!
Do you want to repeal the 2007 law on school district consolidation and restore the laws previously in effect?
- Yes (71%, 55 Votes)
- No (29%, 22 Votes)
Total Voters: 77
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We need to junk the school consolidation law. Every session they keep proposing "fixes", but it's beyond fixable. It's time to get rid of the whole thing and start again. State government needs to provide resources to help municipalities coordinate services and encourage them to do so, not bully them into it.
I think we need to combine administrative tasks and eliminate redundancy. Even though we are 24th in administrative spending it is still an area we can cut costs, especially before student programs. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about this. When consolidation first began I thought it would be good for Maine. While I still believe a lot of towns refused to consolidate for petty or selfish reasons many, like Pownal for example, had cause to object. What is happening now is a shifting of costs from state to local communities.
Get back to the drawing board. We can and should consolidate, but let's do it the right way. A way that best helps our children, encourages innovation and cooperation rather than punishes, and actually saves money.
I just went back and read some of my earlier comments on consolidation. What a difference a few months makes. I admit I was wrong on that one.
The law was allegedly about merging administrative positions to save $36 million, but there’s nothing in it which forces school systems to actually eliminate those positions either through consolidation or without it (as in the exempt systems). Lots of superintendents, assistant superintendents, curriculum coordinators, and other central office positions were maintained while teachers, bus drivers, ed techs and other direct-student-contact positions have been eliminated.
The law needs to be repealed and a process implemented which allows for actual citizen input through legislative hearings, work sessions and the like.