Taming Maine’s School Governance Hydra

The Maine legislature passed a school district consolidation plan last week—but in a form dramatically watered down from Governor John Baldacci’s original proposals. Maine has one of the most complicated, decentralized school governance systems in the country, and as a result spends far more than the national average on school administration.

By reorganizing the system into larger districts (while also maintaining a degree of local control), the consolidation legislation could lead to a much more efficient system that sends more education funds directly to Maine’s classrooms—but only if Maine’s school districts agree to participate. Ed Money Watch hopes that local communities will recognize the benefits of consolidation as they decide whether or not to adopt the legislation’s reforms.

Maine is an Administrative Mess

Take a look at Maine’s school districts in New America’s Federal Education Budget Project database, and you’ll get an idea of how confusing and inefficient the current system is. Maine’s public education system encompasses a variety of different administrative units: municipalities, school administrative districts (SAD), community school districts (CSD), regional school unions. The SADs are groups of municipalities that pool their resources into a school; the CSDs are another type of group of municipalities that pool a different set of resources; the unions are groupings of school administrative districts that share only the costs of a superintendent and the superintendent’s office, but maintain their own separate budgets for everything else. And they are all called “districts.”

Confused? So are we. We ran into numerous difficulties attempting to figure out how federal funding is distributed to these various units for the EdBudgetProject.Org database (not to mention their demographics, student achievement, etc). One district (Monhegan Plt School Department) enrolls only seven students, and many others enroll between 10 and 20 students. To be sure, some Maine school districts are small because they are located in rural, geographically isolated areas where few people live. But other districts are simply smaller than is necessary or efficient. Because these districts spread fixed educational costs, such as administration and facilities, over so few students, they take money away from the classroom.

According to Education Week, there is one school district administrator for every 750 students on average nationally. In Maine, there is one district administrator for every 350 students. Maine spends $346 per student for administration—compared to the national average of $195 per student.

Cost-Saving Proposals

Numerous reports demonstrate that Maine’s sprawling school administrative system needs reform, and that reorganization could produce substantial cost savings. When Governor Baldacci entered his second term, he made this reform a priority. His original consolidation proposal would have reduced Maine’s school system from 290 administrative units to 26 regional districts, and put the savings back into schools.

This mandatory consolidation plan encountered great resistance across the state, because many residents feared losing local control of their schools. Over the past year Baldacci worked with legislature to alter the plan to make it politically viable. Many, many iterations later, the legislature finally passed a version last week. The legislation will eliminate financial barriers and disincentives that prevent small school districts from reorganizing and will create incentives for districts with fewer than 2,500 students to do so. In contrast to Baldacci’s original plan, the legislation would make consolidation voluntary, rather than mandatory, and would not go as far in eliminating inefficient administration. Baldacci is not happy with the result, but he will likely sign it into law after the long battle.

Under the pending bill, local voters must approve any school district reorganization. Reorganization plans are developed locally by the participating districts, which can maintain some degree of local control over school governance. The participating districts negotiate the size and composition of the school board, and in addition to the board they can create “local school committees and specify their powers and duties.” Districts that do not pursue consolidation must submit a plan to the state for reducing administrative costs. In addition, districts that don’t reorganize will face financial penalties, specifically reductions in state funding and an increased chance of rejection for school construction projects.

Reorganization as a Positive Reform

Parents may be concerned about how reorganization into bigger schools may affect student achievement. One recent study found that there is no relationship between school district size and student outcomes in Maine. Moreover, parents should consider how the substantial cost savings will improve the academic opportunities at many schools, for example by freeing up funds to hire specialized teachers, buy advanced technology, etc.

Communities will have to approve reorganization plans by referendum by January 30, 2009. Ed Money Watch hopes that all local districts will develop plans for administrative reform, whether it be through reorganization or other economies of scale. Maine voters should set aside any knee-jerk responses to consolidation and seriously consider the benefits of reorganization.