"I don't believe a committee can write a book," the historian Arnold Toynbee once uttered. "It can, oh, govern a country, perhaps, but I don't believe it can write a book."

Toynbee was right. Diversity of opinion is requisite for managing the affairs of the people, but too many viewpoints can make a simple effort hopelessly difficult.

Such as what's occurred with LD 1932, a bill from the state Department of Education to correct funding flaws in school consolidation. Now, about three months, 23 votes and 28 amendments later, LD 1932 has been transformed into a referendum on consolidation. This has stymied consolidation among districts that need the basic fixes to move ahead.

It's also emboldened consolidation critics, who point to the legislative back-and-forth as evidence of discontent with the governor's heavy-handed policy.

They're daring Gov. John Baldacci to veto LD 1932 if it moves forward in its current, mutated form. "If a veto to LD 1932 is sustained," says Skip Greenlaw, of the Save Our Schools group, "the school consolidation 'house of cards' will hit the ground with a large thud."

We've never thought consolidation was so ill-constructed. It is complex and went against the grain of "local control" that is dominant within Maine's governance. But it was and remains a much needed shakeup of the system.

And it is imperfect. As we've said, any program that could leave out districts ripe for partnership like Lewiston and Auburn has flaws. But its intent is right, and enough local control exists for communities to determine the outcome.

LD 1932 is emblematic of the doubt certain circles have about consolidation. They might be right, but they are not yet proven. Consolidation, in full, hasn't yet begun.

Opponents want a showdown with the governor. They want LD 1932 to be the make-or-break for consolidation as a whole, which should be reason enough for lawmakers to reconsider what they've done with the bill.

It's not too late to boil LD 1932 into its original form, make the financial fixes, and let consolidation move ahead.

Whether consolidation works or flops will be determined in districts, not Augusta. Lawmakers have batted this bill around for three months, about two dozen votes and nearly 30 amendments. Enough is enough.

The Legislature now needs to govern. What they've been doing is writing a book.