Education officials are calling for voters to reject Question 1A.

AUGUSTA (AP) – Elected and appointed education officials and others involved in school issues on Thursday endorsed a competing school-funding question on the Nov. 4 ballot, opposing an initiated question supported by unionized teachers and the Maine Municipal Association.

State Education Commissioner Susan Gendron led those who urged voters to reject Question 1A, which would increase state aid for public education to 55 percent over the current 43 percent. The state would also assume 100 percent of special education costs.

Gendron, addressing a State House news conference, said reimbursing all special education costs “establishes a policy direction that will perpetuate high costs, direct funds from other programs and therefore will not address the needs of all students.”

State Rep. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, described 1A as a “show me the money” proposal that “doesn’t say where to fund it or how to fund it.”

Mills, a member of the Appropriations Committee, and other 1A opponents say it would cost taxpayers $246 million and likely result in program cuts.

Question 1B, which was advanced by Gov. John Baldacci and put on the ballot by the Legislature, seeks to fund an increase in state aid to 55 percent over a five-year period and through normal growth in state revenues.

The competing proposal, 1B, “increases state funding for K-12 while gradually lowering the local share of school funding,” said Charles “Wick” Johnson, chairman of the University of Maine Board of Trustees.

Also announcing support for 1B Thursday were Jean Gulliver, chairwoman of the state Board of Education, and Bob Kautz of the Coalition for Excellence in Education.

Question 1A supporters, led by the Maine Municipal Association and Maine Education Association, say their proposal ensures property tax relief and dismiss as “scare tactics” warnings that their proposal will cause social program cuts.

The 1A campaign’s leader, Dana Lee, said passage of 1B would allow the property tax burden to increase next year, while 1C – neither of the two proposals – guarantees a continuation of high property taxes.

Meanwhile, a nonprofit think tank released a report concluding that both questions 1A and 1B would at best shift taxes, lowering the property tax while raising an equal amount with either sales or income taxes.

The Maine Public Policy Institute analyzed the impact of raising different state taxes to make up nearly $250 million in added subsidies. In each case, the result would be was hundreds of lost jobs and millions in lost disposable income, the conservative group said.

In another development, backers of 1A complained that a voter guide prepared by the secretary of state’s office contained misleading information about the referendum.

Lee, president of Citizens to Reduce Local Property Taxes Statewide, took issue with several statements in the guide, including a clause that said 1A would require the state to pay 55 percent of total education costs and 100 percent of special education services. Question 1A actually says that special education costs would be included as part of the 55 percent funding, not separately.

“We feel that these misstatements and inaccuracies lead to an unfair comparison of the two measures and can result in an incomplete or inaccurate understanding by voters looking to the guide for informational purposes,” Lee said.

Chip Gavin, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said the allegations are under review and that Lee will receive a response as soon as possible.

AP-ES-10-23-03 1323EDT