It’s unfortunate that Stacie Everett did not visit the Maine Department of Education Web site to review the large amount of material posted there before writing an op-ed (March 18) on the governor’s school administrative restructuring plan full of misinformation about the proposal.

Gov. Baldacci has never said changing the student-teacher ratio would save $24 million over three years. He said it would save $25 million per year, almost exactly the number Ms. Everett comes up with in her apparent guesstimate.

She seems to argue it would be better to cut teachers in the classroom, than to cut administrators, who are performing the same functions as administrators in surrounding towns and whose work does not directly affect classroom learning.

We do not relish the notion of people losing their jobs. We do believe that duplicate administration is a far better place to seek savings than in teaching positions. That is why, when presented with a compelling case, Education Commissioner Susan Gendron chose to withdraw the proposed changes to student-teacher ratios, for now.

On administrative savings, Ms. Everett has chosen to use calculations of her own rather than read the material provided by the department showing, in detail, how savings of $241 million over three years would be reached. She comes up with her own figure of $13 million under the assumption that all savings would come simply from reducing the number of superintendents.

For two months we have said that savings would also come from other sources, including merging payroll, software systems, transportation, maintenance, fuel purchasing, and many other functions. In all, the savings would amount to roughly 3.7 percent. This is highly achievable, considering other states have reached 8 percent or more through consolidation.

She also perpetuates misinformation about students attending private schools with tuition paid for by their hometowns. We have consistently made clear the governor’s plan makes no changes, and that such arrangements will continue.

The people of Maine have made clear that taxes are too high and that they are willing to give some things up to reduce them. A plan that allows our children’s classroom experience to remain the same while eliminating duplication of administrative services seems like a good place to start, especially when education accounts for nearly half of the state budget.

Ms. Everett has done a disservice by ignoring the information that is widely available that directly contradicts many of her assertions. I encourage people with questions about the Governor’s Local Schools, Regional Support Initiative to visit the Department of Education Web site – www.maine.gov/education – to learn more and to see answers to many commonly asked questions.

David Connerty-Marin, Augusta

Director of communications, Maine Department of Education