Imagine the countenance of Sisyphus, the figure of Greek mythology condemned to push a boulder uphill for eternity. Upon reaching the hilltop, contortions of strain would have melted to reveal an expression of pride, stemming from accomplishing such a feat against incredible odds, after back-breaking labor.

But there would have been something else. A glimmer of despair, reflecting the knowledge all this effort was for naught, because the boulder was fated to roll again, agonizingly, to the bottom. This was Sisyphus’ punishment: for accomplishment to be fleeting, and frustration to be permanent.

Sisyphus is today reincarnated inside the Maine Legislature, his spirit possessing the special Appropriations subcommitee tasked with pushing the governor’s immense policy boulder – school administration consolidation – up the political mountainside.

The subcommittee, led by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, should reveal its consolidation proposal this week to the full Appropriations Committee, which will fold its recommendation into the governor’s budget bill.

That’s the Sisyphean hilltop, the summit reached through the subcommittee’s “heavy lifting,” the senator says. “We know we need to find systemic, predictable savings,” says Rotundo. “We’re doing what we were asked to do.” Their plan, she adds, will feature the finest points of the various proposals submitted this session.

But, like Sisyphus, the subcommittee is coming to realize its toil could be fruitless, as opponents to consolidation are marshaling. To paraphrase one observer, whatever plan emerges will be lodged under “dead” in the dictionary.

This initiative has come too far to be swept aside by politics, pressure by special interests or, as some indicate, longstanding tensions between rural and urban interests. There’s too much at stake for all taxpayers to have aggressive reform fade blithely away, because it’s again easier to do nothing than to make difficult choices.

Administrative consolidation in education can achieve what voters have asked for with their voices, words and ballots. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights referendum was begrudgingly supported by this newspaper, and others, as a bad idea worth having because something needed to be done beyond the status quo.

Shredding education consolidation would be keeping this tragic status quo.

Forcing uncomfortable administration reform on schools should become the first step in comprehensive evaluation of state spending. Many critics of education consolidation say the state should proffer its own “pound of flesh” of spending cuts, because the state has far more flesh to lose. It’s fair criticism.

In our view, both sides need slimming. Where it starts, today, is with schools, and the effort by the Appropriations subcommittee being revered as the product of good bipartisan work, not some misguided outline brimming with political infighting. (The Education Committee, with its weak plan, took care of that.)

Sisyphus, a king, was sentenced to eternal torment. Maine’s leaders also face punishment – perhaps another citizen-initiated tax insurrection – if they allow the boulder of education consolidation to simply roll backward.