AUGUSTA — A continuing tough economy generating less tax revenue means state cuts to education for the current school year could be as bad or worse as proposed cuts last year, the head of the Maine School Management Association said Tuesday.

Unlike last year, there won’t be federal stimulus money to bail out the state and local schools, association Executive Director Dale Douglass said.

Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has warned superintendents they could be looking at a cut in state funding for education as bad or worse than the $27 million cut ordered by Gov. John Baldacci last year, the association said Tuesday in a bulletin sent to superintendents.

Superintendents from around the state suggested the state could help schools deal with cuts and save more money by:

• Adopting a statewide teacher contract.

• Looking at a statewide bid for health insurance.

• Changing the 90-day reduction-in-force notice for teachers to 30 days.

• Loosening federal restrictions on the use of Title 1 and special education funding.

• Taking a regional approach to prekindergarten education.

• Removing some restrictions on early retirement.

• Adopting a two-year school budget versus the current annual one so districts have discretion over two years worth of funding.

• Requiring state-mandated furlough days for schools.

• Simplifying the process for closing schools

• Imposing a statewide freeze on all salaries, including superintendents.

• Looking again at cutting back school sports budgets, particularly in transportation.

• Streamlining the teacher certification process.

• Aligning Maine’s special education standards with federal standards.

• Looking at other measures of wealth in addition to property values when distributing state money for education.

• Rejecting a proposal to require cities and towns to pick up a portion of teacher retirement costs.

• Regionalizing teaching of advance placement and other upper level classes.

The state is looking at a current shortfall of $66 million, and that number could grow by another $30 million or $40 million, Gendron told superintendents.

That shortfall will affect local school budgets, because K-12 programs and higher education make up about 40 percent of the state budget.

School districts were aware that “something like this was going to happen,” Douglass said. State legislators need to decide earlier how much cuts schools will have to bear, and share that information earlier, Douglass said. “The earlier they do, the better off schools will be able to react.”

The looming cuts could mean layoffs this year, Douglass said. Schools need to know the numbers earlier, because state law says school staff must have a 90-day notice they’re being laid off.

The Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up the superintendents’ message when committee members meet Wednesday.