Emerging plan to control education costs has merit, should be heeded

It appears that our Legislature has heard the cries of Maine citizens to reduce government spending, and relieve some of the heavy tax burden that affects us all.

Our governor and legislators – including many in the Lewiston/Auburn delegation – have come together on a bold plan to reduce the cost of school administration through consolidation of the administration system.

This plan has merit.

Consider the following: According to the state Department of Education, since 1978 the number of K-12 students in Maine has decreased by 16 percent. In the same period, the number of school administrators, not including superintendents, has grown 54 percent. The per-pupil expenditure in Maine is $2,000 more than the national average, without a corresponding increase in performance.

The problem is clear: education budgets continue to increase, driven more by growth in administration, than by classroom expenses. This trend will continue without a dramatic and systemic change. Growth of administration expense will claim an increasing number of dollars, to the detriment of the teaching side of our schools.

Administrators fairly assert that the increase in this end of the educational system is driven by mandates from both the federal government and the state. They fail to jump to the next logical conclusion, however, which is to address this portion of the work by consolidating on a regional, or even state, level, rather than by increasing each school’s or municipality’s staff to accomplish the function alone. This is what the proposal emerging from a subcommittee of the Legislature’s Appropriation Committee seeks to address.

Consolidation of administration will set back the clock on school administrative costs, and hold spending growth in check in future years. It also means funds that have been, and would be, directed to administration can now be made available to continue to improve the education of our children. It has the potential to do so at a lower overall cost.

This proposal to consolidate school administration is bold and offers real reform. It is not an attempt to create the appearance of change while protecting the status quo. It offers a real opportunity to redirect tax dollars into the classroom and away from redundant layers of school administration. It also offers Maine communities the opportunity to save in the overall funding of education in their communities, resulting in lower property taxes.

Let’s be clear and honest. The changes noted above are not about school consolidation. We are talking about long overdue school administration consolidation. School administration consolidation is the appropriate response to reining in the costs that have grown the most, and the fastest.

We must also be clear in realizing that any change of this nature will not be painless. However, in the array of things being contemplated, this is “low hanging fruit.” It is the most gain for the least pain.

We applaud and support our governor and those bold legislators on both sides of the aisle who support this meaningful change in the structure of school administration in Maine.

Peter Traill lives in Gorham, and Peter Sassano lives in Poland. Both are members of the Business Advocacy Committee of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce.