(D-Presque Isle)
Last January, in his Inaugural Address, the Governor proposed a sweeping re-organization of school administration in Maine. His proposal would have slashed the total number of local units from its current 290 to 26 regional units. Under his plan, the state would have dictated the design of the new districts, the timeline would have been swift, and local voters would have had no say in the process.
Rural legislators, including myself, opposed the structure of the Governor’s original proposal. Instead, the Legislature enacted a broadly supported compromise that allowed local citizens to propose new alignments and approve new units by popular referendum. The compromise also extended the timeline to provide more time for reasoned local deliberation.
Most importantly, rural votes for the new law were conditioned on flexibility being added. More populous suburban areas in southern Maine were required to have larger units (minimum of 2,500 students), while less populous rural areas were permitted to have smaller units (minimum of 1,200 students). The compromise that was passed into law by the Legislature and signed by the Governor respected the diversity of our state – geographically, demographically, and economically.
The first step in the long process of administrative reorganization occurred on August 31, when local communities submitted “letters of intent” stating their proposals for collaborating and merging with other surrounding districts. Unfortunately, the Department of Education stumbled at this important juncture.
Instead of implementing the entire law as written, the Department of Education selectively administered it in clear breach of legislative intent. Instead of allowing flexibility in rural areas based on local geography, demographics, and economics, as required by the statute, the Department rigidly applied a phantom 2,500 student minimum. Across central Aroostook County, communities were wrongly warned that they were not in conformity with “the law.”
While the Department of Education has stumbled at this important juncture, I hope it will regain its balance on this incredibly important issue. I call on the Governor to order the Department to implement the law as it was passed by the Legislature – with its great compromise and its abundant flexibility – or risk tearing asunder the coalition that supported it.
Rep. Jeremy Fischer represents Presque Isle in the Maine House of Representatives and serves as Chairman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. He may be reached by phone (551-3097), by email (RepJeremy.Fischer@legislature.maine.gov), or by mail (6C Third St., Presque Isle, Maine 04769).
