September 26, 2007
More school consolidation stories in the offing
Last week I received an e-mail from Tim Wheaton, a School Committee member in Yarmouth, taking us to task for our coverage of the school consolidation issue. I didn’t agree with everything he said. But his main point – that our coverage had been superficial and wasn’t skeptical enough – was valid.
Since Gov. John Baldacci first presented his proposal to consolidate Maine’s 290 school districts last January to reduce administrative costs, we’ve published roughly 100 stories on the topic. Many of those stories, however, have been process oriented, focusing mainly on the legislative and public debate over the law, or reporting on milestones in the law’s enactment, such as the recent deadline for districts to submit preliminary merger plans to the state.
What’s been missing is a sense of how the merger debates are playing out at the local level. How are parents getting involved in the process? Where did the state come up with its targets for cuts? How do you merge two districts with different pay scales for teachers and different priorities for curriculum? What happens when you cut 5 percent from transportation budgets with higher fuel prices? What kind of turf wars are happening? All of these discussions are starting in earnest now that communities have filed plans and are actively trying to figure out how to make a merger work.
As an editor, one of my favorite buzz phrases is “drill narrow, drill deep.” In that spirit, we’ve detailed three reporters - Paul Carrier in our state house bureau, education reporter Beth Quimby, and Kelley Bouchard, who covers Portland city and schools - to hit the topic of school consolidation hard over the next few weeks. Paul and Beth are working on the topic exclusively, and Kelley will contribute stories in between other stories.
Their first stories - a look at how local people are getting involved in the debate and a primer on the law’s political origins - will appear this Sunday. We’ve already accumulated a list of about 15 stories we hope to publish over the next several weeks and are looking for more, so if you got ideas on this topic, e-mail them to me at arussell@pressherald.com, or just leave a comment on the blog.
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It seems that there's a lot of misguided angst among people due to confusion between "school consolidation" (the new law actually makes it harder for districts to close a neighborhood school) and "district consolidation". I'd like to see more clarity in your future articles on this point.
Also, here's a story idea: how about a side-by-side cost comparison of one town's total school budget, their administrative staffing, number of teachers and salaries, etc., before consolidation, during consolidation (right now), and projections of spending after the process is complete (in a year or two)?
Posted by
September 28, 2007 03:44 PM
Mr. Russell,
May I suggest that you investigate how teachers and other school personnel feel about: 1. not being a part of the process at any point until the RSU is created and then we get to "bargain" a new contract (which is a time-consuming and difficult process in the best of times), 2. having their state Association (MEA) support the law, a)without any input from members, b)without any apparent attempt at helping members understand it--last spring or this fall, c)with no solid explanation for why (more resources into the classroom??? How can that be when the GPA is being cut $36 million?), 3.the anxiety created by the law, 4. impact on curriculum/students/MEA scores/NAEP scores/NCLB, etc., 5. the one-year moratorium on transfers, building closures, etc., and on and on...
Merging personnel and contracts will prove to be an arduous task. But having one regional board replace several local boards to direct several community schools may prove to be the greatest loss of local control facing small towns. The average citizen does not know how this will all play out in their hometown and school consolidation will no doubt undermine the role of community in education. Is the State selling consolidation for purely economic reasons (trying to avoid TABOR II, and is that why the great rush?) while neglecting the important cultural considerations (local control for one), which will ultimately have an affect at the student level? Bigger is NOT automatically better when it comes to school organizations. Let's not lose sight of what should be everyone's ultimate goal: better student achievement per dollar spent. What does the research show?
YES, please go deeper into this topic AND show a greater level of skepticism.
Thank you!
see:
http://www.mainepolicy.org/default.aspx?tabid=77&view=show&pressid=126
and
http://www.mainepolicy.org/Default.aspx?tabid=77&view=show&pressid=173
Posted by
GiseleSeptember 28, 2007 07:55 PM
A tip for the PPH investigative reporting staff - Yarmouth Schools are being audited by the State regarding their allocation of administrative costs. It is their "low administrative cost" that exempts them from consolidation. It seems there is concern that Yarmouth is hiding school administrative costs by listing them on the town side of the ledger and may not be entitled to the exemption. Check it. Some aggressive Freedom of Info Act requests to Yarmouth Schools and the State would be a good start.
Could this be why Yarmouth is footdragging on consolidation?
Posted by
September 30, 2007 09:52 PM
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