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Voters in Maine's urban areas vote to uphold the mandate, which had little effect on their communities.

By MATTHEW STONE, Kennebec Journal November 4, 2009

 

Maine's school district consolidation law appeared to fend off a repeal bid in voting Tuesday, as Question 3 went down at the polls by a 3-2 margin.

The campaign to overturn a two-year-old law that sought to merge Maine's 290 school districts into 80 had garnered 41.6 percent of the vote by late Tuesday in unofficial results. Backers of the law had collected 58.4 percent of the vote, with 84 percent of precincts reporting.

At issue was a 2007 law that sought to reduce school administrative costs through school system mergers.

Ostensibly, the legislation has fallen short of its objectives. Instead of combining into 80, Maine's 290 school districts have become 218 after voters in more than 100 districts rejected local merger plans over the past year and a half.

Tuesday's vote appeared to have fallen largely along an urban-rural, north-south divide. Voters in Maine's southern counties -- where cities and larger towns were largely exempted from merger requirements -- voted to keep the law.

Northern counties, where dozens of towns found themselves out of compliance with the law -- and now face more than $5 million in penalties starting July 1 -- voted in favor of erasing the mandate.

Dana Connors, spokesman for the No on 3 campaign, acknowledged on Tuesday that much of the work related to the consolidation law remains incomplete.

"That work needs to continue," he said late Tuesday, referring to additional district mergers and potential changes to the law. "I think tonight's vote was an affirmation that we were headed in the right direction, and that the public wants to continue."

Tuesday's vote on Question 3 followed a campaign this fall that saw the consolidation law's proponents open a commanding lead in fundraising over those pushing for a repeal.

Maine People for Improved School Education, the political action committee pushing a "no" vote, raised $340,000 for its campaign, largely from corporate sources. Gov. John Baldacci, who proposed the consolidation law, acknowledged making fundraising appeals on behalf of the political action committee.

The Maine Coalition to Save Schools, the committee seeking repeal, raised about $9,900.

Skip Greenlaw, a former legislator from Stonington who led the repeal bid, called the results "disappointing."

"I suppose when you go out and spend $300,000, you have a distinct advantage," he said. "I think it's unfortunate that money plays such a big role in our politics."

With Maine's consolidation mandate now firmly in statute, state education officials say they're expecting more district mergers to take place.

"We have been preparing to assist a number of school districts that have shown some interest in moving ahead with reorganizations, but they were just waiting to see what happened today before they decided to move forward," said David Connerty-Marin, a Department of Education spokesman.

Legislators are also expecting to take up proposed amendments to the consolidation law when they return to Augusta in January. Most notably, Connerty-Marin said, there's interest in allowing towns a way out of their newly merged districts. That's not allowed under current law.

"There's a need for some additional changes, some flexibility, but I think the days of wholesale renovations have passed," Connerty-Marin said.