Where are we now?
I have been away from active blogging for a few weeks partially due to being rather busy, but mostly because I wanted to continue to focus the blog on the upcoming Jim Burke "Tools for Thought" event. Now that Jim is here in Maine, along with the 60+ brave souls who made it here to Portland in our latest snowstorm, we can concentrate on other things.
Last year when we were actively engaged in the day-to-day trials of the school consolidation initiative, I reported here almost daily on what was happening. So where are we now?
As you no doubt know, the Legislature has taken on the school consolidation legislation again this year, ostensibly to refine it and make it work better. But, politics being politics, once the door was open, the cat came out of the bag - just to mix a few metaphors.
The latest hubbub is that the law which was passed last year is about to be rather dramatically altered by this year's Legislature. At the same time, there are several districts - mostly in the southern part of the state - that are well into the consolidation process and have plans approved or close to approval. There are also a number of districts around the state who have halted their consolidation efforts. And just about all districts are taking a wait and see attitude.
There is news that the Governor is planning to veto the bill(s) that come to his desk especially if they increase the number of school districts (one of the current proposals would change the number of permissible districts from 80 to 200) and/or demonstrates no desired savings.
Some have argued that the law in its current form would not bring about the savings that were promised.
It is also evident that the Legislature has enough votes to override the Governor's veto, so politically they can all look like winners.
But the big concern is that the TABOR folks are sharpening their pencils - and swords - and getting ready to do battle again. This time they will be able to report that all of the things they predicted in would happen two years ago have happened. This plus a stagnant or depressed economy will likely push a lot of people in the pro-TABOR direction. Given the decreases in school populations, a TABOR law in Maine would result in some significant and uncontrollable cuts to education. NOTE: For those not familiar with TABOR, please see the following links - pro & con - from this Google search
So where are we now? We may be at the edge of a precipice. Stay tuned.
~John Brandt
