On Jan. 17, Gov. Baldacci still couldn’t figure out why all the school districts didn’t come in under the LD1 spending caps! Our governor still cannot understand why so many rural Mainers haven’t seen any property tax relief. The answer is simple: His Essential Programs and Services school funding formula, which he pulled out all the stops to pass, is unfair to rural Maine.
Maine’s previous school-funding formulas didn’t give the 100 or more property-wealthiest districts any increase in funding, as they were already spending above the state average on a mill rate effort well below the state average. Yet Gov. Baldacci’s EPS formula puts more than $50 million into the property-wealthiest areas of the state while abandoning rural Maine. It truly is an urban formula for a rural state.
The net effect of Gov. Baldacci’s EPS formula awards districts that have the lowest mill rate effort for education even more property tax relief. Meanwhile, the rural areas of Maine that have the highest educational mill rate effort do not receive enough funding increase to cover their oil bills. Even in its second year – when the legislature froze the special education percentages – the wealthiest, most populated districts continued to gain millions.
Sadly, for the first time in Maine history, the property-wealthiest one-third of Maine school districts fund their whole school budget on five mills, while the property-poor districts now have to raise 15 mills. This inequity places rural Maine at a competitive disadvantage, a situation that the Brooking Institute report says cannot continue.
The small community of Wales was approved merely five years ago to construct a new kindergarten through eighth grade school that housed 200 students. For the first three years, the state paid for the schools operating expenses, but now under EPS the state only pays for one-quarter of the salaries for the principal, guidance counselor, nurse and other positions because the new school is “inefficient” and too small. Wales’ mill rate effort for education is now one of the highest in the state at 17. Last summer, after their school budget got slashed at a town meeting, the school board voted to eliminate all foreign language instruction, sports and transportation. Gov. Baldacci and Education Commissioner Susan Gendron interceded and forwarded Wales its special education money one year ahead of all other districts even as they still maintained there was nothing wrong with EPS. Gov. Baldacci’s proposal to mandate 90 percent of new school monies go toward property tax relief could work fine – but only if we have a fair school-funding formula!
Due to the failure of EPS to deliver property tax relief, now Gov. Baldacci has put forth a second Draconian proposal for rural Maine: He is going to create 26 mega-school districts. While most legislators will favor some type of properly thought-out consolidation involving similar communities, Gov. Baldacci’s plan has several flaws. It has been more than 50 years since the Sinclair Act created School Administrative Districts – all districts formed contained similar communities (rural, suburban or urban).
Gov. Baldacci’s mega-districts would force small, rural and property-poor communities within urban, property-rich communities. This will spell disaster for rural Maine due to decreased school-board representation and school closings. The state of Vermont has chosen a wiser course of action as they recently completed more than 300 meetings with local educators with regard to their redistricting plan and together made larger urban, suburban or rural districts.
Your readers also need to realize that Gov. Baldacci is talking the talk but not walking the walk when it comes to reducing administrative costs. Govs. Joseph Brennan, John McKernan and Angus King each utilized 20 gubernatorial administrative aids. However, Gov. Baldacci requires 43 administrative aids and is opposed to eliminating any of them, including the public relations person just hired for the Department of Education! Why does rural education spending come under intense scrutiny when Revenue Sharing II (extra revenue sharing only for cities) is distributed with no scrutiny at all?
On Jan. 24, the authors of the Brookings Report told the Legislature that they were disappointed in the governor’s budget because it didn’t first cut state government administrative spending. My bill, LR1232, will accomplish this. They also stated they didn’t support Gov. Baldacci’s kindergarten through 12th grade school consolidation plan and acknowledged that an independent commission should take two years to research this school issue.
All of Maine can enjoy property tax relief, but only if it is a result of a fair, equitable school-funding formula in conjunction with well thought-out administrative consolidation. Until all Mainers receive property tax relief, we will be subject to countless statewide referendums. Sadly, Gov. Baldacci, due to your policies, the next referendum has already started.
Sen. John Nutting of Leeds represents District 17 in the Maine Senate.
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