The Downeast Coastal Press, March 25-31, 2008

Senate Passes School Reorganization Reform by Veto-Proof Two-Thirds Majority

By Will Tuell

After two and a half months of political intrigue, the Maine Senate gave final approval to a package of reforms to Maine’s much maligned school reorganization law by a 26-8 margin March 20. The original law, passed as part of the state budget last June, sought to reduce the number of school units across the state from 290 to 80, but met with stiff opposition in rural areas reluctant to give up their traditional form of governance.

“It was a watershed vote,” said Sen. Kevin Raye (R-Perry), who served on a bipartisan conference committee charged with ironing out differences between the House and Senate version after it faltered in the Senate March 10.

The bill, LD 1932, seeks to allow regional planning committees (RPCs) the ability to negotiate their own cost-sharing formula, allows for the creation of “super-sized” school unions modeled after the Mount Desert Island RPC model, where local school boards have greater control over their own budget and facilities, and creates a process whereby voters will have the opportunity to vote on school budgets both at town meeting and at the ballot box—a measure that could be phased out after three years if voters opt to do so.

The bill also allows towns to “divorce” their partners once a regional school unit (RSU) or a “super union” has been created, a process that Gov. John Baldacci and Education Commissioner Susan Gendron oppose and last June had succeeded in stripping from the law.

“It was good to be victorious,” Union 102 superintendent Scott Porter said in a phone interview March 21, adding that the bill’s fate in the House of Representatives, where it is to be taken up this week, is anything but clear.

Union 102 includes Jonesboro, Machias, Marshfield, Northfield, Roque Bluffs, Whitneyville and Wesley. Porter also serves as superintendent for the East Machias municipal school department.

“We believe we have a majority,” said Porter, an opinion he said was based on conversations he has had with House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree (D-North Haven). Many House Republicans, who have been the most opposed to the consolidation law, are still hoping for an outright repeal and thus would like to see the amended law fail, thinking it easier to get the law repealed outright next year if need be.

Democratic powerhouses such as Pingree and former House Speaker Libby Mitchell, now a senator, have played a major role in opposing Baldacci and Gendron on the super union and other amendments. Both represent largely rural areas, where opposition to the new law has been most pronounced.

Speaking of them and their partisan allies, Porter said, “The Democrats will pull their weight.” Speaking of the Republicans who prefer outright repeal, he said, “There are some who want to see the whole thing crash.” Nevertheless, he was optimistic that the combination of those Democrats not following the governor and those Republicans willing to accept what they believe to be the best they can expect would present a two-thirds majority,

If both chambers pass LD 1932 by supermajorities, and the governor doesn’t veto the legislation, it will go into effect immediately. If, on the other hand, Baldacci chooses to veto despite a two-thirds majority, the prospects for overriding him are greatly enhanced. By failing to get a two-thirds majority in the House, the governor may try to “test” the Legislature’s resolve on a bill that he sees as a major rollback to the school consolidation process his administration set into motion last winter.

“I’m told there’s a very good chance [of getting two-thirds in the House],” said Raye, although he recognized that his party had been divided three ways—those who will vote against the measure in the hopes of engineering repeal, those who will vote against it because they favor consolidation, and those who, like himself, will vote for it thinking LD 1932 to be the best solution available.

East Machias Selectman Optimistic

East Machias Selectman Kenneth “Bucket” Davis, who like Porter has been making frequent trips to Augusta since last winter, suggested that if the governor does veto LD 1932, Senate and House Republicans would jump at the chance to overrule him.

“If he does veto, they’re waiting to cram this down his throat,” said Davis. “Things are working in our favor. I think we’ll win.”

Even with LD 1932’s future looking increasingly bright, Davis said that he would not be surprised if East Machias took a wait-and-see approach to any newly formed school union, noting that once the town joined, it would have to go through the same withdrawal process it did when it broke away from the now defunct SAD 77 several years ago.

“I still wouldn’t rule out East Machias holding out a year,” he said. “In a year’s time, if there’s bugs that need to be worked out, they will be.”

In doing so, East Machias will have to weigh penalties imposed by the Department of Education for not complying with the law against the uncertain future that a regional school union/unit brings.