MDIschools.net

School Consolidation Plan for Maine: Political history

Final Version of Legislation

• Final Statutory Language as approved by Legislature, with amendment 'T' text highlighted, (6/06); [*.doc format, *.pdf format]
• Table of Contents (annotated) for the above, with sections affected by amendment 'T' highlighted  [*.doc format, *.pdf format]
• House Amendment 'T', (6/05; "XXXX" sections are relevant to consolidation)

Earlier reports and prior drafts

• Why this bill devastates our schools, MDI Study Group, (6/03), [*.htm], [*.rtf]
• Summary of Key Points of Proposed Administrative Consolidation (5/26)
• Table of contents for draft bill (Dick Atlee, 5/31) [*.pdf]
• School Consolidation Plan Goes to Full Legislature, MMA, Legislative Bulletin, 6/01
• Report "A", Legislative 'Working Group', 5/21
• Report "B", Legislative 'Working Group', 5/21
• 'A' & 'B' Common Issues, Legislative 'Working Group', 5/21
• 'Working Group' School Consolidation Plan Summary, Legislative 'Working Group', May 16
• 'Working Group' Proposal: Matrix of Major Issues to Be Resolved, Legislative 'Working Group', May 18
• Critical issues that must be addressed, Rural Caucus, (5/10)
• Details of Latest School Regionalization Plan are Hard to Pin Down, Legislative Bulletin, MMA, 5/25
• DoE suggested timeline (5/22), MMA
Education Committee
• A "Blended" Plan for School District Reorganization, Representative Farrington, 5/02
• Draft of statutory language, 5/01, [*.rtf]
• Critique of the 'Blended Plan', MDI Consolidation Study Group, (5/15)
• Comparison of 4/11 Appropriations Subcommittee Plan and Farrington "Blended Plan, Maine School Management Association, (5/15)
• More Sensible School Regionalization Plan Emerges, MMA Legislative Bulletin, 5/04
• Majority Report (Farrington, Edgecomb), (3/21)
• Majority Report "Strengthened" (Bowman), (3/21)
• Minority Report (Mills/Burgess), (3/21)
Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee
• Subcommittee's final report, (4/11) and proposed timeline, (4/11)
• Subcommittee's DRAFT legislation replacing section MM of LD 499, (4/11, not officially released) [*.doc]
• LD 499: budget bill
• Appropriations Subcommittee's School Consolidation Plan, MMA Legislative Bulletin, (*.pdf, 4/13) [*.htm version]
• Summary of Appropriation Subcommittee's School Consolidation Proposal - April 10, 2007 Draft, MSMA, 4/19
• DoE's information page and summary, (4/11)
LD 464: An Act To Reform Public Education by Encouraging Regional Approaches, Senator Mitchell
LD 804: An Act To Ensure Responsible Government Spending and Investment, Senator Edmunds, (co-sponsor: Senator Damon)

Positions and Critiques

Save Our Schools Petition, MDIschools.net
Sample Talking Points, Dick Atlee, Local Maine Schools, 4/13 [*.doc download] | [ button / bumper sticker]
A position in support of our schools, School Union 98, Mount Desert Island, Town of Mount Desert, Town of Cranberry Isles, Town of Bar Harbor, Town of Tremont, Town of Southwest Harbor. [*.doc]
Teachers' Association position, Bar Harbor Teachers' Association. [*.doc]
Coalition Position, MMA, MEA, Maine Chamber of Commerce, March 20
Gordon Donaldson

• The Sinclair Act: An Uncertain Legacy, Gordon A. Donaldson, Jr., 2007
• What can be centralized and what must remain decentralized in an effective educational organization?, Gordon A. Donaldson, Jr., January, 2007
• Getting Our Facts Straight to Make Maine's Schools Better, Gordon Donaldson, University of Maine, February 21, 2007
  
• New School Plan Must Balance, Not Silence, Voices, Gordon A. Donaldson, Jr., March 1, 2007
• Bold or Blind?: Update on the State's Plan to Centralize School Control, Gordon A. Donaldson, Jr., March 18, 2007
• School Unions in Maine: A Viable Alternative, Gordon A. Donaldson, Jr., April 2, 2007
Maine Department of Education
• School Administrative Reorganization, Department of Education
Maine State Legislature
• Maine School Regionalization page, Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library
• Legislature's School District Regionalization Proposal Hearings page
Maine Municipal Association
• The Governor's Proposed School Consolidation Plan, MMA Legislative Bulletin, January 12, 2007.
• Consolidated Hearing on Consolidating Schools, MMA Legislative Bulletin, February 2, 2007
• Education Committee's School Reform, Legislative Bulletin, Maine Municipal Association, March 9, 2007
• School Consolidation: The Dieter's Fable, MMA Legislative Bulletin, 3/16/2007
• Finding the Sweet Spot, Legislative Bulletin, Maine Municipal Association, 3/23/2007
• School Consolidation Plan, Legislative Bulletin, MMA, 3/30/2007
• Appropriations Subcommittee's School Consolidation Plan, MMA Legislative Bulletin, 4/13
• More Sensible School Regionalization Plan Emerges, MMA, Legislative Bulletin, 5/04
• Details of Latest School Regionalization Plan are Hard to Pin Down, Legislative Bulletin, MMA, 5/25
• DoE suggested timeline (5/22), MMA
• School Consolidation Plan Goes to Full Legislature, MMA, Legislative Bulletin, (6/01)
Maine School Management Association
• Comparison of 4/11 Appropriations Subcommittee Plan and Farrington "Blended Plan, MSMA, (5/15)
• Summary of Appropriation Subcommittee's School Consolidation Proposal - April 10, 2007 Draft, MSMA, 4/19
• Questions and Answers About the Governor's School Consolidation Proposal, MSMA, January 19, 2007
Maine School Boards Association
• MSBA public hearing testimony, February 5, 2007
• Position Statement, MSBA, January 19, 2007
• Resolution, MSBA, January 19, 2007
• Questions Concerning LSRS Plan, Maine School Board Association, 1/23/2007
Maine School Superintendents Association
• MSSA public hearing testimony, February 5, 2007
• Position Paper on School Consolidation, Regionalization, and Collaboration. MSSA, January 19, 2007
• Principles Concerning Consolidation, Regionalization, and Collaboration. MSSA, January 19, 2007
• Cost Savings or Unsupported Assumptions?, Funding Committee, Maine School Superintendents Association
Maine Education Association's position page
• Regionalization or hostile take over?, MEA, 4/26
• Consolidation: Controversy and Confusion, MEA
• MEA's Guidelines for Regionalization, Mark L. Gray, MEA
• Q&A on School Regionalization, MEA, 2/06/2007
• MEA's Talking Points
• MEA Board of Directors Resolution
• Bargaining and the Regionalization Proposal
• An Act to Ensure Responsible Government Spending and Investment , Maine Education Association in coalition with Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Maine Municipal Association, Maine Hospital Association, and the Maine Service Center Coalition.
  MEA's summary of the above legislation
Maine Heritage Policy Center
• Education Service Districts: Achieving school administrative cost savings while protecting local control and parental involvement, Stephen L. Bowen, January 25, 2006
• School Administration Cost Savings Attainable without Sacrificing Local Control and Parental Involvement (press release)
Island Institute
• Talking points for February hearing, The Island Institute

Planning and background

• Effect of EPS funding as a function of school size, Ralph Chapman, 4/22
• Explanatory notes, Ralph Chapman
The Learning State, Maine State Board of Education, September 2006.
Charting Maine's Future, Brookings Institution for GrowSmart Maine, October 2006.
Pursuing Administrative Efficiency for Maine's Schools, Gordon A. Donaldson, University of Maine, 2006.
Maine Children's Alliance
• Educational Initiative: "A Case for Cooperation" (Complete report), MCA, August 30, 2006. (*.pdf)
• "A Case for Cooperation": Summary of key points, MCA (*.doc)
Driving More Money into the Classroom: The Promise of Shared Services, Deloitte Research (11/2005)
MDI school performance reports, January 1-5, 2007
• MDI students shine on SATs, Greg Fish, Bar Harbor Times
• Making the grade, Greg Fish, Bar Harbor Times
• Island scores among best in state, Victoria Wallack, Mount Desert Islander
Mathematics scores rising; Reading among highest in nation
• NCES Maine Education Data Profile
Grade 4 Math: Maine: 241; US: 237
Grade 8 Math: Maine: 281; US: 278
Grade 4 Reading: Maine: 225; US: 217
Grade 8 Reading: Maine: 270; US: 260
Grade 4 Science: Maine: 161; US: 148
Grade 8 Science: Maine: 160; US: 149
Grade 4 Writing: Maine: 158; US: 153
Grade 8 Writing: Maine: 157; US: 152
More background and resources
• A Look to the Future: Maine Education Reform, Michael Fullan & Nancy Watson, Toronto, December 2006.
• America's Best Public Schools, Setting the Maine Course, Barbara Merrill, 2006
• PDK/Gallup poll of the public's attitude toward public schools, September, 2006.
• Is Bigger Better?, Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Sept. 2006
• Report to the School District Redistricting Commission, Arizona Legislative Council, March 15, 2006
• Education on a human scale, Mike Corbett, Acadia University. 2006.
• School District Consolidation and Public School Efficiency, Texas Public Policy Foundation. 2006
• Improving Educational Resource Allocation in Maine, Philip Trostel & Catherine Reilly, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, February 2005
• Rural School Consolidation Report, NREA Consolidation Task Force, April 2005
• Does School Consolidation Cut Costs?, William Duncombe & John Yinger, Syracuse University. 2001
• Diseconomies of school district size, Galles, Gary M.; Sexton, Robert L., Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies, Summer 1995
• Rural School Consolidation in New York State, 1795-1993: A Struggle for Control, Thomas J. Pugh, Syracuse University. 1994
• Revitalizing Maine's Service Centers, John Melrose, Maine Policy Review, 2003
• Cost and Characteristics of Maine's Higher Performing Public Schools, David Silvernail, Maine Education Policy Research Institute. Feb 2006
• Cost/Size of Maine High Schools, 2004 (graph), David Silvernail
• Fiscal Analysis of the Report of the Select Panel on Revisioning Education in Maine, David Silvernail, Center for Education Policy. Aug 2006
• Resources on School and District Size, Gordon Donaldson, February 2007
• Legislature's Education Committee
  
  • Education Committee's Majority Report (Farrington, Edgecomb), March 21
  • Education Committee's Majority Report "Strengthened" (Bowman), March 21
  • Education Committee's Minority Report (Mills/Burgess), March 21
  • Reorganization Timeline (Gendron), March 23
  • Letter reporting to Appropriations Committee, March 8, 2007
  • Chart of proposal's components with Committee's votes, March 8, 2007
  • Department of Education's detail of projected savings through Governor's plan, March 8, 2007
  • Senator Mills' 'minority report' proposal to Appropriations, March 8, 2007
  • "Spencer-Herman" draft, Education Committee in collaboration with MSMA and MMA, March 5, 2007
  • Summary of Education Committee's 'Straw Votes', Legislative Office of Policy and Legal Analysis, March 1, 2007
  • 'Components'of Education Committee's regionalization bill, Legislative Office of Policy and Legal Analysis, February 27, 2007
  Previous proposed legislation
  Side-by-side comparisons of proposals, (courtesy of Nancy Hudak and MEA), February 26, 2007
  Comparison of Proposals to Restructure Central Office Administration (*.ppt), Owen Maurais, February 8, 2007
  Summary of legislative proposals, MDIschools.net, 2/03/2007.
  • The Governor's proposed legislation: An Act To Create Learning Communities in Maine [77 page *.pdf]
  • Education Subcommittee of Appropriations: plan in progress, 3/24
  • LD 370, Resolve, To Reduce the Number of School Administrative Units and Gain Administrative Efficiencies, Senator Turner
  >
  • LD 835: An Act To Encourage School Administrative Units To Collaborate with Other School Administrative Units, Representative Silsby
  • LD 853: An Act To Encourage Efficiency in School Administration, Senator Mills
  • LD 947: Resolve, To Prepare Students for Success in the Twenty-first Century, Senator Rotundo
  LD 976: An Act To Encourage Cost Efficiency in Administration of and Contribution to Tax Burden Reduction by School Districts, Representative Woodbury

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