Why are we consolidating schools again?
The Bangor Daily ran a nice piece yesterday about our recent report on school district size and student achievement. In criticizing the report, though, Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin seems to have muddied the waters with regard to why we are consolidating the school districts in the first place:
“Connerty-Marin said the school consolidation law was not designed to create larger districts as a way to save money; its primary focus was to improve instruction and results.”
Hmmmm…A look at the Department’s consolidation website indicates that one of the goals of this effort is to “Achieve real savings” and it seems to me that has been a constant theme. In fact, there is almost no mention of student performance in the school district consolidation law.
Connerty-Marin was slightly more revealing when he said that “You can’t implement the best teaching practices with 292 school boards and 152 central offices.”
What does this mean? It means that one of the reasons we’re merging the districts is to further consolidate educational decision-making, giving the state more power to “implement” whatever it wants. It is far easier to tell 70 school boards what to do than 292. In fact, Commissioner Gendron is making plans to have teachers submit to the state a syllabus for each class they teach to see if it meets with state approval. The merger of districts is beginning to look a bit like a gradual state takeover of schools, with the state dictating curriculum and methods of student instruction from on high.
Maybe that is why were doing all this consolidating.
Jim
Posted on Nov 03, 2007
While I often differ with MHPC on many issues, we are in agreement on this one. I've written several blog posts of my own about the proposed boondoggle called school consolidation. There's nothing in this proposal that's about improving education in the state, which is woeful at best--just ask business people trying to hire recent graduates. That Connerty-Marin is now saying it's about improving instruction is laughable. The Baldacci administration continues to try to wrangle control away from local municipalities on multiple fronts. Maine should look at our own history and fallout from the Sinclair Act, during the late 1950s. Anyone interested in quality education and what's best for the longterm economic future of our state should be opposed to school consolidation.