Write A Letter to Your Editor: Streamline School Administration

Use the form below to write a letter to your local newspaper editor.

In spite of declining enrollment, Maine's school expenditures are still growing and driving our state's tax burden ever higher. Young families dispersing into suburbs are bringing rising school costs and increased property taxes to formerly rural communities, and the state now spends millions on redundant school buildings and adminstration.

While quality education is crucial to our future prosperity, inefficient administrative spending keeps us from investing in other high priorities, like economic development and lower taxes. The GrowSmart-Brookings Report makes these specific recommendations for streamlining the governance of K-12 education:

Reduce system administration expenditures to the vicinity of $195/student. This reduction would yield about $25 million in annual budget savings.
Set clear targets and provide grants for voluntary regional efforts. Encourage cooperation among school districts, which are already collaborating on everything from transportation to food service to district consolidation.
Begin work to dramatically reduce the number of school administrative units. Any consolidation plan should commit to and be evaluated against measurable financial goals.
Develop a statewide K-12 capital expenditure plan conceived from a more regional perspective. Before building new schools, governments should make more efficient use of existing buildings beyond town and district boundaries.
As districts consolidate, preserve local community schools. Even as we spend millions on new schools in the suburbs, we're abandoning school buildings in older neighborhoods, where they serve as valuable community centers.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Streamline School Administration

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 10, 2007

Background Information

"Charting Maine's Future" Recommendations for K-12 Administrative Reform

The Brookings report 'Charting Maine's Future' makes specific recommendations for streamlining the governance of K-12 Education. We, Brookings and GrowSmart Maine, thank you for your work thus far and further hope that these recommendations will be part of any plan you develop in the next two weeks.

1. Fully fund the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Education Services and set clear targets for voluntary regional efforts. Regionalized administrative districts are the path to K-12 efficiency. Already schools and districts are beginning to make progress in that direction through voluntary collaboration on everything from transportation to food service to district consolidation.

2. Use the Essential Programs and Services model to reduce system administration expenditures to the vicinity of $195/student. This reduction yields about $25 million in annual budget savings - money which can be better spent. This will further encourage districts to regionalize their 'back office' and administrative functions.

3. Begin the work to dramatically reduce the number of school administrative units. Nationally, a typical school district has about 3,000 students. Using that figure as a guide, Maine would have 64 school administrative units. We originally proposed a commission to design a plan to reinvent the K-12 school system, but given current interest, energy, and work we think this could happen more quickly, with less study and more action. We encourage clear, measurable financial goals for any consolidation plan.

4. Develop a statewide K-12 capital expenditure plan conceived from a more regional perspective. The Department and the State Board should write Maine's first ever state school capital plan to ensure that the state's future investments in construction and renovation are made rationally and that school buildings are adequately maintained in all communities. Our local-oriented capital system frequently fails to consider how to maximize the use of existing facilities across regions (and even district lines). We should start by creating a comprehensive statewide inventory detailing the size, location, condition and maintenance costs of all Maine school buildings. The department should then work with the Board to write a statewide capital plan to set priorities for construction & renovation in each region of the state, balancing cost control and the need for economies of scale with the need to protect schools in truly difficult to serve geographic areas. The objective would be the best and most efficient use of all of the state's existing and future buildings.

5. In new, larger districts, make it difficult to close a local community school. It is very clear that Maine people value their local schools and consider these schools the very heart of their communities - even if it costs a bit more to keep them open. We heard this repeated over and over again in our 45 listening sessions as we developed 'Charting Maine's Future' and we heard it again in your public hearings on the Governor's plan for administrative consolidation. Mechanisms that preserve local schools and require approval of the voters or allow over-ride provisions and/or unanimous votes of any regional board will be a critical component to any consolidation plan in order to preserve Mainers' values.