Governor Paul LePage's Budget Proposal

 

 

     Among other questionable proposals in his budget, Governor LePage has proposed eliminating state reimbursement for what is referred to in budget documents as System Administration costs. This budget area includes salaries and benefits for superintendents, assistant superintendents, school system support/secretarial staff, school boards stipends, business managers and payroll and accounts payable staff, legal and insurance liability services, and office and professional supplies. Instead the state will provide funds for what is being called 'regional education service agencies' (ESA's) that schools can contract with for these services. Currently, there are no ESAs in Maine. How will school districts be able to contract with an entity that does not exist? Will he bring in out of state entities (private businesses that will gladly accept Maine taxpayer money?) Do the people of Maine even want to give up local control of their schools? The Maine Department of Education should not serve the function of an ESA - there is no leadership there. For most of LePage's tenure there has been no permanent leader of this department of state government. He only recently has been able to convince someone to fill this position 'permanently'. Remember when he declared that he would appoint himself to this position and be the Governor AND the Commissioner of the Department of Education?

 

     Governor LePage has also proposed a statewide teacher's contract.  The only way a statewide contract might work was if there was a centralized body which could negotiate it and support it. Is there such a centralized entity?  Absent this entity, the Department of Education should not be the one to negotiate a statewide contract as long as Governor LePage is in office. This is just a ruse to weaken the teacher's union. It is his way of trying to exert authoritarian control. His actions to date related to all unions within the state have been attempts to 'bust the unions'. Unions offer checks and balances against CEOs who have reckless regard for workers' rights. Governor LePage's actions and shameful behavior have shown that he falls into this category.

 

     I have previously written in a November 2 "Blue Ribbon Commission' blog about New York state's Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) which provide shared educational services to school districts across the state of NY.  Included in that blog are links to this and other related information. Also recall Governor LePage's historical rants during the beginning of his first term in office in which he threatened to get rid of, in any way he could, superintendents, local school boards, and the teachers union who he perceived as getting in his way of accomplishing his goals. Having an entity similar to BOCES does exactly that. Superintendents in NY are hired by the BOCES, but only after the approval of the State Commissioner of Education. They work 1/2 time for local issues and half time carrying out state initiatives under the direction of the State Commissioner of Education. When a Superintendent leaves (or is fired for not achieving state initiatives?), the State Commissioner of Education 'studies' the local unit(s) the Superintendent was in charge of and determines whether or not the local unit(s) still require the services of a Superintendent or whether the unit can be combined with another BOCES unit. This process has usually led to further consolidation with other BOCES units, resulting in decreasing local control and increasing state control.  Has a BOCES system achieve significant cost savings and increase student achievement in New York? At one of the Blue Ribbon Commission meetings, a BOCES representative stated that had not been studied. A look at the www.data.nysed.gov website shows similar patterns of student achievement as here in Maine, ie. students from low income/disadvantaged backgrounds show lower levels of achievement; students of non-white cultural backgrounds show lower levels of achievement (except Asian/native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islanders students); and graduation rates that follow the same pattern as Maine's graduation rate.

     Let us remember that Maine's student achievement level is higher than our nation's average. Our dilemma is the achievement gap in students who come from low income, disadvantaged backgrounds, and/or have special education needs. Our primary Maine problem is children/families living in poverty. The number of families living in poverty is increasing in Maine. This means that the number of children who are arriving in schools with social and achievement gaps is increasing. Schools alone can't solve this poverty problem, Mr. Governor. (And Mr. Trump. And Ms. DeVos. And Mr.  Sessions.) Social stratification is directly affected by government policy. We have seen our state government policy leaning toward favoring business and those extremely wealthy. This further exacerbates social stratification and the issues it brings. Governor LePage boasts that his actions have created a rainy day fund in the millions and another fund in the billions. And how has he accomplished this? By removing the very people who are living in and near the poverty level from the support services they need, which pushes them further into poverty.  Many schools departments will tell you they have had to create additional support services for children and families to address the needs of all children.

 

     I don't trust Governor LePage. None of his actions related to education (nor the general welfare of people) to date have provided the support and leadership that Maine's educational system deserve. You only have to look to his current budget proposal that undoes Maine voter's support of Question #2 that would result in increased educational funding for Maine's schools. He flouts his disdain for the democratic process and acts like a dictator. He may have been able to act like that when he worked at Marden's, but now as Governor his bullying tactics will not work. A strong teacher's union will stand up to him, to protect students' and teachers' rights. A strong School Board's Association will stand up to him to protect local control of education and to choose/supervise our own superintendents. Concerned citizens will stand up to him. We are watching closely.

 

     In order for his proposed ESA's to work, they have to be fully functioning now. This is fundamental. Local school budgets are being developed now. Fiscal year 2018 begins July 1, 2017.  That is only 4 months away. To have regional ESAs fully functioning by then is ludicrous. The use of Maine's ESAs have been described as "voluntary regionalization" as compared to the forced regionalization that occurred across Maine under the Baldacci administration. That regionalization did not result in the cost savings we all were told it would achieve. It is naïve to think this type of voluntary regionalization/collaboration can be functional within months. It is disingenuous because cost sharing is already happening between schools. Regional special education programs already exist.

 

     In 2014, Governor LePage gave his cabinet level political appointees and other top level managers a raise, saying they were being underpaid and that the pay raise would help attract talented professionals.  Each one of these managers now earn $127,878 a year. The only exception was the interim Department of Education commissioner. Why does he criticize the fact that many superintendents are overpaid when he, as a 'CEO' has recognized that salaries and benefits have to reasonably compensate people?  And why did he single out the Department of Education to not receive the raise? Regardless of where and what the job is, professionals, superintendents included, deserve a professional salary and to be treated with professional courtesy rather than derision.

     His budget proposal is just another way, with different words, for him to continue his rant against superintendents and local school boards. Tell him, "No, thank you."