To Clean the Kitchen, Drive out the Elephants

Schools Plan May Help, but Won’t Be a Silver Bullet

As legislators, our goal is to build lasting prosperity for Maine and for Maine’s children.  To judge the emerging schools package well, we must look not at the next election, but fifty years forward and fifty back.  We must also be ready to tackle what matters most, and to deal with problems at their source.

Fifty years ago, Maine’s Legislature enacted a sweeping and largely successful law to promote and reward regional school consolidation.  By enacting the 1957 Sinclair Act, Maine cut the number of school districts roughly in half over the next two decades – and raised its share of school spending.

Sound familiar?  Perhaps.  But to misquote the great Yogi Berra, 2007 isn’t déjà vu all over again.  While 1957’s leaders invited consolidation by offering schools more money, and as much time as they wanted, 2007’s leaders will likely force consolidation by offering less money, and mandating sizes of 2,500 students within a year.

Will kids and taxpayers both benefit?  Let’s hope so.  But if we want sweeping savings, let’s also deal with the elephants in the room: rising health insurance and energy costs.  We’ve worked on getting the elephants to leave, but haven’t yet succeeded.  And while we’re scrubbing the school consolidation data, questioning its origins and assumptions, the elephants are breaking the dishes and soiling the rugs.

Consider these related facts:

Ø      Over the last ten years, the portion of the state’s budget for K-12 education has not increased.

Ø      The biggest costs in school budgets are for teacher salaries, buildings, health insurance premiums, and energy (heat, electricity, and busing).

Ø      Since 2000, health insurance premiums nationwide have risen by 87 percent (and wages by only 20 percent).

Ø      Over the last five years alone, nationwide energy costs have more than doubled.

In short, even as the Legislature sweeps out the inefficiencies in school systems, we must be equally if not more vigorous in driving out the elephants – at least from our own small corner of the country.  We must move quickly to broaden health care coverage, bringing the greatest possible buying power to the table when negotiating with mammoths like Anthem.  And we must move just as aggressively to increase conservation, driving down regional energy demand and prices.

If we do those things, just think who will thank us.  Name one business or tax dollar not soiled by rising health insurance or energy costs, and I’ll give you the flag flown over the State House.  Name one child whose educational opportunities aren’t soiled by the same elephants; one senior citizen not affected; one voter not disaffected.  The thanks will come from every Mainer – resoundingly.

At this point, it’s too early to tell whether the Legislature’s new schools package will effectively tidy the kitchen table.  But while one group works on schools, others are working on the rest of the house – starting with those health insurance and energy elephants.  Let’s hope that by June, we’ve made progress in all three areas.