[Local-Maine-Schools] Education "reform" and data -- money, not education, is the issue

[Dick Atlee]

Here's another contribution to the mail flood hopefully heading to 
Augusta, which I sent as suggested to the three local reps and the 
committee.  I'm including it here partly because of the song included in 
it (what would you think of including the MP3 on our web page as a theme 
song, if permission were available?), and partly because I feel that 
addressing the shortage of necessary data and the insanity of proceeding 
without that data is of paramount importance.

-------- Original Message --------
To: schooladmin at legislature.maine.gov
CC: Ted Koffman <koffman at coa.edu>, Dennis Damon <dsdamon at panax.com>, 
     Hannah Pingree <hannah at pingree.com>

To all of you who hold in your hands the power to seriously damage or
help improve the educational structure of Maine,

I'd like to preface this letter about your responsibilities in the
current education reform discussion with a song written by Captain David
Kennedy and made well-known by Maine's own Gordon Bok  I believe it
captures clearly the dangerous situation in which you and those of us
"out here" find ourselves, a situation where the consequences you may
create may hurt far more than Sam:

------------------------------------------
DO SOMETHING EVEN IF IT'S WRONG
By Captain Dave Kennedy

I've got a partner by the name of Sam
That squarehead pilot's quite a man
Here's what he says when he gets in a jam
"Do something even if it's wrong"

CHORUS:
Do something even if it's wrong
This'll make sense before too long
What am I gonna do with this crazy song
Do something even if it's wrong

The first thing Sam tries, it never works
The second thing only makes it worse
But the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth --
   something works
Do something even if it's wrong

CHORUS

The next time that you're up a tree
You just don't know what your future might be
Take a tip from Sam and me
And do something even if it's wrong.

CHORUS
------------------------------------------

I think that Gail Marshall, in her letter to you of 11 February
("Pending Proposals for School "Regionalization"), available also at
http://lists.svaha.com/pipermail/local-maine-schools/2007-February/000038.html, 

covers virtually all of my concerns with respect to where the present
work of the Education Committee may be going.  I hope you have all had
(or will take) the opportunity to read it carefully before any decisions
are made -- and, one would hope -- even before much further discussion
occurs.  I won't belabor its many valid and insightful points.

My specific concerns are with data -- or lack thereof.

EDUCATION DATA:  The data invoked in supporting the claim that Maine's
K-12 education is deficient are outright flawed -- cherry-picked out of
context, and misleading to the point of being false in the way they are
being used.  Maine education is, in fact, one of the best in the country.

But I think it is obvious to both you and I that considerations of
educational quality are not what is driving this current rushed thrust
for reform.  If you are to avoid damage to the educational system whose
welfare is your responsibility, you MUST take account of the real
driving force.

FINANCIAL DATA:  I realize the purview of the Education Committee is
education, not finances.  However, it is clear to most of us "out here"
that there is no educational crisis in Maine, no data to support that
claim.  The only reason you are being forced to consider changes in
education is because of a desire on the part of the State to avoid
further TABOR-like attempts at tax revolt.  And rather than looking at
the Brookings Study's potential huge savings in State Government
operations, the Governor has chosen to single out education for that
purpose.

However, there is strong evidence that the financial data cited for
education extravagance is cooked -- or perhaps simply invoked with
considerable incompetence.  You have undoubtedly seen U.Maine professor
Gordon Donaldson's data-driven study on Maine K-12 administrative costs
(available at
http://sparkflashgap.net/School/PursuingAdministrativeEfficiency.pdf).
This study clearly shows that per-student administrative costs, when
support services are included, are FAR BELOW the national average.

Dr. Donaldson postulates that the fact that Maine "administrative" costs
are above the national average, while support-service costs are far
below, has to do with administrative staff doing much of that support
work.  But he acknowledges that at this time there isn't enough data to
be sure of this, and it is essential that we know for sure.  We also
know that there are many other aspects of what is or is not included in
"administrative" costs (e.g., laptops) that confound any shallow attempt
at comparison of such costs.

The bottom line is that, without more careful acquisition and analysis
of data, any ham-handed or simplistic attempts to attack
"administrative" costs could end up raising those costs rather than
lowering them, resulting in a far greater public anger, based on the
double whammy of increased expenditure/taxes and decreased educational
effectiveness.

The oft-heard assertion that "We've had enough studies -- it's time to
DO SOMETHING" -- like Sam in the song above -- is probably the most
dangerous thing a legislative body can respond to, when whatever studies
have been done are either being ignored, misquoted, or provide
insufficient data to make an intelligent decision.  Unnecessarily
precipitous action based on insufficient information is foolhardy.  I
hope you won't be stampeded into that trap, ending up abrogating your
responsibility for the welfare of Maine education.

Thank you for all your time, effort, and concern.

Sincerely,

Dick Atlee
Southwest Harbor