[Local-Maine-Schools] response to mend dont end

[Ralph Chapman]

[the text of the attached pdf file is pasted below]


To:		ron at bancroftandcompany.com
		local-maine-schools at mainetalk.org

From:		rchapman.utc at gmail.com

Date:		January 30, 2008

Re:		"Mend, don't end, school consolidation process" Sunday Telegram,
Jan 22, 2008


Ron Bancroft's conclusions need to be revisited after he checks his facts.

He says:
			"Here are the facts: Maine's school population has already declined
from 219,000 in 1995 to 209,000 in 2005-2006. It is projected to
decline to 190,000 by 2010."

Later, he says:
			"Much of the reason for the cost increase stems from population
decreases and the difficulty of reducing teachers and other school
personnel to reflect this trend, particularly in smaller towns and
districts.

>From the Department of Education statistics and the State Planning
Office projections*, the decline from 1995 to 2005 (218598 to 201912)
was three quarters of one percent per year, the projected decline from
2005 to 2010 (201912 to 180314) is two percent per year, and the
school population starts increasing again in less than five years.
The attrition rate for Maine teachers is more than eight percent per
year, four times the rate of enrollment decrease.

Therefore it is simply not true that the population decreases account
for the high (relative to the national average) per-pupil cost of
public education in Maine.  Nor do the administrative costs (which are
below the national average) account for the high per-pupil cost.  Nor
do the teacher salary levels (about seventeen percent below the
national average) account for the high per-pupil cost.

It is Maine's enviable low student/teacher ratio that accounts for the
cost.  Maine's superior educational performance (fifth in the nation,
with those states ranking number one through four all spending more
per pupil) is apparently achieved by the level of individualized
attention given to Maine students.

I note that Mr Bancroft offers no evidence of savings from
consolidation.  Doubts about saving money are fed, in part, by the
observation that consolidated rural districts will have increased
transportation costs, rarely if ever mentioned by consolidation
advocates.

*	http://www.maine.gov/education/enroll/aproct/historical/octelemsec.htm
        http://www.maine.gov/spo/economics/economics/spreadsheetfiles/publicxpense2017c.xls

–Ralph Chapman
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