Is School Administration Reform Taking Shape?
In his history as a Maine State Senator, John W. Benoit, of Manchester, is noted as a staunch conservative, and is an outspoken critic of most of Governor Baldacci‘s record. So it is more than notable that the following letter appeared in a recent edition of the Kennebec Journal.
"My road in life has been paved with ironic bumps; I'm straddling another one now.
It's Baldacci's fault. The governor has served up plates of spaghetti and meatballs in a family enterprise, but his governing has me verging on eating crow.
I've been critical of Baldacci's record for government by spending, but his plan for tax relief through school consolidation is winning me over. How far has this "straddle" spread my stride? I'm half way to the Manchester Town Office to change my party enrollment.
The Kennebec Journal's editorial "Dirigo" (March 13) says it best for me: "The state of Maine has a new governor." The piece claims the governor is "taking folks to the woodshed," in his effort to "cut school administration in order to cut taxes, return money to taxpayers and free up resources to invest in Maine's economic future." Hats off to the governor. Serve up the crow.
I'm putting up a fight to change my 55 years of Republican ranting for government spending cuts; but I don't hear any of my GOP legislators coming to Baldacci's side. The silence is killing me. Ironic, during my recent six-year stint in the Maine Senate, fellow Republican legislators were "blue in the face" complaining about "the red ink in government."
The governor's school consolidation plan is done well; I want my crow the same way. Is the appropriate wine red or white?"
Certainly, whether we agree or not with these sentiments, it takes courage to take the risks associated with honestly expressing a controversial opinion. His remarks are surely in the category of “daring to say what others only dare to think”; a “profile in courage”.
In a related piece in the Maine Sunday Telegram, on March 18th, “Governments do not give money to other units of government without strings. Ever. If local officials thought they could get the state to give them more money without wanting more control, then they're about to get a very difficult lesson in political science.”
And, as reported in a Lewiston Sun-Journal article, if a state school consolidation plan is adopted, it will mandate that most school systems with less than 2,500 students merge with neighboring systems….“The plan, developed by a subcommittee of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee, is based on models offered by the Legislature's Education Committee and Gov. John Baldacci…It is a middle ground between the two proposals. Subcommittee recommendations call for school officials to decide which systems would merge, although the Department of Education will provide models.”
Is school administration reform taking shape?
"My road in life has been paved with ironic bumps; I'm straddling another one now.
It's Baldacci's fault. The governor has served up plates of spaghetti and meatballs in a family enterprise, but his governing has me verging on eating crow.
I've been critical of Baldacci's record for government by spending, but his plan for tax relief through school consolidation is winning me over. How far has this "straddle" spread my stride? I'm half way to the Manchester Town Office to change my party enrollment.
The Kennebec Journal's editorial "Dirigo" (March 13) says it best for me: "The state of Maine has a new governor." The piece claims the governor is "taking folks to the woodshed," in his effort to "cut school administration in order to cut taxes, return money to taxpayers and free up resources to invest in Maine's economic future." Hats off to the governor. Serve up the crow.
I'm putting up a fight to change my 55 years of Republican ranting for government spending cuts; but I don't hear any of my GOP legislators coming to Baldacci's side. The silence is killing me. Ironic, during my recent six-year stint in the Maine Senate, fellow Republican legislators were "blue in the face" complaining about "the red ink in government."
The governor's school consolidation plan is done well; I want my crow the same way. Is the appropriate wine red or white?"
Certainly, whether we agree or not with these sentiments, it takes courage to take the risks associated with honestly expressing a controversial opinion. His remarks are surely in the category of “daring to say what others only dare to think”; a “profile in courage”.
In a related piece in the Maine Sunday Telegram, on March 18th, “Governments do not give money to other units of government without strings. Ever. If local officials thought they could get the state to give them more money without wanting more control, then they're about to get a very difficult lesson in political science.”
And, as reported in a Lewiston Sun-Journal article, if a state school consolidation plan is adopted, it will mandate that most school systems with less than 2,500 students merge with neighboring systems….“The plan, developed by a subcommittee of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee, is based on models offered by the Legislature's Education Committee and Gov. John Baldacci…It is a middle ground between the two proposals. Subcommittee recommendations call for school officials to decide which systems would merge, although the Department of Education will provide models.”
Is school administration reform taking shape?
posted by Art | 4/05/2007 09:21:00 AM
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