Maine Moving Ahead on School Consolidation Plan

Law Aims to Slash Number of Districts; Savings Seen

Officials in Maine are about to embark upon a dramatic shake-up of the state’s system of public schools after lawmakers earlier this month gave final approval to a plan to slash the education bureaucracy, an initiative first proposed by Gov. John E. Baldacci in January.

The new state law calls for Maine to shrink from 290 school districts to about 80 through mergers and consolidations—a move that state officials project to save tens of millions of dollars each year in administrative costs. There are roughly 195,000 students enrolled in Maine’s public schools.

Currently, Maine has 152 superintendents, many of whose districts are part of a “union” of neighboring districts that share leadership and central-office administration. Gov. Baldacci, a Democrat, has said the money saved on administrator salaries would be redirected to classrooms. ( "Maine Governor Seeks Sweeping Consolidation of Districts," ...