Sound Familiar?

Maine Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rosa Scarcelli has been vocal in her opposition of shut down days. Through her Twitter account Scarcelli has expressed a strong opposition to the idea. “Could there be a worse idea,” Scarcelli said. Dirigo Blue published an email from Scarcelli which argued against shut down days.

For a state that already has one of the shortest school years in the country, there has to be a better solution. That we’re even considering a plan to balance the state budget on the backs of school children and their parents with one-time, quick fixes like school shutdown days clearly shows how bad our state’s budget problems have become. And it shows why we need a change of direction in Augusta.
Consider the ramifications. Parents will have to take time off from work or find childcare for their children. Low-income families that rely on the school lunch program will pay more to make sure their children get enough to eat. The interruption in classes will be difficult for teachers too, who are already hard-pressed to find the time to comply with state and federal mandates.

We can’t rely on a band-aid approach. We need strong financial management and more creative, bold thinking. Have we truly looked at all the options? School officials say shutting down the schools for a few days a year will save on heat and electricity costs. Maybe local school districts should consider more vacation time in the winter when heating costs are high and extending the school year into the summer.

I guess we are not the only warped-minded State. In Augusta, Maine, the government tried to do the same thing. Stephen Bowen of the Maine Heritage Policy Center believes that shut down days are a terrible way to balance the education budget. Bowen offers several alternatives that should be considered. School consolidation, which the state has fumbled badly, was an opportunity to “generate real savings by cutting down on over-administration and duplication of services. The approach I proposed, which was to create regional “service districts” that handled back-office operations, facility maintenance, transportation and so forth for a number of districts, would have saved millions without completely restructuring the entire system by which our school districts are organized and run.”

I think it is time we call for a performance audit on the Department of Education. They have had their chance to improve education for our kids. I think it may be time to move to local school districts. Local control of our schools appears to be the answer. The current system, where the State controls our educational system, simply does not work. Local school districts with their respective school boards would bring local control to our schools. Local accountability and local answers. I'm sure many will disagree but the current system is not working. It's time for a change. It's time for our kids to become the priority once again.