Legislation that would amend the school consolidation law to allow for the formation of "super unions" had seesawed back and forth between victory and defeat in the Maine House of Representatives and Senate, before finally being approved by the legislature and then vetoed by Governor John Baldacci on April 7. Soon afterward, the Senate failed to override the veto, with 23 senators voting to sustain the veto and only 12 voting to override.

Earlier, the Senate had voted 21-14 for the bill, LD 1932, and the switch in votes was surprising to legislators. Senator Kevin Raye of Perry, who was one of the 12 who voted to override the governor's veto, says that some senators stated that they changed their vote because the action "will give new impetus to the drive to repeal a flawed law." Raye, though, believes that rationale is a risky strategy.

Legislative efforts to amend or repeal the school consolidation law are not dead, though, points out Raye. On Wednesday night, April 9, the House voted 73 to 59 to repeal the consolidation law, and the Senate was expected to vote on April 10. Raye says many House members were eager to vote for repeal and were also upset about the governor's veto. In addition, Senator Richard Rosen of Bucksport intended to file an amendment to have the school consolidation process optional for school districts. Instead of the state imposing a financial penalty on districts that don't participate, incentives would be offered for those that do consolidate. "It may be a distinction without a difference," says Raye, who is not yet convinced that the proposal is a good approach.

Also, Baldacci, after vetoing LD 1932, submitted legislation that includes the non-controversial elements of the bill. The legislation would allow school units to negotiate local cost-sharing agreements, would allow districts that receive the minimum special education subsidy to continue to do so when they join a new school district and would remove the two-mill requirement.

However, if no significant changes are made in the school consolidation law that was passed last year, Raye is "very pessimistic" about what the regionalization process "portends for Washington County and other rural parts of Maine."

Noting that one district would cover an area stretching from Dennysville to Vanceboro, he states, "The law is not designed to be workable in sparsely populated, rural areas." Among the problems that reorganization planning committees are encountering as they plan for the new regional school units is the issue of pay scale for teachers and other staff in the new districts. "What does that mean for property taxes in towns that have to increase to the level that Baileyville and Calais can afford?" Raye asks. He's heard an estimate that it would cost $600,000 a year to bring all of the teachers in the new district for the area covering School Unions 104, 106 and 107 up to scale. The state's regionalization plan, then, would not end up saving any money.

In vetoing LD 1932, Baldacci stated, "In its current form, LD 1932 would undermine the effectiveness of the education reforms that passed the legislature last year with broad bipartisan support. Specifically, the bill would allow for the formation of 'super unions,' which would encourage more bureaucracy and allow for the expansion of an inefficient means of school governance. Maine would likely end up with more school districts, not fewer. Further, the bill would decrease the transparency of the budget validation process and increase confusion, making it more difficult for voters to get a complete picture of how their tax dollars are being spent on education."

Along with allowing for the formation of school unions, the bill would have restored the ability of towns to withdraw from a school unit and of school districts to dissolve themselves and would have recognized that some rural areas may not be able to achieve the 1200-student minimum.