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Maine
Key Vote
Education Reform and School Consolidation
Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to adopt an amendment that reestablishes the penalty for schools that choose not to participate in Part XXXX and also consolidates school units into 80 regional units.
Official Title of Legislation:
Amendment H-T to Amendment C-A to LD 499
Official Synopsis:
This amendment strikes out duplicate language that is properly found on page 370, lines 11 to 14 in the committee amendment.
This amendment inserts the General Fund appropriation for the Maine Historical Society that was inadvertently omitted from the committee amendment.
This amendment also corrects language covering a reduction of allotments.
This amendment corrects a reference to the building in the Lockwood Mill Historic District in the City of Waterville for which a taxpayer is entitled to a historic rehabilitation tax credit. It also changes the tax years for which the credit is allowed.
This amendment makes the following changes to Part XXXX:
1. It amends the language authorizing regional school unit boards to create local school committees by removing unneeded language.
2. It clarifies that cost-sharing agreements pursuant to certain laws remain in effect unless the parties to the agreement modify or terminate the agreement.
3. It clarifies that a municipality that is part of a regional school unit may raise money and direct the spending of those funds to a school serving children from kindergarten to grade 8.
4. It amends the penalty provisions for nonconforming school administrative units by:
A. Providing a 50% reduction in the minimum state allocation, rather than the full amount;
B. Adjusting the cost component for system administration by half, rather than to zero;
C. Removing the ineligibility for the isolated small school adjustment; and
D. Removing the percentage increase of the unit's mill rate.
5. It adjusts the full-value education mill rate for nonconforming school administrative units.
6. It clarifies the intent of the Legislature to achieve sustainable, long-term administrative efficiencies by consolidating the current number of school units into 80 regional units or into a number of units that meets the administrative efficiencies established by Part XXXX.
7. It adds language that allows for an efficient, high-performing district to submit a notice of intent to submit an alternate plan.
8. It adds a requirement that school administrative units must exercise due diligence and act in good faith in developing a reorganization plan.
9. It allows an exception to the minimum student population parameter for a school administrative unit that has performed due diligence to develop a regional plan but is surrounded by other units that are included in other consolidation plans.
10. It removes the percentage reductions under the plan parameters and instead requires reorganizing administrative functions, duties and noninstructional personnel so that projected expenditures will not have an adverse impact on the instructional program.
11. It requires written findings by the Commissioner of Education providing specific reasons why a plan does not meet with the requirements of Part XXXX if the plan is returned to the governing body of the affected school administrative units.
12. It prohibits the Commissioner of Education from making a finding that a plan does not meet the requirements of Part XXXX solely on the ground that a finding that it meets the requirements would cause the number of school administrative units to exceed 80.
13. It also amends the referendum procedure to provide for a 2nd referendum date of June 10, 2008 for plans that did not meet the requirements of Part XXXX.
14. It adds a provision requiring the Commissioner of Education to establish criteria for high-performing and low-performing districts.
This amendment enacts a Part YYYY that adjusts the appropriation made in Part A relating to the Maine Community College System and makes an appropriation and an allocation to the Department of Health and Human Services that were inadvertently omitted from the committee amendment.
Full Text of Legislation (PDF Document)
House Amendment Vote: 06/06/2007 : Amendment Adopted 114 - 27 (Roll no. 114) Senate Amendment Vote: 06/06/2007 : Amendment Adopted 28 - 7 (Roll no. 119)
Sponsor: Rep. Fischer, Jeremy (out of office)
PVS provides summaries for each version of the bill selected as a key vote. The summary does not necessarily reflect the final version of the bill. For further status information, call the Voter's Research Hotline at 1-888-VOTE-SMART (1-888-868-3762).
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