‘A cry for help’ from Maine communities should prompt rethinking of school funding

By BDN Editorial Board

Recent headlines in the Bangor Daily News have chronicled the growing difficulties in passing school budgets. Voters in Searsport and Stockton Springs, for example, just rejected a third attempt at a budget for the schools in RSU 20. Meanwhile, voters in SAD 4 in Piscataquis County rejected a second proposed budget, as did voters in Aroostook County’s RSU 39. Voters in the Caribou-based district had never before turned down a school budget; this year they’ve done it twice.

The districts are among at least 16 where budgets were rejected by voters. That’s a big increase from last year when voters shot down five budgets, according to an analysis by the BDN. In many of the communities, there were significant spending increases in the budgets, which necessitated increases in taxes.

“I don’t think it’s a referendum on support of the schools, necessarily,” Maine School Management Association Executive Director Eric Waddell told the BDN. “I think it’s a cry for help in communities like those … they’re saying this is not sustainable, the cost of education is not sustainable.”

This year’s big increase in budget rejections should prompt serious reconsideration of how schools are funded in Maine.

A recent report from the Maine Education Policy Research Institute highlights the need to revamp Maine’s school funding formula, the complex method used to distribute state dollars to school districts. Under a referendum passed in 2004, the state is supposed to cover 55 percent of K-12 education costs. Depending on what is included in the calculation, the state is meeting the 55 percent requirement. That, however, leaves 45 percent to be covered by local taxpayers. 

The funding formula is heavily reliant on property values to determine a community’s ability to pay for its schools. In addition, communities rely heavily on property taxes to cover school budgets, often the largest expense for many locales.

The state ranks first in property taxes as percentage of personal income, third for reliance on property taxes as a source of state and local revenue, and seventh in per-capita property taxes, according to the study.

Property values, however, don’t necessarily correlate with the incomes of residents. In many coastal communities, for example, property values are higher than the state average but incomes are not. If incomes were factored into the formula these communities would likely receive more state funding for education.

There have been attempts for decades to change the formula to include a measure of income. However, when some lawmakers see that their districts will receive less state funding, support for changing the formula often evaporates.

A deeper analysis of better ways to assess a community’s capacity to pay for its schools, and to ease the burden on low-income taxpayers, is needed to ensure that Maine’s formula is more equitable.

State lawmakers also need to consider ways to raise additional funds for schools, to alleviate some of the burden of property taxes.

In 2016, Maine voters approved a 3 percent surcharge on incomes over $200,000 a year, with the money going toward K-12 education. Despite the passage of Question 2, lawmakers never enacted the surcharge. After a Republican-led shutdown of state government in the summer of 2017, lawmakers instead passed a $162 million increase in school funding — half of what the surcharge would have generated.

Other states and cities use targeted taxes, such as levies on second homes and marijuana sales, or a portion of an increased lodging tax, to help fund their schools. Tax increases are of course controversial, but with growing evidence that local taxpayers are chafing at rising property taxes to pay for schools, Maine needs to consider many options.

At the same time, rising school spending needs scrutiny. Overall, the number of students in Maine schools has plummeted, yet costs have risen. Many education costs, such as the need for teachers and bus drivers, are static no matter how students there are.

However, as enrollment continues to shrink in some communities, consolidation needs to again be part of the conversation. After strong pushback to school consolidation efforts in 2007, this is a touchy subject. But it is clear that sports rivalries from decades ago or a strong desire for local control can no longer be used to stand in the way of consideration of combined schools or regional services, which may improve educational opportunities in addition to saving money. Some districts are already doing these things, but this year’s budget woes show that these efforts need to be more widespread and more comprehensive.

There is no easy answer to easing property tax burdens while adequately and equitably funding our schools. But this year’s taxpayer rejection of school budgets is a wakeup call to the urgent need to reconsider education funding in Maine.