TOWN STANDS UP AGAINST SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION

BILL KAUFFMAN, writing in Chronicles, argued once that one of the most deleterious changes in public education has been the increase in school -- rather than class -- size. Kauffman noted that this was intentional, led by people such as Harvard President James Conant who produced a serious of postwar reports calling for the "elimination of the small high school" in order to compete with the Soviets and deal with the nuclear era. Said Kauffman, "Conant the barbarian triumphed: the number of school districts plummeted from 83,718 in 1950 to 17,995 in 1970."

The trend hasn't stopped and - in a move boosted by the faux experts at Brookings and the smart growth crowd - Maine is the midst of a masochistic school district consolidation. One town has managed to op out - perhaps only temporarily. Note the reason: they got a pass because they're one of the better school districts. In other words, instead of modeling other districts on Yarmuth's, the state is proceeding with a corporate style consolidation that hasn't worked in the fifty years it's been tried throughout the country.

TESS NACELEWICZ, PORTLAND PRESS HERALD - Yarmouth has been the belle of the ball among Portland's northern suburbs, with communities ranging from Falmouth to Pownal courting the high-performing school district as a partner under Maine's new school consolidation law.

Now it appears that Yarmouth will choose to remain independent rather than merge with other school districts. Residents at a community forum on Monday indicated strongly that they prefer Yarmouth go it alone. About 400 residents attended the forum to discuss the town's options under the new law, which is designed to reduce Maine's 290 school districts to about 80.

In both straw and paper balloting, nearly 100 percent of those attending the meeting showed support for Yarmouth remaining separate, school officials said.. . .

Because Yarmouth fits into a category of school districts considered high performing and essential, it would be exempt from the financial penalties that the state will impose on districts that don't consolidate. It's unclear how many years Yarmouth will be allowed such an exemption. . .