By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine Gov. Paul LePage proposed two new education reform bills this week that have the state’s teachers union in a tizzy.

The legislation aims to expand school choice by lifting a cap on the number of charter schools in the state, granting power to the state’s universities to authorize charters, and providing economically disadvantaged families opportunities to send their children to private schools.

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A second bill would require the state’s colleges to bill local high schools for remedial classes taken by former students, and to pass the savings along to the students, the Bangor Daily News reports.

“This is proof the governor will go to great lengths to cause even more harm to our schools,” Maine Education Association President Lois Kilby-Chesley told the news site.

What Kilby-Chesley doesn’t seem to understand is the reforms aren’t about schools, or funding, or a political grudge match. They’re about helping Maine’s students receive the education they deserve. They’re about providing families with choices in education that they couldn’t otherwise afford.

Currently, the Maine Public Charter School Commission is the sole authorizer for charter schools in the state, and can only approve 10 schools within 10 years. LD 1529 would allow colleges and universities to approve charters and would remove the 10 school limit.

The bill also “includes provisions to help economically disadvantaged students gain greater school choice by providing tuition and transportation to public and private schools, as well as room and board at charter schools,” the Daily News reports.

Kilby-Chesley told the news site parents already have school choice because they can transfer to different public schools, if both superintendents agree.

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“It’s not about whether parents have choices,” she told the Daily News. “It’s about who pays for their choices.”

Sorry, but there isn’t much choice to be had there.  Government schools are part of the same dysfunctional system. Transferring between them would be akin to giving someone the choice between two different Walmarts. One might be nicer than the other, but they’re essentially the same thing.

It seems obvious, though, that the union president is mostly concerned about “who pays for their choices,” and whether the money might come out of public school coffers.

That’s probably the same reason the union hates LD 1524, a second proposal to pass the cost of remedial college classes on to students’ home public school district.

“LePage’s bill would require the Department of Education to reduce each school district’s subsidy by the cost of the remedial courses and pay those funds to the higher education institution,” the Daily News reports. “Those institutions, in turn, would be required to use those funds to reduce or eliminate the cost of remedial courses for all students.”

Public school administrators and union officials argue that taking money away from districts that graduate lackluster students will only make their problems worse. The sour attitude is based on the premise that student achievement is tied to state funding, which it’s not.

It’s about accountability, and holding public schools responsible for their mission of educating students. If those students require remedial courses, the least their former schools can do is cover the cost. But again, for many involved in Maine’s public school system, revenue is the most important factor, not student learning.

“To shift these costs to the high schools from which a student graduates is not the solution,” Kilby-Chesley told the Daily News. “Raising the standards for admission to assure that those entering will be successful seems to be a better solution.”

The problem is that the public schools don’t prepare these kids for college work. That’s the fault of the schools, not the students.