The schools were quiet last week, with a skeletal crew on hand to answer the telephones and perform the never-ending tasks related to payroll and school finance. There were some signs of activity, as the winter sports season picks up steam, with most of our athletes participating in practices and holiday tournaments throughout the break. Custodial and maintenance crews completed as much work as possible while the buildings were uninhabited, and administrators used the time to complete special projects without the myriad disruptions of a typical school day.
The most significant project is the development of next year’s proposed school budget. Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) will be yet another challenging one for the citizens of Maine. Governor Baldacci has submitted his budget to the legislature, which reduces public school funding from the state by close to $80M over this year and next. For RSU 21, this means a reduction of between $2.5M and $3M for FY 11 – out of approximately $7M we typically receive from the state. Our challenge, as always, will be to develop a budget which meets the needs of our students without placing unrealistic expectations on the taxpayers in the district. Public education is one of the basic freedoms we enjoy in the United States – and it is one of the principles on which our country was founded. Now, amid fears that our students are falling behind those of other developed nations, we struggle to prioritize the value of the education with the financial challenges that face the majority of Americans on a monthly basis.
We believe we have one of the finest K-12 school systems in Maine, but is that enough? It is time to stop comparing ourselves with neighboring districts and to look beyond the borders of our own county, state, and nation. Our goal should be to provide our students with a world-class education, one which provides each student with the opportunities to develop skills and knowledge that will allow him or her to attain success in our global society. Our students will not be competing for admission to college or future employment with students from neighboring communities alone; they will be competing with students from India, China, and Singapore as well. We can no longer be content to say that our students perform better on standardized tests than most other Maine students; we must go beyond analyzing test scores to measure the effectiveness of our schools.
While students in other nations leave school speaking multiple languages, we have neglected our students’ language development. Math and Science should be emphasized from kindergarten, with significant portions of each day spent learning how to apply the principles of each to real world problems. These are just two areas in which we should make investments of time and structure that will benefit all students. We can provide a world-class education right here in RSU 21. In many ways, we already do. By defining what it is we want for our students and strategizing a path for getting there, we will move toward that goal in all areas. And you can help – by attending our Public Forum to develop a Strategic Plan, being held on Monday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Middle School of the Kennebunks. Please come and invest two hours of your time to help us define that vision. Bring a friend or another family member – we would love to see a cafeteria full of people and ideas; the “collective genius” is always better than the thinking of a small number of individuals. I hope to see you there.
