An Act To Reform Public Education by Encouraging Regional Approaches No. 464 February 1, 2007
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0464
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: MITCHELL, CROCKETT, DOW, EDMONDS, MILLS, ROSEN, STRIMLING, CUMMINGS, NORTON, STRANG BURGESS

Legislative Document 
S.P. 151 
An Act To Reform Public Education by Encouraging Regional 
Approaches 
No. 464 
February 1, 2007 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Senator MITCHELL of Kennebec. 
Cosponsored by Representative CROCKETT of Augusta and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Senators: DOW of Lincoln, President EDMONDS of Cumberland, MILLS of Somerset, 
ROSEN of Hancock, STRIMLING of Cumberland, Representatives: Speaker CUMMINGS of 
Portland, NORTON of Bangor, STRANG BURGESS of Cumberland. 
Printed llil re(;yckd paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
CONCEPT DRAFT 
SUMMARY 
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. 
This bill proposes to reform public education by implementing recommendations 
included in the report entitled, "A Case for Cooperation: 
Making Connections to 
Improve Education for All Maine Students," published by the Maine Children's Alliance 
in 2006. The bill would amend the education laws in order to encourage new and 
expanded regional approaches to school organization and to facilitate voluntary 
cooperation in the delivery of educational programs and services. Legislation developed 
to reform public education would include, but would not be limited to, the following: 
1. The establishment of school planning alliances in 26 regions of the State based 
upon the existing centers and regions in the career and technical education system 
established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 313. A school planning 
alliance would be authorized to create a plan to increase educational opportunities, 
streamline administration and gain efficiencies for the school administrative units within 
the region. A school planning alliance would: 
A. Be established upon the election in November 2007 of a regional planning board 
composed of 11 members from the school administrative units and municipalities in 
the region. The board would have 9 voting members, 3 school board members, 3 
elected municipal officers and 3 members of the public. The board would have 2 
nonvoting ex officio members, one superintendent and one municipal manager who 
are selected by a caucus within the region of superintendents and municipal 
managers; 
B. 
Be provided with state funding from the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of 
Educational Services established in Title 20-A, section 15754 for technical assistance 
and facilitation services; 
C. 
Be required, within one year, to develop and adopt a plan to meet the 
requirements of the system of learning results established in Title 20-A, chapter 222, 
including the appropriate curriculum, programs and instructional methods to ensure 
that student performance will meet the proficiency standards of the statewide 
assessment program within 3 years; 
D. Be required, within one year, to develop and adopt a plan to ensure that the cost 
components that are not directly related to classroom instruction adhere to the 
adequate funding levels determined in accordance with the Essential Programs and 
Services Funding Act as described in Title 20-A, chapter 606-B within 3 years; 
E. Be required, following review and approval of the plan by the Department of 
Education, to submit the plan to the voters in the region for ratification within 6 
months of the adoption of the plan by the regional planning board; and 
F. Be dissolved within 18 months after it was established 
2. The establishment of a new type of school administrative unit, the regional school 
district, as an option for school administrative units within a school planning alliance as 
described in section 1 to cooperate in creating a more effective and cost-efficient school 
system. The regional school district would: 
A. 
Be governed by a school board composed of members representing the 
municipalities within the region in accordance with the principles of one person, one 
vote. School board members would be elected to represent subdistricts established 
within the district or be elected at large by all of the voters in the district; 
B. Be financed by a districtwide budget to be prepared by the school board and 
approved by the voters of the district. A municipality's total cost of education would 
be the district's total cost of education multiplied by the percentage that the 
municipality's pupil count is to the district's pupil count in accordance with Title 20-
A, section 15688; 
C. Be administered by a single superintendent to be selected and hired by the school 
board; 
D. Be authorized to establish a program of public school choice for all elementary 
and secondary schools in the district; and 
E. Be an option for the conversion of existing school administrative districts or 
community school districts; 
3. 
The amendment of state laws and rules for financing the construction and 
renovation of school facilities to establish a regional school construction finance program 
that complements current state finance programs for the construction of new school 
facilities as established by Title 20-A, chapter 609 and for the renovation of existing 
school facilities as established by Title 30-A, section 6006-F. 
The regional school 
construction finance program would: 
A. Be funded by authorizing state funding from the Fund for the Efficient Delivery 
of Educational Services established in Title 20-A, section 15754 and by recapitalizing 
the school revolving renovation fund with General Fund appropriations or the 
proceeds of bonds issued by the State; 
< 
B. Be established with flexible approval provisions that would permit applications 
from joint or multiple school administrative units and from regional school districts 
for public education for any combination of kindergarten to grade 12; and 
C. Be required to meet State Board of Education rules for minimum levels for pupil 
enrollment, adequate curriculum to meet the requirements of the system of learning 
results, significant cost efficiency as compared to existing schools in the region, 
appropriate school siting, appropriate use of new technology and energy efficiency; 
4. The authorization for regional cooperative organizations to be eligible for state 
funding from the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Educational Services established in 
Title 20-A, section 15754 for the provision of support services, classroom instruction 
when needed to provide an adequate curricular program and enrichment programs. A 
regional cooperative organization would be eligible for state funding if the regional 
cooperative organization: 
A. Employs an executive director and is a private, nonprofit corporation with a 
public purpose under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3); 
B. Serves one or more school administrative units that enroll at least 3,000 pupils or 
at least 5,000 pupils in the 8 most populous counties in the State; and 
C. Provides direct services to the member school administrative units in one or more 
of the following support service or instructional areas: transportation, food service, 
special education, maintenance and plant management, collective bargaining, 
accounting and payroll, legal services, communications, advanced placement courses 
and foreign language courses; 
5. The creation of a model statewide school calendar that would be adopted at the 
local level and coordinated at the regional level; 
6. 
The requirement that all school administrative districts and regional school 
districts be named. 
Existing numbers for school administrative districts should be 
replaced with names identifying the districts; 
7. The authorization for the Department of Education to adopt or amend rules to 
establish educational standards for the approval of a school administrative unit that 
petitions to become a member of, or to withdraw from, a school district; and 
8. 
The restoration of full funding for the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of 
Educational Services at an amount equivalent to 2% of the total amount appropriated for 
the General Purpose Aid for Local Schools program during the 2008-2009 biennium. 
These funds would be available to: 
A. Provide technical assistance and facilitation to regional planning alliances; 
B. Provide support for eligible regional cooperative organizations; 
C. Capitalize the regional school construction finance program; and 
D. Award grants for innovative programs through a competitive request-for-proposal 
process to enhance the curriculum and expand career and technical education 
programs, to secure the technology to offer specialized courses throughout the State 
and to provide regional continuing education programs for teachers and 
administrators.