AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Education Committee on Thursday torpedoed a controversial proposal by Gov. Paul LePage that would have diverted public education money to private and religious schools.
The committee voted 10-2 to oppose LD 1866 because of concerns over the constitutionality of the proposal and the impact it may have on public school districts.
The panel also voted along party lines to approve a significantly amended version of LD 1854, a bill that would have expanded school choice. Opponents of the legislation said the proposal was a cloaked voucher bill that would have drained resources and students from rural districts.
While Republicans generally supported the choice bill, lawmakers on the Education Committee were concerned that they didn’t have enough time in the legislative session to retool a bill that represented a significant policy change.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn in mid-April.
Instead, lawmakers on the panel voted unanimously to draft a resolve that would direct the Department of Education to form a stakeholder group. The group would draft new choice policies that will be considered, but not necessarily adopted, by the Legislature next year.
What the Legislature does with those recommendations will depend largely on what happens during the November election and if the current Republican majority can retain power.
It remains to be seen how LePage will react to the vote on the choice bill. The governor earlier this week went to Jamaica for a vacation.
Education Commissioner Steve Bowen acknowledged there were issues in the bill. However, he said he was confident they could have been resolved before the end of the session.
“We wish they’d moved on it (the bill) this year,” Bowen said in a statement. “Maine families are looking for freedom to make the best choices for their kids. Still, I’m encouraged that the committee members recognize the need for us to take action to give all Maine families the same choices that some already have.”
Lawmakers on the committee said too much work needed to be done on the choice bill. Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said the proposal was “not ready for prime time.”
Lawmakers primarily worried how the choice proposal would impact their school districts and whether poor families would be able to afford transportation to schools outside their district.
The panel had little appetite for diverting public funding to religious or private schools. Lawmakers resoundingly defeated similar proposals last year. Some recently questioned why LePage thought the bill would receive approval this year.
The bill would have stripped a 1981-adopted prohibition against public funding for religious school students.
Opponents said the bill violated the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. Supporters say diverting public funds is constitutional as long as the government doesn’t favor religious schools over public schools, or one faith over another.
In a recently released opinion, Attorney General William Schneider wrote that he didn’t believe the bill raised any constitutional issues.
Susan Campbell, with the Maine School Board Association, said the religious funding debate had been settled long ago.
“Reopening this debate serves little purpose but to divert our attention from the problem of insufficient funding for public schools,” Campbell said last week.
The committee action Thursday may be viewed as a blow to LePage’s education package. However, two of the governor’s bills received strong endorsements from the committee.
A bill that would equip school districts with new ways to evaluate and fire teachers received unanimous endorsement after being significantly modified. It remains to be seen how the bill will be funded or if two-thirds of the Legislature will enact it. The two-thirds threshold is required because the bill requires a municipal mandate.
On Monday, the committee voted 12-1 in favor of a bill to enhance career and technical education opportunities for students.
smistler@sunjournal.com
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