Gov. Paul LePage says he will use his next budget to push for fewer school superintendents.
“We’re spending the money on the administration of our schools and not in the classroom,” he says, speaking on WVOM Radio Tuesday.
LePage says far more populous states get by with far fewer administrators.
“The state of Florida, who ranks No. 7 in the best education system in America, has 3 million kids with 64 superintendents,” he says.
The Legislature passed a law in 2008 designed to force consolidation of school districts. It did create some new, larger districts, but fewer than intended. And some communities have split from consolidated districts.
LePage also told hosts Rick Tyler and George Hale the state’s desire for local schools has driven class sizes to unnecessarily low levels. He says when he was mayor of Waterville, the city and neighboring Winslow insisted on keeping separate French classes that had four and five students, rather than combining to have a class with nine students.
