AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine will get $39.1 million in federal aid to help local schools under the new state aid bill approved by Congress this week, but Gov. John Baldacci must decide between two methods of distributing that cash. That means some schools will get more, others less, depending on the governor’s decision.
“There are two options; one is the EPS [Essential Programs and Services] formula or the other option is to use the way we distribute Title I [federal grant] money,” Acting Education Commissioner Angela Faherty told members of the Education Committee on Wednesday. Members of the panel were surprised that there are two options.
“I am glad I asked the question,” said Sen. Carol Weston, R-Waldo, the GOP senator on the panel. She, like other members of the panel, assumed the money would be distributed through the school funding formula, also called the EPS formula.
Faherty said Gov. Baldacci and other governors will have a conference call with federal education department officials in a few days to discuss the options and the very tight time frame for deciding which method to use.
“The president signed [the bill] last night [Tuesday] so that the 45 days have begun, as far as from enactment to actually seeing the resources,” she said.
Faherty said the federal DOE is still developing its “guidance” for the states, and she plans to meet with the governor to discuss the options as soon as the feds complete their process.
Weston said the publicly announced goal of the extra federal education aid is to keep teachers working and to prevent job layoffs at schools. She questioned Faherty about how distributing the funds through the Title I process, which is weighted to help schools with a high number of students from poor families, would achieve that goal.
“We have to see which formula will give us the greatest outcomes,” she said.
Faherty said the state Department of Education has been contacting some school districts to get information on how the two distribution methods would affect them. She said all of that information will be collated and given to the governor for use in his decision-making process.
She said the department has the system in place to distribute the money and track its use by schools as required by the new law. She said using the existing recovery act tracking and accountability methods will mean the money will get to the schools swiftly, once a distribution vehicle is chosen.
“Whenever you are talking about the distribution of money, there will always be winners and losers,” Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said. “I think the EPS formula tries to take a lot of the politics out of how we distribute the money.”
He said no matter which method the governor chooses, there will be lawmakers who are upset with his choice. He said every year when the funding formula printout is released, there are lawmakers who are upset about the results.
“Let’s remember, this is $39 million that was not expected, and it will help keep teachers working,” Alfond said. “I think there will be many, many teachers still in the classroom because of this.”
Rep. Peter Johnson, R-Greenville, agreed there will be winners and losers. He prefers distributing the aid through the federal Title I process because of the high number of poor kids in his school district.
“Title I money is to help disadvantaged kids, so it really shows up,” he said. “But under the state funding formula, it does not show up because we are all minimum receiving towns.”
Johnson said it is not a rural-urban split that will determine winners and losers. He said there are plenty of rural towns that would benefit more under the school funding formula because they are high receivers under that formula. His towns are minimum receivers because they all have a lake or pond and their property values are relatively high.
Alfond and Johnson agreed that they wished the Legislature could make the decision, not the governor.
“But we are not in [session] so we can’t,” Alfond said. “I think this committee wishes we could.”
Faherty said she expects the governor will decide next week which method to use.