Act 46 of 2015, the school consolidation law, is a mistake.
Brought into being first by legislators responsible for school funding who perceived constituent discontent with school financing, it does little or nothing to solve funding problems which will, shortly, be headlines again, as they have always been.
Later these legislators were joined by advocates for better public education who falsely believe they have helped design a mechanism for more opportunity for students that will actually offer little of this and do what little it does mostly for already more advantaged students.
Between these two groups they have made what we have, as law.
Like these legislators I wish we had made a law that did help our financing of public education. Like those who wish more opportunity I wish we had made a law that would improve our educational system.
We haven’t done either.
In an effort to keep this short and to the point I will follow this note with two further explanatory notes on the subject of this well intentioned bad law. One will deal with the side effects of changing our government as this law does, not just with schools but also, apparently unthinkingly, with all our civic decision making. A second will discuss what I think we should have done to achieve what we wish, in terms of funding and of opportunity.
It’s my belief that votes against consolidating school districts at this time will help our society a good deal more than votes in favor of this.
Robert Bernstein
Bristol