Facing the issues head-on -- next year

An Education Committee session on Friday devoted to dealing with bills proposing to amend and repeal Maine's school district consolidation law left many questions unanswered. Oddly enough, though, those following Maine's consolidation saga now have more clarity about the next steps.Almost in swift fashion, the lawmakers who consume their time with education policy voted down bills that would delay and eliminate consolidation-related penalties on school districts, a legislator-sponsored repeal of the law and a bill exempting some regions from the mandate. They tabled debate on the citizen-initiated repeal measure that the Legislature as a whole is likely to refer to the voters. The message? If a repeal of the law is unsuccessful, the consolidation law stays on the books. If it stays on the books, it will continue to be a subject of constant debate in the Legislature. With more debate inevitable in that case (after all, committee members voted to keep the amendment proposals on reserve), wait until next January when the outcome of the repeal vote is clear.