LePage Education Budget Rejected by Democratic Lawmakers

AUGUSTA—Senate Democratic lawmakers released the following comments after the state’s education committee rejected key initiatives of Governor Paul LePage’s $6.3 billion budget, which included a $39 million reduction in school funding over the next two years.

“Education is not a partisan issue; we all agree that it is a priority for our state. Investing in students isn’t a partisan issue; we all agree that we need to put students first,” said Senator Rebecca Millett (D-Cape Elizabeth) who serves as the co-chair for the committee. “As lawmakers we must fund our classrooms, support our teachers and make sure that students get not only a fair shot but the best shot to succeed. Furthermore, we would be shirking our duty if we fell in line with the governor’s proposal to simply pass the buck on to our town budgets.”

The committee rejected shifting teacher retirement costs to local towns, funding for school vouchers, and a $1 million legal defense fund related to charter schools. The governor’s proposed funding cuts to public schools comes on the heels of a $13 million cut as part of a curtailment for the current fiscal year that ends June 30.

“Now is not the time to shift costs onto local school districts which cannot afford them,” said Senator Chris Johnson (D-Somerville), who also serves on the education committee. “As one of the students before our committee described it, the cuts to education are a compromise to our core purpose. We cannot compromise our values—our students are too important.”

The committee is giving its recommendations on LePage’s two-year budget proposal to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee today.

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