An effort to make the process of Maine public school students transferring from one district to another more transparent was voted down in the state legislature this past week, stalling a move towards greater school choice.
Some Maine students are granted the ability to attend a public school outside of their home district through what is known as a Superintendent Agreement.
Under current state law, however, students may be denied such a transfer if either of the superintendents involved deems that it is not a child’s “best interest.” All it takes is a thumbs down from either superintendent for the transfer to be blocked.
State law does not specify what actually constitutes a transfer being “in the student’s best interest,” leaving this language almost entirely up to a given superintendent’s discretion.
Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) introduced a bill earlier this year looking to change that, but it was rejected by lawmakers this past week along nearly partisan lines.
[RELATED: Multiple Bills Look to Improve Transparency of Maine’s Public School Choice Program]
LD 607 sought to amend the laws governing this program to return the decision about what is in a children’s best interest to their parents, only allowing superintendents to deny a transfer if adequate space is unavailable.
This bill stipulated that a transfer may only be denied if the receiving school does not physically have the space to accept a new student, or if doing so would require additional staff.
The now-rejected legislation also clarified that parents and guardians would be solely responsible for transporting students to and from school.
Because transfers could only be denied on an objective basis, the existing appeals process would be eliminated.
[RELATED: Two Bills Would Strengthen School Choice for Maine Students through Superintendent Agreements]
During a public hearing held in April, the Maine School Management Association (MSMA) testified in opposition to this proposal, arguing that the bill “does not account for a wide breadth of other factors that schools must consider before approving a
transfer request.”
“Students have pre-existing relationships with teachers, staff and peers. Support services, programming, special education, and other factors differ from one district to the next,” MSMA said. “Superintendents must look at this entire educational picture before deciding if a transfer is truly in a student’s best interest. None of this would be considered if L.D. 607 became law.”
As the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Libby’s testimony introducing this proposal suggested that it was “fundamentally about fairness, flexibility, and putting the wellbeing of students at the center of decision-making.”
“The current system, in which a superintendent has broad discretion to deny student transfers between school districts, too often limits families’ ability to seek the best possible education for their children,” Libby said. “LD 607 addresses this by ensuring that, when it is in the best interest of the student and the receiving school has the capacity to accommodate them, superintendents approve these transfers rather than arbitrarily denying them.”
Members of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee were divided along partisan lines over this bill, with all Republicans supporting it and all Democrats opposing it.
On the floor of the House, a similar split emerged, as only two Republicans broke with their party to oppose this legislation, Rep. Steven M. Bishop (R-Bucksport) and Rep. Nathan M. Carlow (R-Buxton).
The Senate followed suit Monday morning, rejecting LD 607 along strict party lines, as all Democrats opposed the bill and all Republicans supported it.
Consequently, this bill has been placed in the legislative files as dead and will not be considered any further this session.
