While the Department of Education is proposing changes to the school consolidation law to ease the financial pain of consolidating, organizers of a petition to repeal this legislation remain dedicated to their goal. On Monday, the Maine Coalition to Save Schools reaffirmed its commitment to obtain sufficient signatures to place a citizen-initiated petition before the second regular session of the Maine Legislature when it convenes in January. Skip Greenlaw, Coalition Chair, said that if the legislature fails to enact the petition and repeal the recently enacted school consolidation law, the petition would go to a public vote in November 2008. To accomplish their goal, petition organizers must collect 55,000 signatures by January 28.

Greenlaw says that there is widespread opposition to the school consolidation law, because "it is a frontal assault on our way of life in Maine, our culture, and our values. Maine people value our community schools. For years we have read the education literature which tells us that smaller is better, that smaller class size results in better educated students. Now the administration and the legislature want to reverse all the gains we have made in education for our students by consolidating administration and closing schools in the name of cost savings, which in reality will turn into expansive increases in local property taxes."

Locally, Sarah Sherman McGrail, Peter Panagore and Sarah Logan Wilcox are collecting signatures to repeal the consolidation law. McGrail reported on Tuesday that all three would be out and about collecting signatures in the Harbor on Saturday and Sunday during the Harbor Lights celebration. McGrail is collecting signatures from registered voters in Southport, while Panagore covers Boothbay and Wilcox, Boothbay Harbor.

Anyone who is interested in helping to collect signatures, or wants to add their signature to the petition, can contact McGrail at 882-6700, Panagore at 633-4774, or Wilcox at 446-2726. Anyone interested in the statewide repeal effort, may contact Greenlaw at 367-2738 or by e-mail at skipg@hy pernet.com.