Representative Victor Moffitt (R-Coventry) is shaping up as one of the bolder legislative voices in responding to the budget crisis.
Following on the heels of his recent proposal to lower the sales tax, the rep just called for Rhode Island's schools to be divided into four districts:
The rationale behind consolidating the current 36 school districts into 4 school regions is the potential for significant savings in the areas of administration and purchasing.
“For a small state like ours, that is suffering through such difficult financial times, to stand pat and accept the status quo is a mistake,” said Rep. Moffitt. “There is no need for our taxpayers to be paying for 36 separate school administrations, when they could be consolidated into four. Not only would such a reorganization result in considerable savings in personnel costs, the purchasing power of the newly created four school regions would be far greater than that of the current individual school districts.”
This legislation calls for the immediate creation of the four school regions; North, South, East, and West. The composition of each region is such that each has a relative balance considering the number of students, the ratio of towns and cities, and total tax levies.
Regionalization seems to remain the third-rail of Rhode Island politics. I recall that Buddy Cianci talked up the concept in the time before the start of his federal prison sentence.
Would it save money?
It would seem that there has to be a more efficient way of doing things, although Robert Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association Rhode Island, speaking yesterday on ABC6 On the Record with Jim Hummel, said the savings of regionalization are less than some would suspect.
Bottom line: the state needs a better way of doing things.