Home Opinion Same service for less money? Take the deal, state

Same service for less money? Take the deal, state

Written by Baker City Herald Editorial Board April 16, 2010 07:19 am

Malheur County’s Education Service District doesn’t want to merge with the Baker County portion of the Union-Baker ESD.

We don’t blame our neighbors to the south for their reluctance.

The proposed merger would have increased property taxes for Malheur County residents.

The Umatilla-Morrow ESD board of directors, however, is still interested in aligning with Union-Baker.

UBESD Superintendent Mike Sowder is amenable to that plan, too.

We don’t much care which direction UBESD officials look as they try to get ahead of a possible state-mandated merger.

What we do care about is making sure the UBESD’s innovative South Consortium survives the transition.

The Consortium, which was formed a few years ago, comprises four school districts: Baker, Pine-Eagle, Burnt River and North Powder.

The districts have proved that they can run special education and several other programs for considerably less money using district employees rather than ESD staff.

The UBESD has during that time merely passed on state and federal dollars to the South Consortium.

To cite one example, the South Consortium operated special education and other programs for the Pine-Eagle District for $46,000 in the last fiscal year — $32,000 less than the ESD spent to do the same job the previous year.

Trouble is, the South Consortium lacks formal state approval.

Last year the deputy superintendent of the Oregon Department of Education, in a letter to superintendents of the South Consortium districts, wrote that the state agency has no authority to allow such consortiums.

The Legislature, which does have the authority, has instead considered a bill that would mandate ESDs to consolidate.

In some cases, consolidation might save money without sacrificing the quality of services supplied to students.

But in the case of the UBESD, the evidence shows that the best, and least expensive, option is for the Baker, Pine-Eagle, Burnt River and North Powder districts to continue as a consortium.

The Legislature, which needs all the thrifty programs it can find, has one here. Lawmakers just need to keep it going.

We urge the Legislature to redefine ESD delivery of educational services by what is successful — and economical — now, rather than by outdated statutes.