Douglas Rooks’ recent column on school construction finance (“Time for a much bigger vision for Maine’s public schools,” Dec. 4) made an unsupported assumption. He said that improving finance for new construction would improve outcomes and reduce costs. While new construction might be more cost-effective, it has no demonstrated relationship to outcomes. In general, history does not suggest that the greater the investment in education the better the outcomes.

The cost of public education has been going up very steadily for many years now. Yet, the percentage of students meeting minimum standards has remained static or has decreased. Less than half of Maine’s students meet math standards and only about 33% meet reading standards.

We’ve had numerous efforts to improve outcomes, most on the backs of teachers. Any new set of standards has only increased administrative demands on teachers while resulting in no impact on outcomes.

A new building is not a cure for failing to adequately study the problem. A comprehensive analysis must study the problem from several angles. For example, what relationship do health issues have on learning? How should communities reorder themselves to better support outcomes? How do we assess teacher performance and how do we best improve teacher performance?

Outcomes tell us we have a crisis. Parents tell us there is a problem by the increasing number who choose home schooling or private schools. What must happen before we wake up and take real action?

Dean Crocker
Estero, Fla.