Leave it to think tanks to do the government’s job

We at Sunshine Review are strong believers in affirmative disclosure. What does that mean? It means that for the same reasons nutritional facts need to be on cereal boxes, we want to know what’s going on inside the government.

Unfortunately, not many government websites are up to speed on our wants and needs. So thinks tanks like the Maine Heritage Policy Center are filling in the gaps. Today they launched a website called GreatSchoolsForME.org. The site gives you data on state and local education spending data broken down into eleven cost centers (in dollars and by percent), tools to compare districts to each other and to statewide averages, school performance data, parent reviews, and up-to-date information on education reform ideas like school choice and charter schools.

“This is the first Web site of its kind in Maine,” said Stephen Bowen, director of the Center for Education Excellence. “With just a few clicks, students, parents and taxpayers can compare instructional versus non-instructional spending in their local school district, find out whether their district exceeds the state’s Essential Services and Programs spending benchmark, see how much education funding their district receives from the state, and track how well their local schools are performing. We hope Maine people will use the information available on GreatSchoolsForME.org to become more active in local and statewide conversations about school spending and student outcomes.”