piper1 of Strafford, NH NHNOW-I would also give the edge to NH but the article was dealing with the differences in SAU's. The growth of SAU"s in NH is fairly recent and whether that will improve things remains to be seen. A superindendant can make over 100k when many NH teachers are still way underpaid depending on the area of the state. That 100k would go a long in a school system north of the notches for example. The question is- do the number of SAU's have a measurable advantage in education or are they just more government waste. I think that differences in the standardized scores has a lot more to do with cultural factors than the school systems. Maine teachers and Maine kids are just as smart as in NH but there is a huge difference in many other determining opportunities, tax structure being just one.report abuse

nhnow of Dover, NH Having lived in both ME and NH and had kids attending both systems, I can say that my experience favors NH. The schools and their administrations are much closer to the students and parents and local control really works.
With regard to funding, NH schools get what they need to operate efficiently. Needless to say, ME has one of the most burdensome overall tax systems in the nation and NH has among the lowest. And, by the way, check the standardized test score of students in both states if you really want to see the results.report abuse

piper1 of Strafford, NH I disagree that this is a pointless article. I think it shows that at least in Maine there is an attempt to get the tax money more directly to the schools where it can be used for education and not at the admin. level. In this instance Maine is doing a better job. The salaries and waste at the SAU's in NH is out of control. You can hire 3 teachers for the cost of 1 admin. and his/her secretary. We should be following Maine's example. Just like in Maine- a lot of people show up at town mtg. to vote on the little budgets but few people take the time to show up at the School budget mtgs. I do not believe that having more SAU's provides the kids in NH with a better education than the kid's in Maine. It's all about parental involvement and the quality of the teachers.report abuse

JOHN DOE of WINTHROP, ME It may not be greener but maybe we could learn a little and profit from their mistakes! Should we be so smug to think our system that has not even been tested works any better,Ill use the old addage DONT CUT YOUR NOSE OFF TO SPITE YOURSELF!!!!report abuse