Using the report to promote his plan to consolidate the 290 existing school districts in the state to 26, Baldacci said the overspending was “terrible.”

“We must have accountability at all levels of government and school administrative districts must learn to live within their means,” he said. “This is terrible. It’s unacceptable.”

Based on the state’s calculations, school districts statewide are spending $132 million over what the formula prescribes.

The Governor said districts spending over the limit should be returning 90 percent of their new state education aid back to the property taxpayers for tax relief, and he is committed to getting legislation passed to make that happen.

“We’re providing the resources, but then it’s not getting back to the people,” said Baldacci, who is hitting the road this week to pitch his consolidation plan directly to taxpayers.

Locally, an analysis done by the State Planning Office shows Bar Harbor over its EPS budget for this school year by 35 percent; Blue Hill over by 33 percent; Brooklin over by 38 percent; Brooksville over by 41 percent; Bucksport over by 10 percent; Castine over by 45 percent; Cranberry Isles over by 110 percent; Dedham over by 23 percent; Ellsworth over by 5 percent; Franklin under by 1 percent; Hancock over by 9 percent; Lamoine over by 6 percent; Mariaville over by 4 percent; Mount Desert over by 74 percent; Orland over by 11 percent; Otis over by 3 percent; Penobscot over by 29 percent; Sedgwick over by 33 percent; Southwest Harbor over by 56 percent; Surry over by 14 percent; Tremont over by 66 percent; Trenton over by 36 percent; MSAD 18 in Prospect over by 8 percent; MSAD 26 in Eastbrook over by 43 percent; MSAD 37 in Harrington over by 23 percent; MSAD 76 on Swan’s Island over by 79 percent; Flanders Bay CSD over by 41 percent; Mount Desert CSD over by 47 percent; Airline CSD over by 9 percent; Schoodic CSD over by 6 percent; Deer Isle-Stonington CSD over by 28 percent; and Peninsula CSD over by 27 percent.

Mark Gray, director of the Maine Education Association, the state’s teachers union, said the essential programs and services or EPS funding model wasn’t designed to be a prescription for a complete school system.

“The EPS model does not nor was it ever intended to cover the full cost of providing a public education to students in the state,” Gray said, because it doesn’t cover all costs, including extracurricular activities such as sports.

The model also has been criticized for not taking into account the extra costs associated with small or isolated districts or the fact some systems simply want more programs or smaller class sizes than the formula pays for.

The MEA, with 25,000 members in the state, is also against the Governor’s plan to return 90 percent of new education aid to taxpayers.

“We’re not in favor of mandating that all of the savings be required to be turned into property tax relief,” Gray said, saying that should not be up to the state, but for the locals to decide.

The MEA also has come out against Baldacci’s school district consolidation plan, saying it supports regionalization, but with local involvement.

“The Governor’s proposal is strictly a top-down mandate. Our approach is more bottom-up,” Gray said.

Baldacci seized the moment last week to criticize school district spending during the presentation of a second annual report card on the impact of his property tax relief plan known as LD1.

That legislation, passed in 2005, increased state aid to education toward the goal of 55 percent of the cost by 2009. When that goal is reached the state will be contributing $1 billion annually to public schools.

LD1 also put spending limits on all levels of government. For state, county and municipal governments, that limit is a cap on new spending tied to resident income and population growth.

At the school district level that limit is supposed to be what’s prescribed under the EPS funding model, which allocates money based on enrollment. The per-pupil allotment is supposed to represent what is needed to help a student meet statewide achievement standards. 

The ultimate goal of the spending limits is to reduce the state and local property tax burden in Maine — the highest in the nation as a percent of income in 2006  — to somewhere in the middle of the pack nationally.

The latest LD 1 report card showed the state lived within its cap; 57 percent of cities and towns lived within theirs; 14 out of 16 counties were within their cap; but 81 percent of school districts were over the limit.