Gov. Paul LePage’s has made no secret of his dislike for the current legislature. In an effort to ensure that his pick for state education chief wasn’t blocked by lawmakers, he’s implemented a series of maneuvers to circumvent the Legislature.
The recent shuffling of job titles in the department is a response to repeated warnings from the Maine Attorney General’s Office that deputy commissioner Bill Beardsley couldn’t legally perform some of the most important duties of the job.
“Bill Beardsley is an excellent candidate, an excellent choice and you folks are just playing games. Excuse me, but that’s the truth. Thank you, I answered your question. I answered your question!” That was Gov. LePage at a forum in Bangor on Wednesday, responding to state Rep. Victoria Kornfield’s question about when he planned to nominate an education commissioner.
Kornfield was referring to the fact the six-month term for LePage’s acting commissioner, former Husson College president Bill Beardsley, had run its course. But LePage has made clear he wants Beardsley calling the shots for the department, and is intent on making sure that lawmakers can’t block Beardsley’s confirmation.
His commitment has led to a number of maneuvers. In early April the administration attempted to bestow all of the commissioner’s duties on Beardsley by creating a temporary position for him within the department. On Wednesday, LePage appointed Debra Plowman, a former Republican lawmaker as the temporary acting education chief. Plowman had originally been hired as a special assistant to the previous acting commissioner, Tom Desjardin. She made more than $106,000 in salary in benefits last year. A co-owner of a small business, she never served on the education committee during her 16 years in the Legislature. But Plowman’s appointment had nothing to do with overseeing education policy. It was designed to ensure that Beardsley handled those duties. That’s why her first act was to appoint him as deputy commissioner. Beardsley was sworn in the very next day.
On the outside, those steps would appear to mark the latest chapter in the governor’s ongoing battle with the Legislature over Beardsley’s nomination, which LePage suddenly withdrew earlier this year. But a series of emails and documents obtained by Maine Public Radio show that Kornfield was on to something when she spoke to reporters Wednesday.
“I know that some people on the education committee are talking to the AG about this,” Kornfield says. “And I know that there are several reports that we are supposed to have gotten, by law, we have not received. So I think it is a problem that we don’t have a commissioner.”
Kornfield mentioned outstanding reports. But she didn’t mention two new regulations that were supposed to be signed by the education chief. One rule deals with how students are identified for special education services. Another deals with immunization requirements for school children. The deadline to enact those rules has come and gone. That’s because Beardsley, in his former capacity, could not sign them, according to several emails from chief deputy general Linda Pistner to the governor’s legal counsel, Avery Day.
A chain of emails shows that the administration was repeatedly warned by the AG’s office that Beardsley’s temporary post did not legally authorize him to perform many of the most important duties of the job. That includes enacting new rules, revoking teacher certifications and approving student transfers between districts. It also includes adjusting funding for a school district confronted by the sudden loss in valuation, such as the loss of a major employer — like a paper mill.
DOE officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Still, Beardsley’s new post is designed to grant him those powers — at least temporarily. It lasts six months, which should take him right through the November election. By then LePage hopes to have a new Legislature, one that will approve his education chief. And if he doesn’t?
“Mr. William Beardsley will be my commissioner of education for as long as I am governor,” LePage says. “And for the next two years we will have an acting commissioner every six months and he’s going to delegate his authority to Bill Beardsley.”
