Maine schools will feel the full impact of this recession later this year with state aid likely to fall by tens of millions of dollars. But Richard Sims, chief economist of the National Education Association, the big teacher's union, says cuts in school aid will slow the U.S. economy in the long run. Sims was in Portland last week. He spoke with MPBN's Irwin Gratz, who asked him how, in economic hard times, you rank the needs of schools against other government services.

Sims was in Portland to speak at the University of New England.  The NEA is the parent union for the staff at MPBN.