From job creation to education reform, the governor has delivered on few of his stated goals.

Last week Gov. Baldacci gave his final State of the State message. If you had dropped in from another planet, you would have viewed it a reasonable balance of challenge and hope, particularly as the state, like most others, is still feeling the fallout of the global recession of 2009.

However, for those like me who have been here for the first seven of his States of the State, it was disappointing – disappointing because the governor is sounding virtually all of the themes he has in the past, when the facts are that little real progress has been made in any of the areas on which he focused.

The governor is a fine man with seemingly good instincts, but he has been an ineffective governor.

His most important theme, of course, was job creation. While the governor talked about jobs created, the facts are that Maine has not created net new jobs in four of the past five years of his administration.

On another theme, cost reduction, the record is mixed – though he does get full marks for refusing to accept general tax increases. Yet his most significant initiative for reducing costs, school consolidation, has had a rocky road with little in cost reduction yet. Maine still has 214 school districts, down from 290 but well short of the original target of less than 100.

The biggest applause was for the governor's claim that he had reduced the income tax with the tax reform legislation passed in the last session.

This was indeed a historic bill, but my reading of the situation was a governor who stood on the sidelines until the very last moment.

He then insisted on rather strange changes to the bill that have opened him up in recent news reports to favoritism for special interest groups. The net of all this was the necessity of a higher income tax rate in the final version for those making more than $250,000 per year.

Perhaps the most inspiring section of the address was the governor's apparent embracing of the new realities in K-12 school reform. He discussed the need to hold teachers and principals accountable for student results – one of the conditions that the Obama administration requires for states who want to compete for the nearly $5 billion "Race to the Top" funding.

However, the governor omitted two inconvenient truths. The first is that Maine was one of only 10 states that did not apply for the first segment of Race to the Top funding, as we do not meet the program's criteria on accountability. The governor apparently hopes that Maine will be able to participate in the final set of applications due in June.

However, here the governor may be disappointed. The real power at the Legislature on education issues is the teachers union, the Maine Education Association (MEA).

On most big education issues in the Baldacci administration, the MEA has called the shots. Three years ago they flooded the halls in Augusta with teachers to demand a "moratorium" on the accountability of state standards.

The Legislature and the governor rushed to get out of their way and accountability in the state is still in limbo.

Last year the Legislature considered a modest approach to charter schools. Maine is only one of 10 states not to have legislation authorizing some form of charter schools.

Arne Duncan, Obama's secretary of Education, had suggested that Maine, specifically, should have a charter law to better position the state for Race to the Top funds. The MEA put its foot down – the result, no charter school legislation.

As we go into 2010 and start hearing more from the many candidates vying for governor, a good question to ask them is how will they deal with the MEA?

The last Democrats I have seen stand up to the MEA on a significant issue were Linda Valentino and Jeremy Fischer in the final days of the last Legislature, in 2008.

You will remember that Ms. Valentino and Mr. Fischer joined Republican colleagues in an unprecedented rebuff of a sweetheart deal the MEA had engineered to restore an obscure (but expensive) bit of teacher pension benefits cut by the McKernan administration.

Mr. Fischer was termed out and so didn't return last year for the new session. Ms. Valentino was returned but mysteriously lost her prestigious seat on the Appropriations Committee.

While we are dealing in truth-telling, remember where the power is in Augusta. At this point it does not reside with the governor.