Of the 13 referenda on Portland’s November ballot, one of the most consequential affects the biggest slice of Portland's budget pie -- public school funding.Ballot Question 5 (of the eight questions about reforming the city’s charter) would allow the public school board, which is elected on its own, to adopt its annual budget without city council approval.Portland Public School Board Chair Emily Figdor said in an interview Thursday, "It makes sense for the elected officials whose job it is to manage the schools to actually determine the budget, with approval from the voters."Figdor believes the reform will create more accountability for the school board, and argues it is the norm throughout the state.Figdor said, "94% of Maine communities do what's proposed in Question 5.”But outside City Hall on Thursday, the coalition that calls itself Protect Portland's Future, backed by 14 former Portland mayors and current Mayor Kate Snyder, argued the reform would essentially give the school board a blank check."We must keep the checks and balances, in today's environment maybe even create new ones. We can’t afford blank checks,” said former educator Jim Hall.Hall and other rally speakers said they fear what will happen without the city council setting a cap on the school budget, which has grown by 42% in the past decade from $95 million in fiscal year 2013.Hall said, “The school taxation has skyrocketed, going past inflation, going past the entire rest of the city budget.”Of the city's $269 million annual budget for fiscal year 2023, $133 million, or 49%, went to public schools.Although only 30% of city residents have kids in the schools, 51.8% of city property tax revenue goes to them, 44.4% covers municipal costs, and 3.8% goes to Cumberland County. Eli Small, who taught social studies in Portland Public Schools for 20 years, said faculty lack faith in the administration.Small said, "Now an outside third-party audit of our school finances shows, I quote, 'weaknesses and deficiencies,' yet central office wants more autonomy?"That auditor’s report became public at a City Council Finance Committee meeting last week."There are always issues that are found on audits. That's why we do them, to strengthen our operations and our finance department," Figdor said. “We took immediate action in May to address these issues raised by the audit. That’s the responsible thing to do, and we were right on it, and you know, the audit uncovered issues with the city as well.”Still, Portland's Interim City Manager Danielle West has warned ending council oversight could cost taxpayers money.In a memo to the Mayor Snyder and City Councilors two weeks ago, West forecast all of the referenda, if approved, could cost the city $6.5 million, including $1 million for proposed charter changes, though she declined to put a price on the school budget reform.“It is possible, however, that historic cost savings that have occurred as a direct result of the council’s budgetary oversight may not be realized and ultimately cost the taxpayers additional money,” West wrote. “Over the last 20 years, this oversight and collaboration has resulted in a total of more than $4,500,000 in reductions to the district’s proposed operating budget."Figdor said, "She can't know what would happen in an alternative reality. The school board is highly capable of making these budget decisions."No matter how Question 5 turns out, voters will still get the final say over the school budget every June, and they've never rejected one. Figdor said, “If voters don’t like the budget we pass, they can tell us right away at the polls and send us back to the drawing board.”