A little over a year ago, Maine scored high, but not high enough, on its application for a Race to the Top grant to promote advances in the state’s early childhood learning systems. We and our counterparts at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, who worked collaboratively to develop the plan, held a press conference and pledged to move forward with as much of the plan as we could, even though we would not receive any federal funding.
We felt good about our plan and were committed to moving it forward.
I’m pleased to announce that Commissioner Mary Mayhew and I have signed a joint memorandum that highlights the formation of the State Agency Interdepartmental Early Learning team and encourage the state’s entire early childhood system to share in this effort. Based on the Race to the Top application, the interagency team will work to create a unified system to serve children from birth to age five across the Maine Department of Education and the Maine DHHS.
More will be coming soon, including a new website showing the work in this area. It won’t be a Maine DOE or DHHS website, but rather a joint website that reflects the interagency nature of the work. Thanks to all of you who participate in this work – we look forward to building on our work, together.
Read the text of the memorandum signed by Commissioner Mayhew and me.
— Stephen Bowen
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