The Maine Legislature’s Education Committee held a public hearing May 12 on legislation that would establish a public charter school program in Maine.
Maine is one of 10 states that don’t allow charter schools.
Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen delivered the following testimony supporting L.D. 1553, An Act To Create a Public Charter School Program in Maine. Continue reading “DOE testimony supports charter schools”
The vast majority of Maine students will continue to attend the public schools we have today. But I believe it’s time for Maine to provide parents and students the options that are available in almost every other state: school choice that includes charter schools. They are not a silver bullet that will solve all our education problems. But they are a promising reform that will give educators a model of schooling to work with that may allow them to be more innovative, and that may improve student outcomes for the students that attend them.
You can listen online to the hearing, which will begin shortly after 1 p.m. (The committee will first hold a hearing on LD 1540, An Act to Encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education, which I am also supporting.)
— Stephen Bowen
The Office of Special Services at the Maine Department of Education will provide training on the electronic application process for 2011-12 Local Entitlement funds. There will be a choice of webinar sessions – May 26 at 9 a.m. or 1 p.m. The webinar is anticipated to last approximately 1.5 hours.
OAKLAND – The students in Shelly Moody’s classroom at Williams Elementary School can explain everything about the lesson they’re working on, how it fits into the broader unit of study, and why it’s important.
The knowledge comes from the classroom’s transition in recent years to a standards-based model of education in which Moody lays out the expectations for her students, makes sure they understand them and allows them to choose how they’re going to meet them.
Continue reading “RSU 18 transitions to standards-based model”
READFIELD – It’s time for reading class in the second grade at Readfield Elementary School.
Rather than remain in their assigned classrooms, students from the school’s two second-grade classes combine forces, and their teachers break them into reading groups based on ability level.
The latest version of Gov. Paul LePage’s two-year budget package restores health insurance premium support for teachers who retire before they reach age 65.
Continue reading “Budget change affects teacher retiree health insurance”
A science teacher at Waterville Junior High School is one of 17 teachers nationally in the running for a science lab makeover valued at $20,000.
Continue reading “Waterville teacher competes for lab makeover”
Looking for resources to teach a lesson about mercury contamination?
The Schoodic Education and Research Center at Acadia National Park might have the resource you need.
You could feel some excitement in the air on Friday in the not-always-exciting hearing room of the Maine Legislature’s Education Committee.
That’s when a slate of bills addressing what we expect our students to be able to do once they graduate came up for hearings before the committee.
Continue reading “Setting high standards, and sticking to them”
The Maine Legislature’s Education Committee held public hearings May 6 on bills that address standards-based high school diplomas, a strategic plan for education in Maine, a statewide model curriculum and innovative school zones.
Representatives from the Department of Education, including Commissioner Stephen Bowen, offered the following testimony to the legislative panel:
Continue reading “Bills propose standards-based diploma”
Maine DOE Newsroom 