BALDACCI'S PROPOSALS TOO WEAK TO QUALIFY FOR FEDERAL EDUCATION GRANTS

The following is from an email received from the Maine Heritage Policy Center:


"Gov's proposals too weak to compete for federal education grant
At a public hearing last Thursday, MHPC Education Policy Director Steve Bowen testified in opposition to three bills put forth by the Baldacci administration. These bills fail to offer bold education reforms to make Maine competitive for up to $75 million in federal education grants.

The Race to the Top Grant was established by President Obama and the federal Department of Education to incentivize bold education reforms. These reforms include an expansion of charter schools, improved school and teacher assessments, and higher standards to hold teachers and administrators accountable for poor performance; reforms MHPC has long-championed.

During his testimony, Steve noted the stiff competition for this grant funding. The governor's three proposals (LD 1799, 1800, and 1801) offer lip service to the grant requirements but fall far short of the changes Maine needs to improve education quality and win additional federal funding.

Both the Kennebec Journal and the Lewiston Sun Journal quoted Steve in their reports. Steve has also offered to work with the Legislature's Education Committee and Maine's Education Commissioner to strengthen the governor's proposals to achieve real, student-focused education reforms."

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In light of the fact the Commissioner of Education cannot even comply with Maine consolidation law, cannot even respond to letters as directed by that law, thereby placing communities and existing MSADs in positions where they can do nothing but face pending tax penalties they cannot afford - this writer would not expect either she or the Legislature's Education Committee to accept Steve Bowen's generous offer.