LATEST ON MAINE EDUCATION

From today's Maine Heritage Policy Center's mail:

At a press conference last week, Steve Bowen, director of MHPC's Center for Education Excellence, unveiled new updates to our education transparency Web site www.GreatSchoolsForME.org.

Our press conference and the updates to our cite were noted by WLBZ/Channel 2, WABI/Channel 5, WGME/Channel 13, the Kennebec Journal, the Portland Press Herald, Boston.com and Capital Weekly.

Updates to the site include graduation rates and student performance data for every K-12 Maine public school. When compared with spending, student enrollment, administrative and teacher payroll and other data already available on GreatSchoolsForME.org, this new information provides users with an even more complete picture of how Maine schools are delivering education to our students.

NOTE: Good that WLBZ and WABI were at the press conference. Where was the Bangor Daily News?

As to questions, voters and taxpayers in the SAD 63 district should be thinking and asking the School Board what the plan is to avoid a tax penalty next year because we could not consolidate this year (thanks to former Commissioner Gendron). As one Eddington voter said to me this week, SAD 63 should be suing the State of Maine - put a block on any deduction of state funds for a "tax penalty" when the Legislature has consistently ignored the state-wide people's vote REQUIRING the state to pay 55 percent of the cost of public education. How does do OUR elected representatives have the right to penalize us when they have failed to comply with the people's vote for years? GOOD QUESTION. Maybe none of those running for re-election should be returned to Augusta regardless of their political party. Rep. Ben Pratt doesn't seem to know or care how his own constituents are being impacted - and until this past May, neither did Richard Rosen.