Amid student unrest and apathy, in 1970 the Maine Department of Education convened a series of meetings across Maine. Invited to these meetings were teachers, school board members, administrators, and most importantly, students. These gatherings were part of a five-state project to study what was ailing and how to fix issues facing public schools. The Commissioner of the Maine Department of Education William T. Logan wrote a report that resulted the meetings, its title ’70 Listen To Us.

In short, students (and parents) wanted more of say in their education; school boards and administrators wanted more local control and less red tape. I would suggest if a similar series of meetings were to be held today, the results would be very much the same..

If we define education reform as delivering education at a good value, expecting and producing positive results and preparing our students for the next phase of their lives, education reform needs to embody and take into consideration the needs and wants of all the stake holders. This would be a far cry from today’s world where decisions are based primarily on finances.

Over the years, locally or nationally, most efforts to reform education have failed to yield positive results. In Maine, school consolidation and the implementation of the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) does not create an equal playing field. A few years ago, when promoting school consolidation, Commissioner Susan Gendron and Gov. John Baldacci’s message were less about student achievement and more about cost savings.

In part, the Maine Department of Education explains EPS this way: “The EPS model then defines what is adequate in terms of resources and dollars to get the job done.” Yes, “adequate” and simply getting “the job done” is the basis for the funding formula that pays for our children’s schools. We expect our students, teachers and administrators to go beyond “adequate” to do more than just get the job done, but we can’t expect the same from the Department of Education.

No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top Funds come with a huge amount of paperwork, red-tape and mandates. Augusta and D.C. are better suited to advise and set mid- to long -term goals and objectives; stay out of the way stay out of local decision making.

School reform should start early, with our youngest students, increasing early childhood education and pre-kindergarten opportunities. Pre-kindergarten classes should be offered in every town in Maine. Nationwide, students who had the benefit of pre-kindergarten tend to fair better in third -grade standardized testing. New Mexico, New Jersey and Oklahoma have seen great success in their state funded pre-k programs. With the first group of pre-k students approaching middle school, the estimated return on investment is $5 for every $1 invested.

The amount of time that students are in the classroom needs to change. School days should not be made longer, but the number of student classroom hours needs to dramatically increase, summer vacation shortened. In 2004, the number of days students were required to be in classrooms varied between 155-180 (depending on the state). States should remove mandates on the number of days students needs to be in class to a number of hours per year (a variation of this exists in 17 states). This would allow the flexibility to explore four-day school weeks.

If we are going to continue to compare students of a similar age or grade with their peers across the country, we must set goals and objectives that are uniformly recognized across the country. Every third-grader, before entering the fourth grade, should meet a standard, every sixth-grader should meet a minimum and so on. We have to stop worrying about hurting the feelings of our students (and their parents), those not ready to move on should not. We also need to support these students and provide the resources to get them up to speed.

Stop serving the interests of a corporate culture, realize and accept that not every student is meant for college and increase career and technical education opportunities. Maine’s career and technical education schools are an under utilized resource, we need to encourage those interested in the trades to pursue those avenues. In many cases, those utilizing career and technical education schools are prepared to immediately enter in the workforce (or apprenticeship programs), many others do go on to college.

For too many Mainers, in too many households, the idea of college isn’t discussed around the dinner table. Due to cost, too many students don’t see college as attainable. Without that carrot to lure them, many middle and high school students don’t strive academically. The University of Maine system has to reduce the cost of delivering education; the system is not living up to its responsibility to provide an affordable college education available for every Mainer. The University of Maine system provides a great education for those who are able to attend. One key to keeping Maine’s high school graduates in Maine and encourage them to work here is by providing an affordable education right here in Maine.

By providing a broad framework to work from, one that includes uniform nationwide standards, equitable funding with fewer restraints on use, and encouraging students to have college or career aspirations, our schools will be better prepared to respond to local student needs. We are far too close to creating a generation of “test takers” and not one of problem solvers and critical thinkers. As currently constructed, the way we educate and the way we pay for education, allows for very little flexibility and virtually no room to listen to the students, parents or school boards. Just like they said in 1970, listen to us.

Will Fessenden lives in Sabattus with his wife and two children who attend public school. He is a former RSU4 school board member, and a community organizer who serves on many local nonprofit boards and committees. Will can be reached through his blog at www.WTFmaine.com, www.facebook.com/WTFMaine or by email, [email protected].