AUGUSTA — The board that oversees Maine charter schools has recommended approval of an application from Maine Virtual Academy, which wants to open the state’s second online charter school. The Maine Charter School Commission will vote Thursday on a recommendation to authorize contract negotiations between the state and Maine Virtual Academy. The academy must get […]
education
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston to consider building biggest elementary school in Maine
LEWISTON — Go big. That’s what Lewiston needs to do if it wants the state to pay for replacing the aging Martel and Longley elementary schools, Superintendent Bill Webster said Monday. If Lewiston went that route, it would mean a new school for 1,000 to 1,200 students, bigger than any elementary school in Maine and […]
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Posted inOp-Eds
Terrence Magee: Finding an alternative path to ‘success’
Election season is over, but we can still hear the faint, fading echo of reformers who insist that our educational system is broken and the fault lies squarely with the teachers. On the face of it, this makes perfect sense. After all, it is the teachers who are in contact with the students while they […]
Posted inLetters
J. Berg: Find a better answer for education
Yet another report shows little educational progress in Maine. Some blame the state for not funding the required 55 percent. But it’s not what we spend; it’s how we spend it. Education is about challenging students, with high expectations for their academic performance and development of a work ethic. Administrators expect less of students who […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
USM students, faculty rally against layoffs
PORTLAND — University of Southern Maine students and faculty said layoffs at the school will hollow out popular departments and all but close down pathways to graduation for many students. “This university is just a pathetic shadow of what a university should be,” said Susan Feiner, professor of economics and women and gender studies at […]
Posted inMaine
55% school funding by state may never happen
AUGUSTA — Maine’s inability to meet its voter-mandated funding obligations for public education was among the most-discussed topics during the five gubernatorial debates, which concluded this week. Two candidates — independent Eliot Cutler and Democrat Mike Michaud — have pledged to find a way to meet the state’s statutory requirement to fund 55 percent of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
USM board to vote on budget cuts
PORTLAND — A proposal to cut two programs at the University of Southern Maine — undergraduate French and graduate applied medical sciences — could move one step closer to finalization on Wednesday. Members of the board of trustees academic and students affairs committee will vote whether to approve these program cuts at a meeting on […]
Posted inMaine
Report: Maine education cuts among highest in nation
LEWISTON — The Maine Center for Economic Policy is criticizing spending on public kindergarten through grade 12 schools, saying that per-capita, per-pupil spending has declined by more than $700 since the 2008 recession. It’s the most in New England and among the top in the country, the center said Thursday, citing an analysis by the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Report: Auburn iPad conference brings in dollars
AUBURN — The Auburn School Department’s iPad conference makes money for the School Department, attracts economic development and puts Auburn schools on the map, organizers say. The Auburn School Committee on Wednesday heard a preview of this year’s “Learning Leverage Institute,” the fourth-annual iPad conference, set for Nov. 12 to 14 at the Hilton Garden Inn. The […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
UMS trustees commit to keeping 3 USM campuses
BANGOR — The University of Maine System Board of Trustees said Wednesday that they are committed to keeping all three University of Southern Maine campuses open, the system announced in a news release. As the system weighs how to close USM’s $16 million structural gap for fiscal year 2016, the university launched a “strategic academic […]