AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine has become the 42nd state to adopt a new set of academic standards known as Common Core. Gov. Paul LePage on Friday signed the Common Core standards bill into law after it passed both the House and Senate unanimously. The administration says it sets forth a clear set of standards […]
education
Posted inMaine, sj-web
UMaine System chancellor: We’ve cut back spending
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — University of Maine System Chancellor Richard Pattenaude says the seven-campus system has made great strides in cutting back expenses in order to avoid a $43 million deficit. In his annual State of the University address Wednesday to the Maine Legislature, Pattenaude said that like many businesses, the system has trimmed its […]
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Posted inConnections
SeniorsPlus announces April classes
LEWISTON — The SeniorsPlus Education Center has announced its April classes, which are open to all and held at the center, 8 Falcon Road, unless otherwise noted. Advance registration is required. For more information and to register, call 795-4010 or 1-800-427-1241. Offerings this month include: Create your own knitting project, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. […]
Posted inMaine
10 years after laptops come to Maine schools, educators say technology levels playing field for students
AUBURN — As his Auburn Middle School English class was about to begin, seventh-grader Trevor Laliberte, 13, had a picture of his band, Perfectly Insane, on his laptop. He hit a key. The page disappeared. Another page with his schoolwork came up. It was a biography he’s writing about the late Samantha Smith, a Maine […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Bill would allow Maine teens to work longer hours
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A bill to allow Maine teenagers to work more is getting mixed reviews in the Legislature. Representatives of hotels and motels, restaurants, merchants and Gov. Paul LePage’s administration spoke Wednesday in favor of a reworked bill limiting 16-year-olds to 32 hours a week and imposing no limits for 17-year-olds. But the […]
Posted inOur View
Gates blasts education assumptions
The cut-throat competitor that Bill Gates once was has morphed into the genial, sweater-wearing philanthropist we now see on TV fighting Third-World diseases and handing out educational grants. But Microsoft’s founder launched an uncharacteristic rant last week aimed at state governments and the education establishment. Addressing the 2011 Technology, Education and Design Conference, Gates blasted […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Bill would extend Maine school year by five days
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Lawmakers are going to consider a bill to lengthen Maine’s mandatory minimum school year by five days. A bill before the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on Wednesday would extend the school year from 180 days to 185 days a year. The bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Peter Edgecomb of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
5 percent hike proposed for Auburn schools
The proposed Auburn school budget will be online Friday at www.auburnschl.edu. AUBURN — After two years of cutting school budgets, Auburn Superintendent Tom Morrill says it’s time to start spending: He’s recommending an increase of 5.1 percent. Auburn must reverse the trend of smaller annual budgets and do more for students, Morrill said Thursday. “It’s […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage picks Bowen to be Maine education chief
AUGUSTA (AP) — An aide to Gov. Paul LePage who just a couple of months ago turned down an offer to become education commissioner on Wednesday became the governor’s nominee for the post. Former social science teacher Steve Bowen, more recently LePage’s senior policy adviser, is the Republican governor’s nominee to head one of the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage, Poliquin delay $31M bond proposal
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s conservative fiscal views are putting a chill on a $31 million bond package sponsored by a quasi-state government body. The Maine Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority is the agency that educational and health care nonprofits must go through under federal law to sell tax-exempt bonds. Unlike […]