AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage touted a recent Harvard University study Wednesday that he says proves Maine’s education system is “failing,” “dismal” and “stagnant,” and that Maine students are looked down upon when they go to other states for school or work.
At a press conference at the State House, LePage and Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen provided a general outline of a new education reform initiative — which they called the “ABC Plan” — with the promise that more detailed proposals are coming in the weeks and months ahead and will be ready for the next legislative session.
Among the proposals LePage says he intends to champion are holding low-performing schools accountable for their failures, perhaps by having state government take schools over in the most extreme cases where other interventions fail, and requiring any high school whose students require remedial coursework in college to pay for those courses. He also vowed to bring back a school choice bill that failed in the last legislative session.
“I don’t care where you go in this country. If you come from Maine you’re looked down upon,” said LePage. “Twenty years ago if you came from Maine, they couldn’t wait to get you into their school.”
The Harvard study referenced by LePage, which was released last week by the school’s Program on Education Policy and Governance & Education Next, found that among 41 states participating in the study, Maine ranked 40th in terms of its rate of improvement on standardized tests between 1992 and 2011.
While Maine’s improvement rate was low, the state’s students still score at or above average on the National Assessment of Education Progress in many areas, though Maine ’s former top rankings have eroded in the past two decades. In 1994, Maine’s rate of fourth-grade reading proficiency — considered by many to be a key indicator of long-term academic success or failure — stood at 41 percent. In 2011, after years of flat scores from Maine and improvements in other states, Maine had lost its lead and ranked even with the national average at 32 percent.
LePage also cited Department of Education data that indicates 54 percent of students entering the Maine Community College System, and more than 20 percent of students entering the university system require remedial coursework.
“We can all sit back and stick our heads in the sand and pretend we don’t have a problem, or we can get together to work on it,” said LePage, who specifically targeted organizations such as the Maine School Management Association and the Maine Education Association for opposing some of his initiatives. In the last session, those groups opposed a charter school bill, which passed, and a school choice bill, which didn’t.
“You can stand upstairs [between the Maine House and Senate chambers] and you can lobby all day but at the end of the day, you still have the same problem,” said LePage. “Commissioner Bowen and I have been trying to address this for two years now. We know Maine’s educational system is lacking and we are here to share these results with you so that we can move in the right direction. This is a call to action.”
LePage and Bowen’s ABC Plan stands for accountability, meaning developing a way to assess school performance and providing assistance to those that are struggling; best practices, which means studying successes in other states and countries and emulating those methods here; and choice, which means giving Maine students the option of going to whichever school they wish. A bill proposing the latter initiative failed last year, but LePage and Bowen said they would revive it.
“These efforts will be our core focus as we head into the fall and winter,” said Bowen. “We will be working with national experts from high-performing states on these initiatives, and we will be bringing a number of proposals to the Legislature next session, which we believe will get Maine’s schools headed in the right direction.”
The Harvard study discussed by LePage has been the source of conflict between him and education leaders in recent days. Dale Douglass, executive director of the Maine School Management Association, wrote in a July 19 bulletin to the association’s members that LePage “misses the real story on student achievement in Maine.” He argued that Maine’s NAEP scores remain in the top tier nationally and that the state’s poor ranking in the Harvard study is because it becomes harder and harder to improve scores when the scores are already high compared to other states.
“Iowa and Maine, the report notes, were among the highest-performing states in 1992 and now have shown the least amount of gain,” wrote Douglass. “Mississippi and Louisiana, on the other hand, were among the lowest performing in 1992 and are now showing some of the most striking improvement.”
In a letter to LePage, Douglass said he is convinced that the governor’s criticisms of the Maine Education Association, the Maine Principals’ Association and the Maine School Management Association stems from those organizations’ opposition to LePage’s charter school and school choice initiatives.
In a response from LePage dated July 23, the governor dismissed Douglass’ arguments.
“Mr. Douglass, you just don’t get it,” wrote LePage. “Our educational system in Maine is not competing in the nation and or the world. It puts unions and superintendents before students, and leaves an unacceptable number of students behind.”
Maine must find a different way to fund elementary and seconday education. Property owners cannot stand much more of these yearly tax raises for education. I propose a one percent sales tax for education, each town in a given RSU would receive the money from those towns.This would be a year round fairly steady way of funding education. Next dump algebra, do three years of high school, then the last year offer college courses, or OJT in the community.
“Next dump algebra” <— This has to be the dumbest idea I have ever heard. Mathematics is one of the top subjects on a high school transcript that colleges look at. Eliminating algebra in Maine schools would rank us below ALL other states … even Texas. I agree that changes need to be made in the public education system, but this proposed change is not going to benefit anyone at all. (I'm sorry you happened to dislike algebra, but that doesn't mean it's not necessary.)
College courses in what? HINT: Not anything in any way technical, if you’re talking about dropping algebra from the earlier curriculum. Math is the language of engineering and science, and algebra is where you start learning to speak it in anything more advanced than Tarzan-talk.
Finally, someone says it’s about money. And the silence is deafening…
keep algebra and music, both are predictive of later academic success. Dump inter-school competitive sports (costly), keep intra-school sports for team-building skills and add personalized exercise programs (fight obesity).
I have used Algebra n every job I have had, that is dumb…
LePage should be reminded that the State is required – by law – to contribute 55% to school budgets statewide.
I find it ironic that he claims Maine’s education system is “dismal”, “failing”, and “looked down upon”. Those are the same words many of us would use to describe our current governor.
And the dismal extremism of this Republican leadership, calling our schools such names when in fact they rank very highly nationwide–it’s a tragic and dangerous push to give it all away to private corporations, which will max out profit and make our kids merely factors in their cost-benefit equation.
HUH??????????
“Politicians use statistics in the same way that a drunk uses lamp-posts for support rather than illumination.” – Andrew Lang Speech. Quoted in Alan L Mackay The Harvest of a Quiet Eye (1977).
In Mr. LaPage’s case we may need to put up a second lamp post to cast even more light upon what is obviously a very dim mind.
Excellent quote!
This event shows how out of his depth the Governor is. What a dumb and foolish thing to say. Maine kids are not looked down upon and he should be promoting the state – not telling the world Maine kids are dumber than a bag of rocks.
As for his stupid idea that high schools have to pay colleges for remedial education – he misses a key point. That is: colleges (2 & 4 yr) need to enforce enrollment standards. That would greatly solve the problem of remedial education. But, then, college enrollments would drop and they don’t want that so they lower standards.
Many Maine kids are bright and hardworking and he owes Maine another apology.
Very well said.
I don’t think he misses that point. He’s simply ignoring anything that doesn’t align with his agenda to privatize (For Profit) public education in Maine. Look though these comments and you’ll see that very few people are able to focus on what’s really at stake here or how simple the solution to our educational woes really is. See my comment below for the logical solution that we all are aware of but few want to face.
Apologize? People like him that have no conscience coupled with low (Internal) self-esteem will never apologize. They think it makes them look weak. Mr. Lepage is never going to truly apologize for anything he says or does.
Let us wait and see you do his job better.
Not many who would want to challenge is only true expertise of being downright rotten. That’s what he made this job.
only if you think so. try harder.
I don’t know him, but I bet he could!
whoopie. lot of whoop here.
I think I could do better. I would have at least read the whole report which apparently he did not. I also would not try and distort what was in the report to fit an agenda. The 2011 test scores of Maine for 4th grade math using the same test place maine in the top 15. (fact) Look it up yourself. How hard would it have been to say Maine be should stiving to improve on its top 15 position? Instead, he disparages all Maine student saying the are “looked down upon”. You will note there is no study for that statement. Pure opinion only serving to justify a hairbrained scheme to turn over education to private enterprise. If you are an honest person, I am sure you could do a much better job yourself.
Commissioner Stephen Bowen suit looks to be too big, while governor LaPudge’s suit looks to be too small.
That is a fantastically appropriate quote!!! Thank you for the great image.
does it take a drunk to know that lamp post? or does it take a fool> this article has created many lamp post leaners.
perhaps you need many lamp posts for many commentators here. lols. thanks
What was it you didn’t understand?
do not understand the pure hateful people in Maine. are yall flatlanders?
Perhaps if Lepage clawed back $9,000,000+ in yearly subsidies to the Maine Maritime Academy to fund a sports and spa playground for out of state jocks which nearl comprise 1/2 of the student body, the money could be directed to Maine’s K-12 youth. It’s time for the MMA to be privitized like Bowdoin, Coby, and Bates. Just saying.
Coolfusion, that was totally predictable, and may I just say that MMA made it possible for this family of four native Mainers to live a nice life due to the educations received there?
Also, one of our sons–a Maine product all the way–was not only accepted but is thriving academically at a major private university in Texas. His education at home in Maine more than prepared him for the challenges of a rigorous science curriculum and degree.
What is your major malfunction? Did you flunk out of MMA? Every time there is an article about MMA you come up with some LAME comment about MMA! You need to take a long hard look at the “sports and spa playground for out of state jocks” at UMaine!!!!!!!!
Drawing attention to $9,000,000 of annual subsidy (nearly $100 MILLION) over the last decade is NOT a lame comment when all other Maine agency and department budgets are being squashed . It mearly addresses this stealth item intentionally and easily hidden in the budget because the MMA is not apart of the University system nor the Community College system. It exists solely as a self-serving, self-rewarding entitity for a conduit to funnel money and perks to the insiders and connected ones and it’s time to stop this scam and privatize theaMMA.
How is MMA “a solely self serving, self rewarding entity for a conduit to funnel money and perks to the insiders and connected ones”? I thought it was a “sports and spa playground for out of state jocks”! Can’t make up your mind?
As a Maine native and U Maine graduate that now has a son attending MMA, I think you are picking a fight with the wrong school when it comes to the sports teams! LOL! You’ve obviously not been up to U Maine recently to see the scholarship receiving Maine Black Bears that are subsidized by your tax dollars! LOL! MMA doesn’t award scholarships for their sports teams and I would venture to guess that more than 1/2 of the students at MMA are Maine natives. Furthermore, you might actually be taken more seriously if you had your facts straight and didn’t spew the same incorrect information every time an article on MMA was online. I’m with Totallyoverit…this big of a grudge could only come from either failing to get into MMA or flunking out of MMA…so which is it??? Inquiring minds would like to know!
PS: You don’t see the MMA football players raping, tearing up stuff and ending up in the Police Beat or on the front page of the BDN unlike their counterparts at U Maine!
Oh wow.. from your comment I have to conclude that you would insist that legislature oversite of unemployment, housing, and Mediaid payments be kepted under wraps because you would guess that only 1/2 of the recipients are citizens of Maine.
When you draw attention to only one school and not all the others that receive annual subsidies you lose your argument. You also need to do some updated research since you indicate that 1/2 of the MMA enrollment is from out of state. This is a false statement! It is closer to 30% that is from out of state with 1% of that being international students. Please explain to me how MMA is a “self-serving, self-rewarding entity for a conduit to funnel money and perks to the insiders and connected ones…”
Over the last 10 years the State of Maine has given $1,597,908,713 in subsidies and “borrowed” money (that UMaine doesn’t have to pay back to the state) to the University of Maine. I would love to hear how many of their students are from out of state! (https://client.schwab.com/FIDocProvider/705190_Pos.pdf ) That measly $9 million looks pretty good compared to the billion…yup that BILLION that is being spent at UMaine.
Douglass’s statements contradicted Le Page’s nasty accusations. Perhaps one day, a reporter will spell out just what Charter Schools are and their ultimate effect on Public Schools?
“And the dismal extremism of this Republican leadership, calling our schools such names when in fact they rank very highly nationwide–it’s a tragic and dangerous push to give it all away to private corporations, which will max out profit and make our kids merely factors in their cost-benefit equation.”
Exactly, what I was thinking. Education Statistics > Best Educated Index (most recent) by state
# 5 Maine
So are you mistaken or doesn’t the GOP backed solution …(No Child Left Behind)… work, Governor ?
When I when to school and was taught critical thinking, I was taught it must be one or the other or else there is some kind of hidden agenda is at work if people can’t, or will not, say which is wrong when two opposite facts are in play.
Did anyone see the video on the news? The gov used a finger to trace the graph and it wasn’t the “proper” finger.I guess he was giving the “bird’ to students ,education and educators of Maine.Total disrespect, but it ‘s what I’ve come to expect from him on just aboiut any subject he doesn’t agree with.
It was Baldacci that ignored the taxpayer referendum and said no, we will not comply with your vote, we will not fund education according to the law or your vote, we do not do what you vote us to do, we will not pay hospitals for medical care for those on Maine Care, we will not pay our bills. It was the most incompetent governor that Maine has ever had that refused to obey the law. And you have the audacity to put this on LePage.
Well said. Baldacci really messed up when he would not comply with the popular vote.
Le Page ignored the people’s vote on the bonds? That’s okay?
He has said the bonds will be issued after the State gets its house in order. He has not said they will never be issued. Baldacci said “no”, even thought the people spoke, we will not do what they told us to do. And never once did this newspaper ever criticize him for that decision, it never made national news, it just quietly went away. Breaking the law is a crime, unless you are a democrat.
Well, it hasn’t quietly gone away. Communities are asking why they are being denied the bond money to finance important infrastructure tasks.
Columnist David Farmer summed Le Page’s vow to ignore the voters: “With an open threat to void the will of the voters, to ignore the law and to abuse his power, LePage has drawn a line in the sand.”
Breaking laws is a crime. Le Page simply ignores them – and the people he is supposed to be serving.
It’s all fun and games until someone has to pay for it. The state couldn’t afford it anymore than the cities and towns.
Thank you for admitting that LePage is continuing a policy you think is wrong, instituted by someone you clearly despise.
Its a real obuma.
It would take the legislature to discontinue it but democrats want to spend every single dollar on welfare, and not a nickel on education.
how can anyone have appluaded Baldacci when he gave grant money to a solar install and it Never worked for over 2 years. that seemed to be a pre arranged choice for bids. well known fact………….. and people hate Le Page? he has NOT stooped that low and dirty.
Please give concrete facts about the law re: the state contributions to school budgets statewide.
From the state website on Essential Programs and Services, Title 20-Am Chapter 606-B, §15671 (available at http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Asec15671.html):
“B. By fiscal year 2008-09 the state share of the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12, as described by essential programs and services, must be 55%. Beginning in fiscal year 2005-06 and in each fiscal year until fiscal year 2008-09, the state share of essential programs and services described costs must increase toward the 55% level required in fiscal year 2008-09.”
I, of course, recommend that you read the law yourself just in case I mischaracterized it by taking the above quote out of context. I believe I have not, and that this is the applicable law and section.
Apart from the ballot box, what is the remedy for property owners who pay higher taxes to make up for the State’s failure to follow the citizens’ mandate? Is there is a remedy for students who have limited educational programs and opportunities because of this failure?
Sorry, the link may not have come through properly. Try this one:
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Asec15671.html
And this one, which shows the history of local share for education, how it has not been close to 45% in recent years, but how the legislature still is optimistic about getting to 47.5% this year, and 45% by 2014:
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Asec15671-A.html
Hammockbear, Do you work in the Lepage administration?
Sounds like it.
Why don’t you look up the facts on Charter Schools? Who pays what?
Our “governor” should be reminded that he has played a key role in every situation, over the past two years, in which Maine was looked down upon. He’s become an embarrassment to our State and a joke to people watching National politics. The man is over his head and out of his league.
Let’s also remember that without affirmative action, our “governor” never would have been accepted to college, because he could speak the “native” language of our country.
I don’t think everyone shares your view. Many people find his honesty and off the cuff remarks refreshing. Instead of the usual politicians who want to run a focus group anytime they speak Gov. Lepage speaks his mind and deals with the consequences, like any reputable person should do. Yes he has said some stupid things, but don’t we all do the same at times. We sometimes forget that our politicians are people to, because they spend so much time on public image and not enough time fixing problems. If they worried less about what they looked like or said at every waking moment, and worried more about our real problems our state & country would be a much more prosperous union.
Most people do share Bangorians view on the Governor. Every time he opens his mouth, I’m embarrassed. Governors should be thoughtful in what they say, not constantly produce “off the cuff remarks” that he then has to try to cover up, explain, and/or apologize for. There is nothing “refreshing” about ignorance. Ask yourself WHY everytime he speaks his mind, he has to deal with the consequences? He needs to spend A LOT more time on his public image, and what he says.
Then perhaps you should run for governor and see how you like the job. If more people here would find solutions to Maine’s economic plus problems and stop the rant, we could all feel proud at the end of the day.
Sure, but does he have to be boarish and insulting *EVERY* time he speaks?
just get over it. it will help you.
Long before Charter Schools, Le Page and his tea party- haggled – brain decided to rule Maine, we had many standouts, and continue to do so. All were products of Maine schools.
Hannibal Hamlin graduated from Paris schools and served this nation as vice resident under President Abraham Lincoln. Skowhegan schools graduated Sen. Margaret Chase Smith who became the first woman senator in U.S. history. Ft. Fairfield schools turned out Gov. John Reed, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon. From the tiny town of Minot, William Ladd successfully proposed and helped create a United Nations Charter. Lewiston schools gave us the first Independent governor in the nation – James Longley. Bangor schools were responsible for Sen. William Cohen, who became Secretary of Defense. Author, poet, his stand in the Watergate hearings are legendary. Hampden’s schools developed Dorothea Dix. Renowned nationwide for her contributions toward problems with mental institutions and prisons, she also presided as head nurse in the Union Army under President Lincoln.
That’s just a pinch of what Maine schools helped develop. But the accomplishments of dozens of Maine engineers, designers, writers, actors, are also renowned world wide. It would take better than half a dozen newspaper pages to describe each and everyone’s pursuits and their accomplishments. Not bad for a state with less than half a million people. Maine workers are also renowned for their hard work ethic.
To support anyone who shows his utter distaste for this state and its people, its schools and its proud working force, is totally abhorrent.
Fine history lesson. Thank you. If you refer to our governor in your last paragraph, then I do not agree with you. That view you have is like not seeing the forest for the trees.
We need someone to lead. This man can’t.
I happen to disagree with you totally.
Anyone who thinks Lepage is refreshing must be from out of state. We Mainers find Lepage vile and disgusting .
Out of state? I don’t think so. You are so very wrong on that one Lord.
Ok so you used to summer here. That’s nice but it doesn’t make you a Mainer.
You are so wrong. Very wrong. Not good to ASSume.
Agreed. He is vile and disgusting. To read supportive comments for his loose lips, is sickening.
He can rise above your hateful words. and he will laugh at you. All this hate and spit is ignorance at best.
Obviously, you are referring to the “hate and spit” of Le Page – “ignorance at best.”
That’s about all he has done in the past two years – shown his ignorance with hate and spit.
No I was Not referring to Le Page being ignorant. He may be harsh with his words but he shows no hate like what is commented here.
Or they’re getting a nice fat state paycheck with full benefits and tax breaks paid for by the suffering Maine taxpayer.
This native Mainer is relishing in the fact that we have the first decent governor in my 53 years of lifetime. His choice of words may not be poetic, but he is a problem solver, not a can kicker.
Thank you and keep speaking up. The haters need a kick of education.
He has grit and does not back down. He sure makes my day. From out of state? that is the most pea brained attitude and shows lack of education.
You find rude and crude to be refreshing? My mother would have slapped me in the mouth.
LOL! Mine would have too.
I would have probably got a size 12 up the rear, too. He is revolting.
How refreshing is: He was bought by a law firm here in Maine to get what they wanted and a major chemical company for him to support BPA (and who knows how many others supported him financially for favors) which does not express honesty to me. If other people know of anyone else who bought him, please do tell.
He is a tool and fool of the Tea Party, founded and managed by the billionaire Koch brothers.
Civility?
Lepage speaking his mind is like watching an intoxicated clown lighting a wet firecracker!
Who knows when and if it will go off!
Right….Look at the note he sent to one of our legislators in BDN a few weeks ago with one sentence written smaller and the other much larger. Children in our schools write better…..he is probably still mad because he had to take remedial classes and it cost extra.
He should resign. Respectively – if possible.
Why aren’t our legislators doing anything to stop this nonsense. They are the only ones who can at this time. Remember their inaction come November please.
Respectively?
Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect!
only in your dreams.
ad nauseum . bunch of sore head whiners.
Lets see. He’s slapped around the elderly, the disabled, the poor, the sick, the teachers, the retirees, the State employees…yeah I guess it’s the students’ turn. Although in my humble opinion many more people seem to look down on our esteemed governor than they do our students.
Slapped around the elderly, the disabled, the poor, the sick, the teachers, the retirees, the state employees and now the student’s turn. GIVE YOUR FACTS.
Let’s start with the Calais Nursing Home. 92 jobs lost in a poor remote area, all the elderly forced to relocate, fanned out across the county. This because DHHS allowed it to close, and could have stopped it.
But hey, business is business, right…even when it is immoral and disgusting and cruel.
Elderly, disabled, poor, sick…threatened to close nursing and assisted living homes and attempting to make drastic medicaid cuts (illegally btw). Teachers…called them inadequate and attacked their retirement, State employees…called them corrupt, Retirees… Froze their promised COLA’s for an additional 3 years, making it 5 years total with no raise in their pensions. THERE YOU GO.
You need to get your facts! It has all been reported on in this very same paper.
Read the newspaper. There’s a story degrading Maine’s education system and even the students who have benefited by it. You should state your facts instead of just waving that shabby Le Page flag.
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Stay tuned for his next daily insult.
everyone knows how you so look forward to it. then you can spout.
And I though we were the laughing stock because of our governor…at least that’s what we hear from our friends and family “from away”. They call and remind us whenever some gaffe makes national news.
Mine do too. He is such an embarassment.
Your phone must be ringing constantly.
The thing is, they are not “gaffes.” They are completely intentional comments. The guy is just an ignorant, arrogant, goofball and brings shame to this state.
Actually, he’s arrogant and incompetent. Arrogant and brillant is OK and incompetent, but well-meaning is OK. But, someone arrogant and incompetent is the worse possible combination.
Like! Like! Like! So true!
Oh, and I bet your relatives have a good paying job life and outside of Maine as Mainers do have a good reputation of a strong work ethic rather than being looked down upon. People with hard working relatives with good jobs or got a good education outside of Maine please speak up on this one to show how foolish his comment was once again.
TRUE.I have a dear friend who is a dyed in the wool R.Even she shakes her head in sorrow.
I don’t care where you go in this country. If you come from Maine you’re looked down upon,” said LePage. “Twenty years ago if you came from Maine, they couldn’t wait to get you into their school.” Generalize much?
LePage is such a putz.
He’s a barstool lout.
guess it takes one to know one. too bad you have to think that way.
I think that way because I’ve been paying attention to the guy and drawn my own conclusion. He’s a lout.
It is since LeBUFFOON became governor that we are now looked down upon. This guy is a total disgrace. He is a STAIN on the BLAINE.
I know, I have lived in the South and Many do not know where Maine is located. Its not Maine that is looked down on, its the United States Educational System that is the the laughing stock.
“54 percent
of students entering the Maine Community College System, and more than
20 percent of students entering the university system require remedial
coursework.”
In response to this statistic: This does not prove that there is an increase in the number of students requiring remedial coursework. This could simply be an indication that colleges and universities are lowering their standards and accepting more students that 10 years ago would not have gotten accepted. Colleges and universities are businesses and they want to make money. They don’t mind taking your money for a year only to have to drop out later.
The teachers and administrators also don’t mind taking our money and “graduating” unprepared students.
Unfortunately, in some cases, it’s just a simple thing like getting a problem kid out of the school.
And more kids are channeled to the universities then before. Kids can no longer expect a good job in a paper mill when they graduate.
Before we start over reacting, how about a study to find out the specific reasons. Probably there’s plenty of blame to go around.
A lot of those blue collar jobs didn’t require a degree.Now nearly any decent paying job requires at least a two year degree and current computer skills.Many require much more.
Right. And I’m not sure many of us understand this yet- especially high school students.
Or their parents.
Sometimes it is hard to understand the value of a college degree when you’ve made a good life for your family without one. As the first college graduate in my family, I made sure my son understood that going to college was expected. Not all of my family feels the same way.
Change is very difficult for many of us. The world and the world economy has changed. Technology is a genie that’s not going back into the bottle.
The danger is that we assume there will be jobs for these college grads with specific degrees and mountains of student loan debt. College ought to be for one of two things. Either the kid should know exactly what they’re going to do and treat college like a trade school, or they should accept that their degree in English Lit is just going to make them more pleasant company while waiting tables.
Most often, we have no idea if there will be a job for that college diploma any more than there is for the one from high school. The world is changing fast, and two years for an associates or four for a bachelors degree is a long time.
Going to an out of state school and going $180,000 in debt to get a degree where the starting salary is $25,000 is not the smartest thing to do. If students looked at the real numbers before deciding to go out of state, then maybe they would be smart about their decisions. The student that does 2 years at a community college and lives at home but then graduates from (pick a school) still gets a piece of paper that says they are a (pick a school) graduate with a bachelors in their chosen major. I think it’s ridiculous that students can borrow more than their tuition and room/board costs which only puts them further into debt. Maybe the answer is to better educate our kids about the consequences of the choices they make.
All good points.Many companies are now working with schools providing an apprenticeship program.And you’re right about changes-how many of us in July 2008 would’ve seen the cliff the banks drove us off?That was 4 years ago.
It could also mean that the need was always there, but the schools are finally addressing it. I am sure that the students being served by these courses either weren’t admitted to my college, or did not remain to matriculate.
And now Maine, as a whole, is looked down on with this freak in Augusta at the helm….embarrassing the whole state regularly. Two more years…couldn’t go fast enough.
Golly gee, sorry you cannot see that Gov.LePage is doing his job.
It amazes me that there are still people out there that would rather defend LePage’s outrageous lies, and abuses, than admit that voting for him was a mistake. Beyond reasonable comprehension. Sorry if my spelling and grammar is lacking, I was educated in Maine don’t cha know.
He’s not…even in the slightest sense of the word.
Plus, he is going to blow a gasket with all that anger and negativity. Being Franco-American, he has a genetic disposition for heart disease. I do not know why he seems to not care about his health. I bet he is already on cholesterol and high blood pressure medicine. With the holy trilogy, the next to come is diabetes (which he may already have given his weight).
Name one item that constitutes his job – other than sitting in the governor’s chair and residing in the mansion.
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His job is represent the citizens. When the citizens vote for an initiative, he is not doing the job of representative when he vetos their wishes. He is doing what Lepage wants. The job is to effectuate the will of the people not pursue a personal agenda in defiance of the majority of Mainers and demean its residents who do not agree.
You seem to describe the President and not the Governor. our Gov. is doing His job. and doing it well.
Make your voice heard this year and in 2014.Don’t wait two years.The time since LePage’s election have already harmed Maine almost beyond repair.
He should find mercy in his heart and resign.
Perhaps it’s because folks like Lepage are the national visage of our state’s population.
Folks, it’s not about programs, teachers, administrators, unions, low pay, high pay, pensions, continuing contracts etc. etc. etc. it’s about us and the society we’ve created. In our new society it’s always someone else’s fault. Everything mentioned by me and others here have some relevance but all pale in comparison to the real problem, US! What does it cost to fix that? Nothing. We need to actively raise responsible, respectful, and ambitious children. In that vain we are failing. Don’t believe me? Go substitute in a school for a few weeks. Politicians like Mr. LePage or Mr. Bowen who say they have the answer are only scamming us because they know most of us don’t want and won’t take responsibility for this failure.
So what’s the scam here? To make public education into hundreds of for profit businesses. Want to know how that will work out? I suggest you take a good look at how for profit businesses care for our elderly in their (Largely corporate these days) nursing homes. I guarantee that if creeps like LePage get their way here we’ll see similar failures for our children as we now seem willing to accept for our parents and grandparents. The only difference being that the neglect and abuse in the name of increased profits will start at age five.
Lastly, we just spent a year of listening to the many very ODD comments and positions of Paul LePage. If after all you’ve heard you still believe he or anyone connected to him has anything positive to add to a discussion of how best to raise student test scores then you might just want to skip H.S. and or college and just send all your kids directly to Wal-Mart or Marden’s. Thanks to Paul’s weakening of child labor laws they can now start there sooner than ever.
I agree with what you say but you didn’t give us a solution. What is your solution other than to can LePage which changes nothing. Remember that democrats ran this State for 40 years and its not like we were prosperous under their iron fisted rule.
Clearly you and I are not on the same track here. If you agreed with me then you would know that politics have very little to do with the solution. It’s actually a bit sad that while demanding a solution you simultaneously demonstrate the problem. We need better parents who take parenting seriously. Period.
If anyone needs someone else to tell them how to love and properly prepare their children to be responsible, respectful, and ambitious human beings then sadly the real solution may be beyond their grasp. For such folks they might as well just stay on or move into Mr. LePage’s corner of looking to mindlessly “Blame Someone Else” while going on another exceedingly expensive government experiment relating to how best to educate children. When was the last time ANY of those worked out well?
The two latest, No Child Left Behind was a massive FLOP, just as has been our own State’s Maine Learning Results. Flop after flop. Just teach your kids how to be good people and the problems we see in education would largely vanish overnight. I know, never gonna happen. It’s always gonna be easier to let someone else try and do that, then blame them when it inevitably doesn’t happen.
No, we had governors, who legislated WITH the legislature as that is how the process works, who were Republicans and Independent as well as Democrats, and this “iron fisted” stuff is a bunch of nonsense. Legislation was mostly very bi-partisan and done in a very congenial and reasoned manner. What is the first thing the TeaRadicals did when they got in? Suppress voting rights, try to end choice rights, try to end collective bargaining, … in other words, the corporate toadie TeaRadical national ALEC/Koch Brothers/Heritage Center agenda.
Le Page’s supporters believe in a tyrannical head of state.
Where are Lepage’s and Bowen’s solutuions? Other than continual negativity and stomping on people. Bowen only taught for a couple of years in the Rockland area. He has no clue. How about positive change rather than continued cut-throat comments and proposed mandates. This type of leadership does not work and I encourage you to research leadership if you do not believe me. They will both do more harm than good when the dust settles.
I was with you until I started reading your second paragraph. What would we get if schools were run by for-profit corporations? Like everything else, they would become cheaper, and increase in quality. That is of course assuming that they aren’t regulated, and controlled out the bum like our healthcare system is.
But the overall point here is that the quality of our kids educations need to start at home.
As a student from Maine who has gone out of state for both school and for work, I can say that I have never been taken as less intelligent because of where I am from. I feel that the schools I attended in Maine prepared me well for college and for the workforce and I would not have chosen to grow up anywhere else.
It’s a shame that LePage needs to insult teachers, administrators, and schools in order to make his point. He is correct to say that Maine schools (like schools from any other state) need to improve, but his inflammatory rhetoric certainly does not help the cause.
Well said.
Ditto. I went to a prestigious private school outside of Maine and it was totally paid for by the school. I even had an internship at the French Embassy in Boston. Not too shabby for someone who is looked down upon because I am from Maine.
Is the guv’s dismay at Maine students being “looked down upon” based on personal experience? Hmmmmm.
Other than that, where is his concern over the poor preparation for school too many kids get at home, the place where it all ought to begin? As the population continues dumbing and numbing itself, the chances for any schools to turn things around will grow dimmer and dimmer. Remember where Pogo found the enemy.
First of all, I would like to see where LePage gets his stats from with regard to our children attending schools out of state and being looked down upon as well as the stat that 20 years ago schools were excited to get kids from Maine. I have not found this to be the case at all. I agree that there are problems with our education system, however, I think it is the way it is managed. The problem is with the administrators — they seem to care more about themselves than the students. Teachers need to be involved with teaching techniques and policies.
I have worked out of state on several jobs, and they loved us guys from Maine don’t let the Canadian fool you the work ethic of Mainers is still strong, we just need jobs.
I can tell you this, emphatically…in the oil field (Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Brazil, etc.) you’d better believe big energy companies like Chevron, BG, BP, Conoco Phillips et al know and appreciate the Maine work ethic, and that’s exactly how their HR departments refer to it.
Qualified MMA grads who want jobs are well-prepared and don’t have any issues finding or filling those jobs.
He’s out of control
Just when you think that LePage has run out of people or a group of people to insult he comes up with another person or group. Now it’s Maine Students who are being insulted by LePage. Referring to students LePage said,
“I don’t care where you go in this country. If you come from Maine you’re looked down upon,” Our workers lack skills, we are a welfare state, we are lazy lay- abouts who will not get off the couch, our state workers are corrupt, our teachers can’t teach and now our kids are stupid. Will this guy ever say anything positive about Maine people? Maine students have consistently placed higher then the US average. Currently they are ranked number 12 in the Nation, which means that the students from 38 other states rank below Maine’s. He compares Maine with Mississippi which has consistently been ranked at either the lowest or very close to lowest as far as education in the US is concerned. Does anyone seriously doubt that it is a lot harder to go from being number 12 to number 11 then it does going from number 50 to 48? When he was running for Governor in 2010 he promised us that he could create JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. While the Nation’s unemployment rate for the most part is falling Maine’s is on the rise and it has been since December of 2011. There are less jobs in Maine today then the day Paul Richard LePage took office (US Dept. of Labor). Personal income is lower in Maine today then the day Paul Richard LePage took office. Every week LePage comes up with something new to deflect us away from these facts which show what an abject failure his administration has been. The last few weeks it was calling the IRS “the new gestapo”. This week it’s our kids that are stupid and looked down upon by everyone outside the State of Maine. To use an old Maine saying, “that’s a crock”. Our kids aren’t stupid Mr. LePage, our people aren’t lazy Mr. LePage, our state workers aren’t corrupt Mr. LePage and our teachers can teach Mr. LePage or else Maine kids wouldn’t be ranked number 12 out of 50. If there is something about Maine that is a failure it is you Mr. LePage and your poor attempts to hide it are not making it.
You, too, seem to think that LePage ran on the promise of jobs. The other day when I mentioned that in a post someone took me apart, claiming he never said that. If he didn’t, why the heck did we elect him. Oh, yeah, we like being insulted and hurt. I wonder where Maine’s people stand in the masochism index…. probably could be higher…
He not only said it he went from one end of the state to the other saying it. He is still saying his administration’s primary focus is on jobs. He is really great about talking about jobs. Unfortunately that is where it ends.
He just distracts from the obvious to deflect the fact he does not know how to make any positive change. He has no idea how to keep what is good in our state other than financially and destruction. Simplistic, mono-focal focus. All he does is make anyone he can insult and berate feel like they are working at Marden’s and he calls them in the office so he can yell at and belittle them.
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/07/17/politics/maine-among-lowest-states-for-school-progress-harvard-study-finds/
Thanks but I already read the entire report in pdf form.
I think the man and his commissioner do not understand what the report is saying. Maybe we should have some of our students explain it to them.
By God, I think someone got it right the 1st time. You go, and don’t stop !!!
So if this plan is actually going to require schools to spend more money and time in the long run, who is actually going to pay for that? I see the person who thought of this idea did not raise his hand. So folks how else does a school get more money if the state won’t pay for it?
If your answer included the word taxes, you are correct….see Maine doesn’t have an education problem, just a leadership problem.
Not everyone feels that Maine students are looked down on. It is also not always the school’s fault, the student should shoulder some blame for poor work. Though I have personally seen some people in college that did not have the requisite skills to do basic algebra though they were themselves quite bright in other disciplines, that in part could be do to the school system. It won’t be an easy fix to make education better, but it will take a different approach for each locale, there is no one size fits all for this.
There he goes with the union bashing again. His handlers will be happy.
“I don’t care where you go in this country. If you come from Maine you’re
looked down upon,” said LePage. “Twenty years ago if you came from
Maine, they couldn’t wait to get you into their school.”
So the statement was clarified for Paullie as follows and he still did not get it.
“Dale Douglass, executive director of the Maine School Management
Association, wrote in a July 19 bulletin to the association’s members
that LePage “misses the real story on student achievement in Maine.” He
argued that Maine’s NAEP scores remain in the top tier nationally and
that the state’s poor ranking in the Harvard study is because it becomes
harder and harder to improve scores when the scores are already high
compared to other states.”
This from Wiki.
“As originally conceived, the ideal model of a charter school was as a legally and financially autonomous public school
(without tuition, religious affiliation, or selective student
admissions) that would operate much like a private business—free from
many state laws and district regulations, and accountable more for
student outcomes rather than for processes or inputs (such as Carnegie Units and teacher certification requirements).”
Yeah soon it will be private businesses that run schools……. Good idea to let the corporations take over teaching? Maybe we can have a vulture capitalist school named Bain University. Where they can actually teach outsourcing of more American jobs.
Let’s face it comprehension was never one of LiarPages strong points.
Although I did not hear it in this outburst, the anti intellectual republicans only think education is good if……….. the 20 commandments (Moses dropped 10 remember) unintelligent design and reading, ‘ riting and ‘ rithmatic r all that r taught in skewls.
Where has he been to hear others say how bad Maine students are? Florida probably. Or the Caribbean.
No Canada, during his Draft Dodging Years.
All Maine students should be outraged with his statement.
I was more horrified about 7 years ago, while working in NH. A woman in my office moved from Mass to Southern Maine and her kids were freaking out. They didn’t want to be from Maine because people would think they were stupid hicks. Their friends had started teasing them to that effect. Like it or not and true or not, that perception is out there and it’s not a new phenomenon.
Like it or not,there’s no shortage of those.I was in Aroostook Cty. in 2008 when Todd Palin was up there.What a sad,sorry,uneducated lot.The worst of Maine and the worst of America.
They weren’t looked down on as students, they were looked down on because we are perceived to be backward and backwoodsy. Actually, we feel the same about people from some other states, too. That doesn’t validate his claim that Maine students are looked down on. I wonder how many people look down on Maine’s governor? I know R’s in my family who live in other states that call and e-mail me regularly about his behavior. Maybe he should do something about that!
It is not the students of Maine that are looked down on, it is our Gov’nah. Yes, schools must continue to improve and meet the current students’ educational needs, but the unrelenting thrashing and bashing by Big Paulie and the MHPC commish are not helpful or warranted. They talk about the need to work together but do not lead by example. They are teaching a whole new generation about being a bully and close minded, however.
Well said Governor LePage. You are a man with a vision. Too bad the commentators here can’t see what you are doing. They are too busy whining and bad mouthing. Nothing positive gets accomplished when people constantly wail. Keep it up Gov., you rock!!
Bwahahahahaha…This buffoon of a governor has the vision of a Neanderthal. Actually, that is an insult to the memory of Neanderthals.
Never let the facts get in the way of emotions.
Another insane remark from the Gov. and he insulted all the kids that work hard for their grades. I know a lot of students that graduated and went to some impressive colleges in Mass. Will someone please tell this Governor to “think”before he speaks..
Well maybe we need to adhere to the “No Child Left Behind Act.” I think he is following that law. Read it for yourselves.
When and where would the student have to show accountability?
Where do we draw the line between teachers responsibility and the student to do their work? I’ve known many lazy students, who don’t or refused to do the work.
How about people who are retarded? There is only so much they are capable of doing.
Exactly. I have seen so many students not take high seriously: don’t do their homework or skip school or goof off in class. In most cases, if they had made even half the effort there would not be the need for as much remediation.
My God, where does LePage get these sick ideas from? Every day, another sick thought from an unstable mind.
Who cares what he says. He will be losing his power in November and will be a smelly footnote in Maine politics when he gets the boot after that. He has done nothing in his first two years and will be a lame duck in his final two.
LeBUFFOON, what is “stagnant, dismal, and failing” is YOUR so-called plan to create “jobs jobs jobs” in Maine and also your very brain. You are lecturing us on education when you pull down history murals and hide them giving twenty or so changing reasons for doing so, you tell people to “kiss my b—.”, you have tantrums and swear in front of reporters, you tell our women they might “grow little beards” when you put more toxics in our products, you try to suppress voter rights and many other rights, you could care less about our environment, you refuse to release bond funds that have been approved by voters and will actually create some “jobs jobs jobs,” and your latest colossal ignorance and lies about the Affordable Care Act along with the ultra-boneheaded “Gestapo” comment show you are the poster of child of someone who is dismally uneducated. That Gestapo foolishness doesn’t begin to demonstrate that you are anywhere near a thinking person. You stand there and talk about education while you give tax cuts to rich people who then shelter it and don’t create a single job, then you cut HeadStart, a proven early childhood education program for at-risk children. You have ZERO credibility on the issue, and your plans are just more of the nonsensical Heritage Foundation crapola snake oil you TeaRadicals are always trying to peddle. Over the last 15 years we have had education “reform” upon “reform” via state learning results standards, No Child Left Behind at the federal level,
response to interventions, and on and on. What “works” is not some gimmick like “school choice” or giving our tax dollars to church schools. What “works” is what has always worked. That means schools with control and discipline which insist on good behavior and hard work but also offer a caring environment and a lot to say yes to. What works is teachers who lead well-structured classes, know their subjects, and engage a community of learners while making them work hard and making sure they know that it can’t always be “fun.” What works are schools that work with parents and send a message that they need to do their part at home to support and value education and set expectations for their kids. Two thirds of all the factors that impact academic learning are directly tied to issues outside the school. That means love and caring at home. Stability in the home life. A healthy diet. Making sure kids get enough rest. Supporting homework. Etc. We have good schools, teachers, and administrators in Maine. We generally provide a very good product overall given our tough demographics. We don’t need the Heritage Policy Center Twins telling our education professionals anything. Especially this goofball governor whose power is going to get cut off at the knees come November when the reins of the legislature change hands in a big way and we return to moderate, reasoned legislating and not the radical circus we’ve had over these last few years.
So, how’s that “more money for the kids” from the Teacher’s Unions all these years been working out for you? Finally a Governor who DOES CARE about the “kids” and their education!
No! he is twisting the meaning of the Harvard study in order to further his union-bashing agenda. Lie much with statistics?
To say he’s the first Governor in a long time to care about education is inaccurate. They all do- they just have different ways of trying to fix it.
Would the teachers be able to teach better if we doubled their pay and pensions?
No- but you might lure better STEM people into the profession.
Not until parents show that they respect learning — read to their little ones every night. Sing nursery rhymes to them in the bathtub and the high chair. Encourage their children to go to the library and explore all sorts of books. Play a variety of music in the home and urge music and fine art exploration. Yes — and play outdoors instead of a sitting in front of a TV or computer screen. Expose them to the news and eat meals together with intelligent discussion. I grew up in a working class household and received all that and more. I mean… you can pour water on a rock…. Don’t blame teachers… for every poor teacher there are 20 who are excellent and struggle to nurture the resistant soil they are expected to plant seeds in.
A M E N !My neighbor is that negative example.All five of his kids are getting”special help”
which is bankrupting us.Yet his TV is bigger than my truck and there are TVs all over the house-zero books.Surprise-the whole family ia fat and dumb.Sound like anyone we know?
So, how’s that “more money for the kids” from the Teacher’s Unions all these years been working out for you? Finally a Governor who DOES CARE about the “kids” and their education!
also “Maine Residents Looked Down Upon For Having Elected Gov. LePage”
You dummycrats spew your venum about the governor calling a spade a spade. The fact is the education system in Maine is not producing enough skilled people into the workforce. And now after years of poor governance and the growth of a demacratic lead entitlement based scociety we Mainers are now suffering the consequences. Our schools spend more on special ed than they do on advanced placement classes. charter schools baby, charter schools!!!!!!!!!
The nice thing about charter schools is that the teachers can distribute corporal punishment if a kid doesn’t do as told. Once kids know they will be beaten, the will do their work!
Now that is funny. I went to catholic elementary school in the early sixties and experienced that type of atmosphere.
Do you mean that state and federal laws won’t apply inside charter schools? will they be able to rob and steal? How about child abuse laws? I didn’t know about this. I think it may be a worse idea than I originally thought. Who’s going to run them- Jerry Sandusky?
Maybe, in some cases- but kids from bad situations- won’t motivate them a bit. And state law prohibits corporal punishment.
Lepage is working to have corporal punishment reinstated.
Re-read the article please.. the Governor is clearly twisting the meaning of the Harvard report to support his political agenda. What’s sad is that its so transparent.. did he go to school in Maine? Maybe he’s right after all…
And guess what? Charter schools won’t be taking special education students, especially those with behavior issues.
Charter schools are often a cover for the parents who want to cram God,creationism and prayer down everyone’s throats without them paying for parochial schools.BEWARE!
Schools have to provide the services the students who come to them need; if they need special education, that is what they get. That is federal law. The percentage of students who need advanced placement classes may not be the same as the percentage of those who qualify for special education. As a result the amount of a school budget devoted to each is often a reflection of the needs of the students in a particular district in a particular year. Special education is only an option for students who are professionally tested (using nationally recognized testing instruments, such as the Woodcock-Johnson, WISC and others which provide “reliable” and “valid” data) and are found to have a disability. Students who have average, below average or above average abilities, who are disengaged, unmotivated, dealing with family issues, etc. do not receive special education. However, they do, in many districts receive additional instruction in the areas they struggle with.
Just because we all went to school does not mean our experiences are universal, nor does it give us the expertise to know what is needed by every student in each school.
He can say what he wants to say without being so offensive. Hard to get people to come to your understanding when you are so insulting, even if you’re right.
yes I agree. These arguments are becoming far to inflammatory. politics above reason?
I like the governors position on many points to get the state in financial order, but his mid-evil approach is often demeaning. This approach will bear little fruit.
Lets just have the schools give each other awards. That will make people feel good about their schools.. Everyone gets an award so nobody feels left out.. I like it when people give themselves awards and put it in the paper. I get a great feeling inside, and you will too if you get an award.
Lepage, you’ve got to stop posting after your bedtime.
You mean like the OPEGA award last week?
Interesting FACT – My daughter attends a school in Manhattaan and she is at the top of her class receiving a full tuition scholarship. I am aware of several other students who are graduates of Maine high schools who are receiving similar accolades. Lepage is blowing smoke again simply to get a knee- jerk reaction. He is the one who just doesn’t get it. If you want to motivate someone to do a better job, you point out things they are doing well and suggest ways they can improve. Lepage has failed Leadership 101 several times over.
Public education in Maine hasn’t failed my children. All three were accepted and excelled at highly selective New England liberal arts colleges and were awarded generous scholarships so we could afford to send them. They’re all working out of state and doing well but can’t find work in Maine. Criticizing schools is a red herring, a distraction from the true issue. Where are the jobs, Mr. LePage?
“We can all sit back and stick our heads in the sand and pretend we don’t have a problem, or we can get together to work on it,” said (LePage) the voters.
All I can say is I went to a crap school. I was bullied in elementary school and chose not to attend recess because I didn’t want to be bullied and beat up. I had a crap home life and homework was unnecessary for me I knew the material and could pass whatever test the put in front of me but my home life was crap and I didn’t have it in me to do homework. My third grade teacher decided the best punishment for not doing my homework was to force me to go outside for recess. I remember being thrown into a pond by several other kids kicking and screaming only to have the teacher come up to me and tell me I wasn’t supposed to play in the pond. High school was just as crap, again I passed and aced most tests but I didn’t do the homework. I asked the principle for any other option to traditional high school, his reply was that I wasn’t on drugs and those programs were for the druggies. I didn’t pass a single class, I still advanced and ended up in some AP classes because I wasn’t stupid, I knew the material but they required homework and if I couldn’t finish it in study hall I didn’t do it.
I think schools need to do more to teach the individual child rather than box all children in the same group. If a child’s home life is crap and guess what it’s more common than you want to admit, sometimes giving out hours of homework isn’t really helping that child learn. and when a child is smart and can ace any test you give them, maybe we shouldn’t require them to repeat the same boring information over and over again just because the other half of the class doesn’t get it.
Until this short-sighted politician stops throwing teachers to the ground and education into the ditch, everyone will be “looking down” on Maine students.
It’s called gravity…..
Gravity? I guess it starts at the bottom and its not the teachers although there are good and bad like any other profession. From my experience with local education most often its the Parents fault for not preparing their children for school or teaching them to be responsible and accountable in their lives from an early age. Education starts when they are infants. unprepared students are parasites to the education system sucking up many of the resources that shoud be used for higher education.
And current economic conditions are making this worse.
From some of the comments posted on here it is very clear to me that reading and understanding the English language seems to be a problem for posters here.
Such as,Guidelines for posting, go back and carefully read guidelines #1 and #2.
After you finish the process of reading the guidelines for posting,go back and read the last paragraph of the article,the last paragraph will put everything into perspective concerning the way public schools are mismanaged in the state of Maine.
I must say, for once, our Governor is closer to right than wrong. And while his assertion that “Maine kids don’t get no respect” is a little silly, the fact remains: our kids are not cutting it academically. There are many to blame, for sure, but how about a couple ideas to level the playing field for all Maine kids? One, make the most of our academic infrastructure and hold school nearly all year round. We’re not an agrarian society any more and our school year should reflect the way most people live and works. An extended summer vacation interrupts the learning cadence and leaves many kids in a lurch for the warm months.
Next, let’s flat fund all Maine schools. The way we fund now ensures that the rich get richer while poorer districts struggle. Who suffers? Surely not the students from Cape Elizabeth. We should create policy with the benefit of all students in mind.
There are plenty of districts where the TPers want prayer to pay for everything.They will not pay for anything,no matter how important.
Ummmmm people look down at this state because of who and what our foot in the mouth governor is….
‘Among the proposals LePage says he intends to champion are holding low-performing schools accountable for their failures, perhaps by having state government take schools over in the most extreme cases where other interventions fail, and requiring any high school whose students require remedial coursework in college to pay for those courses.’ Well THAT should be cheap and easy to do- and now the state is ‘taking over’ local schools….yeah sounds like smaller government to me pfffffffft.
“LePage also cited Department of Education data that indicates 54 percent of students entering the Maine Community College System, and more than 20 percent of students entering the university system require remedial coursework.”
Ever think that might be because people who have been out of school for many, many years are going BACK to college and need a refresher in a few subjects? I don’t see where the data are broken down by age or by years since graduation. That’s why remedial classes are available.
re·me·di·al/riˈmēdēəl/
Adjective:Giving or intended as a remedy or cure.Provided or intended for students who are experiencing learning difficulties.
Did someone forget to tell Mr. LePage that in the daily instructions he receives every day? You know, that paper that tells him what the Teapots want him to say that day?
Out The Door in 2014!
Typical, creating a “hate” atmosphere when none exists, to scare people into doing it his way. My daughters went through the Maine schools, and one was accepted at Amherst College and given very nice scholarships there. Visited many colleges, never saw any of the “looking down’ the Governor is talking about. Smoke and mirrors seem to be the way he governs, no substance.
The best example of Maine’s education failures is the thought processes of LePage.
It’s going to be an up hill battle. Many students understand that the gov. will care for them so why bother to actually do better in school. With the exception of a few parents, many parents don’t wish to take the time to teach their child or are unable to teach their child fundamentals in learning. The schools have passed out labels that make excuse’s for the students not to learn. The unions are more concerned with getting the best deals for the teachers and last of all are the restrictions upon the teachers to be able to just teach. Unraveling this whole mess would mean undoing a lot of the garbage that we ourselves have forced upon the learning establishment. If a child gets into trouble at school, the same should happen at home instead of a parent marching down to the school and blaming any one but the child, usually in a very undignified way. Parents teach their children to be defiant to authority and have reduced the teachers to nothing more than glorified baby sitters. Then you have those in charge trying to treat those on the front lines with disrespect and the union steps in. The union demands things that the tax payer just cannot afford. In order to gain more funding the schools label the kids with some sort of tag that not only gets more funding for the districts but makes an excuse as to why the students are not doing well. It is like having 4 cooks making a gourmet supper in a 5×10 kitchen, the product gets burned or under cooked. Students are learning just what they are being taught by everyone.
It is my beleif that this puppet has no concern what so ever as to student acheivement. His only concern is pushing the school Privatisation Agenda!
I didn;t see no Open for Student Sign on the Turnpike!!
What nerve this guy has to suggest this about Maine’s students. If Maine is looked down on it is LePage’s ham handed bungling that has caused it. November can’t come soon enough.
Although I think Gov. Lepage has said and done some regrettable things, he got this one right when he said “It (our educational system in Maine) puts unions and superintendents before students, and leaves an unacceptable number of students behind”
This is so true, when will we stop cowering down to these unions and start focusing on what is best for our children. Unions have no place in the educational system, they really have no place in our modern society as there are plenty of govt. agencies now looking out for workers rights and safety. Let’s take a common sense approach to this problem in our schools and get our children back to the top in terms of education so we can turn this state around.
Unions have helped up the strength of the middle class. Have their been abuses? Sure, but, overall, they help keep management honest. Would you trust your job security on an ego-maniac like LePage?
LePage’s relentlessly negative tone is remarkable. He hits and runs, badgers and blusters, postures and rants, always complaining. And he is never, ever responsible for whatever conditions he decides to complain about. Come November, the Plutocrats (aka Republicans) will pay for this clown’s presence in the Blaine House in the Legislature. LePage will consequently lose his constitutional officers and pull a Palin, whining and blaming everyone except himself.
She quit halfway through her term.Maybe we’ll get as lucky.
The Governor still doesn’t get that schools are not like his Marden’s stores. School A could have totally different issues than School B. When we started spending too much time on standardized testing is when Maine started dropping. Looking at best practices in schools that appear to be more successful is a great idea, but how to fund it? Many, many schools are underfunded as it is.
Our gov. IS like Marden’s.We have the lowest paid gov in all the states(tied)and he’s still far overpaid.Even the Blaine House is discounted.
I hope it is cleaner than many of the Marden’s I’ve been in.
The comment “looked down upon” can’t be more vague. By how many people? By which people? How does he know?
Sounds like gossip reporting for OK! magazine.
It does sound sensationlized, that’s for sure.
The Harvard study could not be any more clearer: affirmative action and mediocrity averaging have produced a generation of monosyllabic morons, incapable of logic, reason and ill-prepared to enter the workplace as reliable and productive citizens. Just spend a few moments in a public school corridor and witness what has been wrought at the hands of complicit administrators and liberal-biased teachers. It is heartbreaking that millions of deserving students — who really only needed to be challenged — have been cast away like so many useless scraps of paper that litter the bathroom floors. Striving for mediocrity while rejecting hard work and discipline ultimately produces an incompetent breed of lackluster serfs who worship government dependency and long sessions of slumber.
You might want to look up the words” Affirmative Action” It’s not what you might think it means.
You’re blaming the wrong thing. The national test we are giving kids don’t measure things like logic, reasoning, and creativity- all they measure is how many facts are crammed into kids’ heads. And to avoid being on the AYP list, we have to teach to the test. At least that is the cheapest way.
Couldn’t be any more clear? Then why’d you feel the need to throw in a bunch of garbage that wasn’t mentioned at all in the study?
But everyone gets a trophy!
It sure sounds like the gov.should be talking about the maine lawmakers and himself.Most of the lawmakers are themselves stagnated and the gov does not have a report card yet and they should.They have beat the DHHS horse to death so now it is time to move on to another one,
Actually LePage was talking about himself: “Failing, Dismal and Stagnant”…
This statement will certainly shine with any business dazzled by the shiny new sign and looking to relocate here.Oh wait,there haven’t been any.
Again LePage has no clue what he is talking about. Maine students are not looked down upon. All these are good schools. We moved here from a big city. Adverage class size was between 50 and 60 students.Where teachers don’t know your childs name. Gang activity does start in middle school. The teachers job also included breaking up fights. Never a night went by that our dinner conversations were based on what fights my kids saw in school that day. Also if a fire ever broke out in any of those big schools a lot of kids would not make it out alive. You want to keep attacking Maine schools go visit some of these big schools, then you will understand and appreciate how lucky you are having your kids in a small school. It’s not only the teachers job to educate your kids.. Parents are have to be involved. Everyone has a role.
You know, it’s interesting… 40 or 50 years ago it was not uncommon that public and parochial schools averaged class sizes in the 40-60 student range. Discipline and respect, especially in the parochial schools, was de rigueur, and students were removed when they dressed inappropriately or “acted out” to gain attention. In point of fact, education was at the forefront of the education system, unlike what has come to transpire at the hands of the nouveau social manipulators who wish to foment emotional issues and abscond with parental responsibilities. The problem continues to be exacerbated and unlikely will go away in the near future because the public education system has lost its high calling in lieu of serving other masters.
Those methods would not work in today’s schools. Society has changed too much.
I’d say the problem lies more with the political demonization of teachers and schools. Why would a student respect their teacher if their parents and political leaders don’t?
Scary part is we have many young men, because of the lack of good jobs and a promising economic future, are getting less respectful of society’s rules.
People need to watch the video of the the govenor illustrating the graph.The finger he’s using shows exactly what he thinks of education and teachers in this state.
As a native Mainer, I am as offended by “I don’t care where you go in this country. If you come from Maine, you’re looked down upon” as anything this buffoon has said since he has been a candidate for office. That has not been my experience at ALL in my 56 years of life. Go back to Florida, Guv, and the sooner the better.
… and shouldn’t a state’s governor be promoting the state’s citizens and resources instead of declaring incorrectly that they’re a national joke? Let’s please all start looking now for a viable candidate to replace this man.
Governor LePage seems to be campaigning hard for de-election. I don’t think he really likes his job.
Really, Maine looked down on? Do we have to be reminded that Texas does not want to teach critical thinking skills?
I just heard this guy on the radio trying to form sentences that explain the ABC plan, Yikes!!
One minute Lepage is telling us Maine companies can’t keep good help because Maine graduates can find better pay out of state, and now Lepage tells us Maine’s graduates are “looked down upon” nationally.
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Did you see this rant on the news, the man is out of control. Commissioner Stephen Bowen looked to be uncomfortable often looking up the the ceiling, while La Pudge ranted on. The Education Plan is full of Rhetoric, short of ideas, short of specifics, and as usual an unfunded mandate.
Mainers “looked down upon” by other states. What a grossly generalized statement. Where is the data to support that comment? Here he goes again with the scare tactics. People can show their fear factor in November.
Repeated public ranting, raving, lying and accusing are signs of someone in need of counseling.
“We can all sit back and stick our heads in the sand and pretend we don’t have a problem, or we can get together to work on it,” said LePage
The real problem is that LePage doesn’t know how to work together without throwing a fit or name-calling.
I’ll agree to hold my head in the sand as long as he does. With any luck, that will rid the folks of Maine of both of us.
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maybe it’s because maine students play with their school-supplied laptops more than they pay attention to the teacher.
Maine doesn’t prepare students for the real world.
They issue apple laptops to each student, but no one in the real world uses apple!
Do the scientists at CERN use it?
Does the government use it?
Does any major corporation (other than apple inc.) use it?
The answer is a resounding NO!
Couple that with the fact that many students use their laptops for goofing off and surfing the net while they should be paying attention, and you have a recipe for failure.
I sure that the Apple company crossed some palms with gold when the laptop program was introduced.
A chip off the Lepage block utilizing the “its true because I say it is” research technique. Here is tha data from independent surveys on current MAC use. The Maine Court system and some Federal courts uses it as well. So much for the government not using it. As for goofing off on laptops of any brand, the teachers cannot be blamed for the personal choices of students who do not work. (note the attached data is 4 years old , Apple’s share now is significantly higher) THe CERN website indicates it offers security software to its employees in MAC and PC. Basically “0” on accuracy and not quite “resounding”.
Nearly 80 percent of businesses have Macs in-house, nearly double the number that said they had users running Mac OS X two years ago, a research firm said Thursday.
“Then we were talking about onesies and twosies,” said Laura DiDio, a Yankee Group research fellow who conducted a survey of over 700 senior IT administrators and C-level executives. “Now the number of actual users is very significant. A number of the businesses said that they had 50 or 100 or even several thousand Macs deployed.”
In early 2006, when DiDio last polled corporate IT professionals on Mac deployment, 47 percent said that they had Apple hardware in their environments.
DiDio was impressed with the growth of Macs in business considering that Apple Inc. itself has put little to no official effort into that part of the market. “This isn’t a tidal wave, but it’s certainly a sustained trend,” she said. “Apple has a beachhead in business. Where it once had just 1-2 percent market share in corporate, now they’re up to 8-10 percent,” DiDio added.
Twenty-one percent of the firms surveyed reported they had deployed more than 50 Macs.
Where do you get your information? The law is quite clear in Maine about corporal punishment. The only right a school employee has to physically discipline a student is to restrain him/her to prevent him/her from harming him/herself or others.
This is an on going issue in todays education arena. I beleive that it is part student and part education. Also some of the course structure at the university level is overlooked in the high schools thus making some registration conditional on the completion of a remedial class. Maybe we need to colaborate more between the high schools and colleges to lessen this.
The facts speak for themselves. A large portion of our students need remediation in reading in college. This is not the fault of the teachers. They are teaching what they have been given. We need to take a look at the reading programs used in successful schools. We need to push phonics in addition to teaching sight words. The lions share of the day in grades one, two and three should be spent on making sure our children are learning how to read using the most effective strategies. In many schools the emphasis is on teaching words by sight only. This is only effective for a limited number of words. Emphasizing speed of reading sight words done in many classrooms is counterproductive. Let’s work together to get these children reading early and there will be no more need for remediation in college.
The governor’s words ring hollow when the state dumps the burden of funding education to the local municipalities. How about holding the State accountable for funding education at 55% as State Law requires ? The amount of waste and ineffeciency in State government could easily help fund education.
If there was a way to hold the parents accountable along with the schools I would be more than happy with this approach. A teacher can only do so much. They are not parents, they are instructors and guides to our children. The education needs to start at home!
The voice of Doom and Destruction continues to freely utter his daily diatribes always replete with a picture of his sneering countenance.
Finding something bad to say on a daily basis about Maine, its people and even its children, is no problem. Besides it appears to go unchallenged. That is until you reach the last four paragraphs of this story where David Douglass, exec’ dir’ of the Me School Mgt Ass’n strongly rebuts Le Page’s accusations.
By then, it’s too late. Le Page’s tea party crew are cheering for their hero. Who cares what Douglass says? Le Page is their king. Surely reference to Douglass’s assertions could have been made toward the top of the story – to show a balance between Le Page’s claims and those claims that show them to be false?
Le Page’s belligerence is much akin to that uttered tirelessly by tea party clan members and supporters – Bachmann, Romney, Cantor, Ryan, Rove, Cheney, McConnell. Each day they blast away and flood the media with their rants. The day after, or, a few days later, a barely heard or seen retraction is recorded.
Le Page should resign.
Somebody get this man another plate of triple bacon cheeseburgers. We need a recall process, and at the moment, cholesterol is about our only option.
LEPAGE FACT ACCURACY DISMAL
The Harvard study (if you actually read it) states a reason for Iowa and Maine being in the bottom of the improvement level is because the other states had to “catch up”. It could not be determined how much the “catch up ” factor played in the analysis. The actual test scores using the same test as the Harvard Study of Maine 4th grade math scores in 2011 are found here :
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/statecomparisons/withinyear.aspx?usrSelections=0%2cMAT%2c5%2c0%2cwithin%2c0%2c0. Maine is in the top 15. In addition, the study says it can not determine the reason for the improvement or lack there of. There is no support or even a suggestion in the study that it is teachers, the unions or administrators. That is nothing more than the personal opinion of the uninformed person occupying the Blaine House. Half truths, distorted facts, poor analysis, and the deliberate deletion of facts to support an agenda is what we get from the Lepage office. To suggest colleges are looking down on Maine students is completely unsupported by empirical data and is yet another example of judgment by opinion.
Truth is one forever absolute, but opinion is truth filtered through the moods, the blood, the disposition of the spectator. Wendell Phillips
So. LePage wants to increase local property taxes to pay for “remedial” studies.
He wants government to take over “failing” schools.
Looks like more tax money and government control are the answers – according to the Penguin in Chief.
Tea Party Big Government Socialism.
Yessah
Bowen looks browbeat in the picture above. If I were him and cared about my reputation, I would look for a new job as quick as I could. Education is not his forte.
The superintendents meet pretty often with Commissioner Bowen. The governor’s statement that our educational system puts superintendents and unions before students ought to set the stage for productive discussion.
How did we end up with Paul LePage as governor? He constantly practices his ABC plan, attack, belittle, and complain.
1. Students and teachers are important.
2. If schools are not performing as someone somewhere deems they should be, close the schools.
3. What happens to the students and teachers at the closed schools?
The private sector will take over? lol
Any high school or college in Maine that has already booked a graduation speaker for this coming spring must be scrambling to graciously beg off and obtain our Governor for their commencement.
This must be why LeParagraph’s kids all went to school in Florida……not that Florida isn’t a social, educational and fiscal train wreck of a state.
…
You can bet that if any school did try that the lawsuits would be filed instantly.Schools have their own ways of getting the student body they want.
Incredible that he lied about that.
Especially now when every public figure is instantly fact checked.IDIOT.
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I must disagree most vehemently with Mr. LePage. I have five children;
all of whom have gone to out of state ivy league and other competitive
colleges and post graduate degree programs. They have all graduated
with highest honors from each one. I have one child who went to a prestigious school for one year of high school with 72 other students
from around the country; the creme de la creme shall we say. The
teachers there told me they have rarely seen a student as prepared and
in fact, the only other comparison they had was another student from
MAINE who attended this same school. My children were educated in rural Maine (within the last ten years) by dedicated and talented teachers and were superbly
prepared for college and the work force.
Mr. LePage may be ashamed of the state he lives in and the young people
who are the future of this state, but he will not convince me or my
children that they are looked down upon. Mr. LePage should once again,
be ashamed of himself and the rhetoric he uses to advance his political agenda. For shame Mr. LePage, for shame.
Much applause!You should be justly proud and the teachers appreciate your support!Maybe you should try for Bowen’s job.
So, will these laws work retroactively? I just finished my BS at UMaine – will RSU 67 refund me?
Quite the contrary, I find that coming from Maine I am treated very well. I dont know where LaPage gets the idea that we are ‘looked down upon’ but it is definitely not my experience.
The survey was about “rate of improvement’. Maybe he doesn’t understand that.
Yeah – when his daughter Lauren graduated from Florida State (with her in-state Florida tuition) – she was subjected to so much “looking down uponing” down there in Florida, her Daddy had to hire her at $41 K a year with full state benefits back here in Maine.
Poor little girl.
Yessah
How dare LePage insult our Maine students?!! As a college consultant, I can attest to the fact that our students are NOT looked down upon by colleges out of state. In fact, it may be just the opposite! Most selective colleges want more of our students because of their strong work ethic and solid educational background! It may be true that some schools are not measuring up but I do not think that all public schools should be penalized for the shortcomings of the few. Bangor has implemented strategies that have resulted in high test scores ….why not use Bangor as a model? We do NOT need privatized charter schools…we DO need a new governor, however, who knows that negativity and constant demeaning comments do not help resolve any problems…they just create more!
DUCT TAPE……someone PLEASE duct tape LePage’s mouth shut…..
LePage should be praising the accomplishments of our youngsters on these tests. They are in the top 25 %. I doubt that LeRepugnance can grasp the significance of this. What he chooses to do instead is ascribe some totally false rhetoric based on nothing but thin air that our young people are looked down upon outside of the state. He has chosen instead to treat this report as a total negative so that he can re-introduce his assinine educational reform legislation. His willingness to twist the facts to try to fit them into his pitch for the crippling of public education is about as low as he can go. This lout has no moral compass. He needs to go.
In addition to lying several times to support his contentions, a habit that Paul LePage has exhibited since before he was elected governor, he “cherry-picked” statistics from the Harvard report, completely omitting these findings:
“…Maine and Iowa were among the highest performing states in 1992, but growth in student performance is easier for those performing originally at a lower level.
The group also noted that Maine eighth graders scored higher than most of the nation on the NAEP science test in 2011, and eighth graders also put Maine among the top 10 states in reading scores in 2011. The eighth graders tied for sixth place nationally in writing scores in 2007, the most recent test data available.”
He is promoting a national political agenda of the ultra-conservative wing, not a true interest in improving education. Educators are convenient scape-goats for many of the ills of our society that they did not create, but are being held responsible for curing.
Are there teachers who are ineffective? Of course there are, just like there are poor electricians,
doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, service technicians, store clerks, engineers, and in all walks of life – oh, and let’s not leave politicians off the list. But, the vast majority of teachers that I know are dedicated, committed, caring, hard-working educators.
There is a poker expression that you “play the hand that you are dealt”. Public school teachers’ hands are the students that they are assigned. Unlike poker, they can’t drop the hand because it is “weak”. Private schools, charter schools, magnet schools, and their kin have the luxury of selecting the students that they admit and dismissing those that they do not desire to keep.
There is much more to say, but here is one more point for now to consider – a contradiction – that all teachers face.
On one hand there is the call for educators to challenge students more, to make them more accountable to work hard and to use their abilities in concert with their potential. This will result in a larger number of failing students, at least initially, requiring those students to take longer to succeed academically. Also, all people learn at different rates and may have strengths in some areas
and weaknesses in others. Others may not ever achieve a level of proficiency, even if they try.
On the other hand are the federal and State laws and policies that concurrently include punitive measures if students don’t meet ever-changing standards and do not graduate “on time” (i.e. those students who must remain in school longer in order to master the skills). Schools are held accountable for the drop-out rate which, in part, is a reflection of the standards that are expected to be met. Students who drop out and return to school are still counted as drop-outs at a point in time.
Students and teachers are constantly reacting to the “inititive(s) of the day” from government. LePage and Bowen are just the latest examples in a long-standing, lengthy list. In Maine, teachers have literally worked for years developing curriculum and utilizing ascribed pedagogical methodology, only to summarily be told to forget it because there was a “new” plan – back to the
drawing board.
Teachers are “damned if they do and damned if they don’t”.
Every time LePage and others take their shots at educators and schools, they demean the entire
profession and make the task of educating students exponentially more difficult. We need excellent teachers, but attacking them for political gain because it plays well to part of the electorate will not improve education, it will worsen it.
One of my children, an “A” student who graduated from college summa cum laude (with highest distinction) decided to become a teacher and I attempted to convince them to choose another profession. Why? Because I don’t want them to have to endure all of the garbage that is being tossed at educators by too many people who are clueless.
That’s it, gov. Keep driving people and businesses away.
Why does the governor think it’s good policy to continually trash the state of Maine?