As the father of two young children — a first grader and one who will soon enter school — I have become increasingly alarmed by the direction of Maine’s education system over the past two years. The LePage administration and the Republican-controlled Legislature have taken numerous steps to harm and weaken public education in Maine.
Since March 2011 there have been a few instances of effective bipartisan work: a very modest increase in state funding, passage of the anti-bullying statute and incentives for teachers who successfully complete the prestigious National Board Certification process. However, Republicans need to be held accountable for three major negative developments.
The first of these is a growing demoralization within the teaching profession and the public schools. Since March 2011, teachers, school administrators and local boards have been under sustained attack from multiple directions. Some of the attacks erode teachers’ standard of living.
They have suffered serious cuts to the benefits and health insurance of retirees. The Legislature fragmented the Maine Education Benefits Trust health insurance plans, which were designed to reduce rates by allowing school districts to join larger employee pools. Maine teachers’ salaries rank 35th of the 50 states. Relatively modest benefits and retirement provisions were part of the tradeoff they accepted in order to work here, but that bargain was then unilaterally changed by the Republican Legislature.
The professionalism of educators themselves has been attacked. LePage openly ridicules the Maine education system, using terms like “failing,” “dismal” and “stagnant,” and says that Maine students are “looked down upon” by the rest of the country. The objective record does not support these statements. That they come from the governor himself is inexcusable.
The governor is also not above being punitive. One of his proposals would have charged districts for remedial coursework required for their graduates, thereby threatening to impose unpredictable penalties on those districts.
Perhaps most troubling is an erosion of commitment to the public education system as a whole. Republicans seem far more interested in supporting private choices in schooling and even for-profit education than in strengthening the public school system. Fortunately, their proposal to provide state aid to religious schools was defeated and one to establish an unbridled school choice plan failed to pass.
As recent news articles revealed, these and other education proposals advanced by Maine Republicans originated in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a national association established to promote conservative corporate and right-wing legislation at the state level.
Charter schools did pass the Legislature, and though the final bill established a maximum of only 10 such schools in the first 10 years of the program, the worries about charter schools continue to run deep. As envisioned, these schools will not be approved or administered by elected officials. Many worry that they will compete for funds with nearby public schools. There is deep concern around the state that precisely those citizens with energy and imagination who are so badly needed to help govern and improve the public system to better serve all our children’s needs will be attracted away to work on charters instead.
Finally, the Legislature’s party-line passage of LD 849, the “mini-TABOR” bill, will severely limit state expenditures in the future. The measure reduces the tax rate for wealthier Mainers. It will make it much harder to achieve current goals established in LD 1 for the state share of education costs and, especially important, increase competition for scarce resources between other social and health services and K-12 education. The cruel irony is that for significant numbers of Maine public school children, access to such services is critical to their ability to succeed in school.
The attacks on educators and schools, growing drive for privatization, deterioration of public governance and prospects of diminished resources for Maine’s schools detailed here are simply unacceptable. To end them, we must end LePage’s unchallenged Republican majority in Augusta.
On Election Day, I’ll be doing my part to retire the incumbents in my district, Rep. Richard Malaby, R-Hancock, and Sen. Brian Langley, R- Ellsworth, who have supported these destructive policies. If you care about the future of education in Maine, please join me.
Jeremy Smith is a resident of Gouldsboro.
Excellent commentary.
Hmm. So the average teacher in Maine makes a hair over $47,000 – slightly more than the average US household income and the average Maine household income – yet we’re 49th in standards, assessments and accountability. Let’s face it: over the past four years, household income has decreased by 10% while union salaries have continuted to grow beyond COLA’s. It’s the same story whether we’re talking teachers unions in Chicago or the UAW in Detroit. If private workers have to do more with less, why shouldn’t the government when they are spending…er, “investing,” our tax dollars? If pay is an issue, perhaps Mr. Smith should consider that the unions have forced pay scales upon its members; without any evaluation to distinguish good teachers from bad, there is no incentive for a younger teacher to strive for excellence nor teachers with seniority/tenure to put much effort into class. I believe the average teacher is compensated fairly, but it’s due to the lack of accountability that the great teachers aren’t paid well.
Another point of contention: Mr. Smith seems awfully worried about his children growing up in a world where there is a choice between public and private schools. This confuses me; wouldn’t he and his kids be better served by school competition, where he and his wife can opt to send their children to the best school possible and not be stuck in what may be a miserable school district simply due to their zip code? Especially if one of the options is a charter or private school that can enforce accountability standards?
A quick search of the Maine Gov. website shows me Brian Langley chairs the board of education and is a teacher…does Mr. Smith really think he wouldn’t have his own best interests in mind? He co-sponsored a bill that advocated for student funding equity, i.e. students in rural communities would receive the same funding per student as cities such as Portland, Augusta and Bangor. Is Gouldsboro a big city? Well, lucky for Mr. Smith, the bill didn’t pass. Not so lucky for the students in small towns.
If you believe that 47k is enough to get the best and brightest into the classroom, then there should be no questions about teacher accountability. If your argument is that teachers are lousy, then we already have a metric to judge them by and it is time for the free market to speak and pay them more to create the supply of great teachers our children deserve.
If you believe that paying those who, by your own admission, are not among the best and brightest more will somehow magically make them better teachers then you must be a product of the public education empire. At the demands of the unions we pay teachers like interchangeable widgets and then we wonder why those who could excel look elsewhere. It’s long past time to pay teachers based on their performance and not on how many years they can continue to fog a mirror. Paying the existing poor teachers more will not magically make them better teachers.
I believe my point oldmainer (one you obviously missed) is that the unemployment rate for teachers is less than 5%. There are not people out there capable of taking their jobs and willing to take their jobs. If you want to attract a higher caliber of candidate, you need to pay more. It is after all how the free market system works.
The problem is that teachers unions have negotiated contracts that are based on a seniority system: the longer you work, the more you earn. In a free market, pay is merit-based, not age-based. Ergo, if you want to make sure the best teachers are paid like the best teachers and the ones who aren’t as good are either paid less or let go, the unions need to demand more accountability for its members and demand individual achievement for teachers and classrooms. This was one of the sticking points in the Chicago Teachers Union strike, and ultimately the union scored a “victory” by denying the city any accountability.
Apparently you missed the point of the teachers’ strike. You also missed the accountability measures that were included in the contract. In fact every teacher contract has accountability written into it. Most teachers get performance reviews just like people do in the private sector. A couple of bad reviews and they are out. Just like in the private sector.
Again – you are clueless; two bad performance reviews won’t get you fired; by contract a teacher has to be given a specific timeframe to demonstrate you are proficient at their job – and then it starts all over as a “fresh start”. Just like the federal government.
The same thing happens in the private sector . There is a protocol for firing people whether in the public or private sector.
Well put..Unions are the problem…
Most private companies I know of, union or not (and most aren’t) also base pay on seniority and somewhat on merit.
The one main difference however is that in the private sector, pay schedules are generally less than 5 years to get to the top. With education, school boards have created this system that requires teachers to be in the district for 20 years before they can ever get close to the top. Wouldn’t it be nice if teachers were allowed to go to a 5 year plan like the private sector? Then maybe we could keep teachers around for longer than 3 years.
Gee then how does the private sector KEEP valuable employees after year 5 ? Don’t they leave for greener pasteurs?
Basically what you have said is baloney . The private sector INVESTS in their employees ( thru training) and increases their pay to KEEP them and their investment and knowledge.
Oh – so if I’m an older teacher my expertise and experience doesn’t count? You’re so clueless – you obviously have not worked in the education field (recently retired teacher here). And this isn’t “Chicago” by the way…..
Experinece, knowledge and skills matter and is valued and rewarded in the PRIVATE sector as well as the PUBLIC sector., as we have learned in the last 2 years with NONE of that at the helm
The point you missed, or more likely ignored, is that paying the current teachers more will not somehow magically make them better teachers. If you want to attract a higher caliber of candidate then you have to pay teachers based on performance not on longevity, and you have to get rid of the underperforming teachers.
what you don’t “get” is: every year in the classroom MAKES a better teacher ,as does the on going training.
Here you again buy into the paternalistic MBA nonsense that educating human beings is like fixing broken machinery. Just get a better “technician” in there and then pay them on their “effectiveness” rate. It is the simple-minded numbed-down IGNORANT kind of thinking that has no basis in reality. Educating human beings is a VERY complex process. Classrooms are filled with students of tremendous diversity. Some kids are underfed, have little structure at home, and there are VAST differences in learning styles and ability levels. Some 20% of Maine students are on some kind of special plan. A teacher assigned 100 or more students a day, especially, can only do his or her best. Yes, there needs to be ongoing professional development and appropriate evaluations, but all things in balance and based on reality. By every REAL study, two thirds of all factors that affect a kid’s learning are OUTSIDE the school. It is about nature, home life, parenting, income level, family structure, parental expectations, etc. etc. etc. What about parental responsibility? What about the student’s responsibility? I thought INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY was the great right wing mantra. Guess not when it comes to education. What works in education? Parents and families with high expectations that support learning. Schools with order and discipline from top to bottom and structure in the classroom with high expectations. An INSISTENCE in the schools on personal responsibility academically and behaviorally. And yes, skilled instructors who are good classroom managers. In addition, schools that offer things for kids to say yes to in terms of extra curriculars which help make school more meaningful is also very important. These are the things that work. But no matter what, schools in more impoverished areas can not hope to bring their students up to, say, kids from wealthier areas like Cape Elizabeth and Yarmouth. It is apples and oranges. Teachers can only teach the students they receive.
Yet every left wing mantra tells us we need to spend MORE on the ineffective teachers we have now. If home life and parents are the key then maybe it’s time put the money into helping parents instead of spending it where, by your own admission, it has little effect.
YOU are starting with a false assumption — that teachers are ineffective now. Bet you haven’t seen the inside of a classroom for decades. DID you not read recent the BDN piece about No child left behind that basically said the NCLB premise is what was faulty.
SO a little history— the right was screaming for accountability , they GOT it in NCLB. The result was an “education” that merely teaches to the test to PROVE that accounatbility. AND IT DIDN’T WORK. EDUCATIOS told you it was a foolish idea right form the start . Be careful what you ask for you might not like it .
The bottom line is this : the education “choice” discusion isn’t about better teaching or accountability or even a better education. It is merely a money grab for PRIVATE businesses like K-12 INC .
Do you seriously think JOHNNY well be better educated by sitting in front of a computer 3 hours a day with a software program that adjust to johnny weakness and strengths? do you seriously believe a computer can teach jiohnny how to think or solve any real world problems ?
YUP it will be more efficient. But it won’t be cheaper for taxpayers YUP K12 inc can have ONE teachcr for 1000 kids and make a HUGE profit .The dropout rate is more then double what you see in public schools, by the way . and they RETURN toPUBLIC schools.
So is it REALLY better eduction that R;’ seek or is it simply just another money grab for the private sector ? Like trying to privatize SS and medicare , war ( haliburton and black water) and prisons. Do they REALLY do it any better or do they just make BIGGER profits OFF the public sector aka taxpayers?
The issue of private vs. public schools is just a small piece of the Republican dream of a Corporate Utopia. Their goal is to privatize all things, capitalism at any cost, anything for a buck which equates to complete chaos. Whether it’s health insurance, public schools, fire and police, first responders or military all will be mercenary in application. There is no difference between capitalism or science without a conscience it’s all the same, the path you subscribe to is every bit of that. Corporatism at it’s finest. Nice job or is it a McJob?
…I think your argument is a non sequitur. I do not understand the conclusion, but yes, I agree that a better funding system would make the educational system – as well as the medical sector – more efficient and less expensive while providing more value to the consumer.
Non sequitur not, totally applicable.
well there is a “better funding source” for school choice. It is called the private pay for private choices . Don’t like public school , by all mean make another choice BUT pay for it yourself.
NO I don’t want to spend $7-10,000 a year for johnny to sit in front of a computer unsupervised MAYBE 3 hours a day and call it an education…. beacause mommy and daddy are too lazy to 1 teach their own. 2. get up and get out of bed to get Johmny on the school bus on a regular schedule like normal people .
I’m not happy with the “Republican plans” for education but I can tell you as a (now retired) teacher the Democrats didn’t do too much for education either. Neither party has a viable solution…
It’s even worse.They don’t want to shrink government they want to eliminate it .They want a buyer beware society , with NO consumer protections, no taxpayer protections No voter protection. Heck they don’t even WANT voters.
They are trying to “sell” that the private sector knows and does best and yet we have plenty of examples where they not only don’t KNOW best they actively and with forethought RIP off taxpayers. Haliburtion, Blackwater , all the FAILED charterschools elsewhere, BP etc.
They claim they want a free market and yet are FIRST at the trough for taxpayers ( socialized) subsidies. They endlessly say the free market NEEDS the subsidy to”create jobs” . What kind of a freemarket is that?? It’s one that doesn’t work if it NEEDS subsidy. It’s ahybred free/ taxpayer funded socilaized market with none of the profits needing to go back to the investors ( taxpayers) . It’s one heck of a sweet deal but not for taxpayers..
It’s called corporate welfare.
Loosen up the tinfoil
Lets talk about the government school system in Detroit thats been under Dem/Union control for decades. 50% illiteracy among adults in Detroit. 3 out of a 100 kids who start the Detroit public school system in kindergarten will graduate from HS. 3 out of 100 is astounding and imbeciles like you are worried about corporate interest. Put the kids first for a change
More ignorant right wing FAUX-News blather from someone who has obviously never spent a moment in front of a classroom.
Site your source . And NO the heritage center , who includes ” benefits” as if they are PAY, doesn’t count . IF your benefits are not counted as “pay” to the IRS, neither should teachers’ .
$47,000?
Yeah, maybe after 10-12 years of teaching… Weak argument
The Democtrats dismal record on education got us where we are today. Despite spending $130,000 on each student for k-12 education, one in 5 of our best and brightest arrive at college needing remedial classes to catch up to where they should have been when they graduated from high school. Lord only knows how ill prepared those who AREN’T going to college are. We don’t know what will happen if we actually have teachers compete for students since, thanks to the education empire and their lap dogs the Maine Dems, it has never been tried.
We got where we are today after nearly 30 years of conservative led education reform. Let teachers teach and send the education reformers back to school, they obviously don’t have any clue what they are doing.
Yes, by all means, keep throwing unlimited money at the problem. Never, NEVER try ANY amount of accountability!
I am advocating for accountability. I believe the policymakers who have shaped the education agenda for the last 30 years should be held accountable. Teachers have been carrying water for them and taking the blame for their failures for far too long.
The education empire in the form of teachers and administrators (and in Maine at least on the Maine Democrats) owns the failure that is public education. To try to blame it on those who are pointing out the problem is disingenuous.
Do you honestly believe that teachers set policy? Ask them how they feel about NCLB and RTT. Ask them how they like any of the educational reforms that have been shoved down their throats. Ask them how they like losing two weeks of instructional time (at minimum) to satisfy conservative created mandates for standardized tests that do not actually help the students learn. Talk to a teacher, see what really needs to get done to improve the education system.
Of course they don’t like being held accountable.
The reform is a recent phenomenon brought about by the failure of the liberal led education empire to adequately prepare our students. Remember open classrooms and new math? None of those failed experiments were conservative reforms. The education “professionals” who lead are schools own the failures and now that they are being held accountable they want everyone to think that they were somehow innocent bystanders when in fact they were driving the bus.
The best schools in the world INVEST in education The best example is Finland. In 5 years ( not decades, ,in 5 years!!) they went from the end of the pack to FIRST place.
HOW? They invested MONEY in their youth and their education .They made it a NATIONAL Committment . They reduced class size, they increased teacher salaries( $100,000 + ) and the number of teachers in EACH classroom. And it is paying off. Big corporation are showing up in droves.
We did the same thing in the late 50’s and 60’s ( yup —that NEW MATH) We made youth and their education a TOP priority as a nation .And WE were #1 . We emphasized science and math because we wanted to BEAT russia to the moon and outer space. It paid off .
Putting Johnny in front of a computer MAYBE 3 hours a day IS NOT evidence of a committment to a superior education. It is cheating Johnny and his parents and taxpayers. And it is treating Johny as a commodity to be exploited for PROFIT. IF Johnny “drops out” NO ONE cares especially K-12 INC , who gets to keep the money any how.
??? Aren’t you full of it; Dems ran education for 30-40 years; their record is just as bad as the republicans……I can only conclude you are a troll trolling …..
Apparently you don’t actually pay attention to what is going on in education. I suggest doing some research into the history of Public Education in this country and then doing some research into the countries that are doing it right (here’s a little hint, the countries that are beating us are doing it using liberal ideas about education or they are gaming the system).
arm chair educators are like arm chair warriors .
Maybe we just have to accept the fact that some kids are different today…. some are permanently and neurologically damaged by our lifstyles and the environment.
Heck US adults probably are too!!! Obesity was NEVER an issue with adults (a generation ago) and they didn’t have to jog til they dropped. I look at my HS year book and we were all skinny. Today if we saw those pictures we’d think they were UNDER fed and yet we were perfectly healthy!! We had no prepared food , no fast food , no soda , no organized sports at age 5 . We walked or biked everywhere and had 3 HEALTHY meals a day , including milk .YIP we DID walk one mile to school in the driving snow UP hill and never would have considered asking for a ride in the car. And our parent didn’t even consioder offereing to drive us . Fresh air and the walk helped us sleep well at night.
Being a teacher for over thirty years, I can see both sides of the issue; however, Gov. LePage and the Legislature deserve more credit than you are giving. Besides, you want more gov’t intervention(attached strings of control)-that is only part of the problem. Parents and students need to take control of their education(i.e. students need to put their social agendas aside and be honest with themselves and their parents). Critical thinking and American Civics needs to be taught, not pushed aside. How many of you agree that because of Hurricane Sandy,we need to put off the elections next wee? NOT-the U.S. Constitution will not allow it-although this present administration has done the most damage to this country and U.S. Constitution! Without the present State leadership,we would be in the hole for $1-2 billion. Where would most of the present programs be?…out the window!
I was with you but you lost me until the present administration doing the most damage to the Constitution. Maybe we should subject that statement to some critical thinking. Are you still a teacher? Teach Civics? Without bias?
It’s not bias when all the executive orders do not follow what the US Constitution allows for programs or policies.Obama has the most executive orders written by any US President in order to circumvent Congress.
Should we go back to the policies of Bush, who tried to destroy Education through his “No Child Left Behind” act?
This is the same President who paid for the longest, arguably least popular war on a credit card.
Hold the Democrats accountable for their fiscal record!
The one where they paid their bills, reduced the amount of money owed on long term obligations, and provided a social safety net? Okay great! I say let’s do it. However don’t you feel we should hold LePage accountable for making reckless tax cuts while we still have many things we need to pay for?
Paid the bills??? Baldacci “balanced” the budget by NOT paying the bills. He left office owing Maine hospitals and medical providers $500 million in unpaid bills, many over 5 years old. The the current administration is actually paying those bills. Forcing people to work without paying them used to be called slavery, but the Maine Dems call it compassion.
Your are entitled to your own opinion, but not to make up your own “facts”.
Reckless thinking. Instead of blaming LePage, blame those who were in power just before LePage became Governor. $1-2 Billion shortfall which LePage and the Legislature turned around even with the big burp made by the computers.Tax cuts are needed-I paid $88.00 to the IRS and $934 to the State of Maine for the same tax return. Why? The past administration almost succeeded with a single payer health insurance which cost too much,and with more spending than reserving(including using fenced monies for roads and bridges in order to better balance the budget).
This was after an Angus King left Baldacci with a big deficit. Sounds familar? It should because that is exactly what Obama is doing right now!
There is one huge hole in your argument. King and Baldacci didn’t attack schools and teachers. That is what this article is about.
Regional super schools are not an attack on local control? Complaining about not enough monies for schools is “nanny state” thinking.We have had money taken away,added on and teachers still plodded through…Get rid of the federal education department. A lot more money would be used for better schools,national defense, and social programs.
I think an end to what we call “public education” is desperately needed! We should turn to charter schools and “for profit education centers” that give the parents a choice as to what their kids are taught!
Today’s public education is nothing but a drug infested, homosexual teaching, union organised, taxpayer funded hole with no benefit to the children attending! They are learning nothing of value!
Democrats fear that if parents are given the chance to choose an education system that allows parents to choose what education their children recieve, their union worshiping institution will go the road of liberal talk radio…in the toilet!
“I think an end to what we call “public education” is desperately needed!
We should turn to charter schools and “for profit education centers”
that give the parents a choice as to what their kids are taught!”
If my curriculum were in the hands of some of the parents of my students, I’d be teaching my kids that evolution is a farce, Adam and Eve populated the planet through incest, and that dinosaurs and humans shared the Earth for one day.
And I’m not exaggerating
so bill how has that worked out in the states that have been doing it for 20 + years?? I’ll tell you how — They have the LOWEST test scores in the nation. I guess choice doesntl work out so well. Maybe parents are making BAD choices??
Gee whiz…Id really like to see that statement cited!
Where can they learn the valuable skills of ignorance and hate? What’s your alma mater Bill, I definitely want to send my kids there. :D
Very well written, informative piece. Mr. Smith is correct, Maine’s educational system has been under attack for some time.
When things start to go wrong and bureaucrats in D.C. and Augusta don’t have anyone to blame but themselves, they attack teachers.
Teachers are easy targets. The selfless and noble usually are.
Hopefully we will see some positive changes in two years when Mr. LePage bids farewell and we get someone in office who isn’t questionably crazy.
That’s right, 35 more years of dumbing down to make better uninformed citizens to vote for liberal, expensive, ineffective policies.
It is the Republicans that appeal to the poorly educated. If that were not the case, we would not have gotten stuck with LePage.
It takes more time than you are willing to give LePage, as compared to decades of allowing the libs to get it right-not
The policy for the past 30 years has been directed by Conservatives. It all started with Nation at Risk. If you have been an educator you should surely know that, unless of course you are one of the bad educators that the others have been advocating to get rid of in the thread.
Use common sense, it has been liberal policies not conservative policies that have been running schools-having taught at many schools and having my kids in public schools, I see the liberal trends. MEA is conservative? Not.
School choice hasn’t worked out so well in the states that have been doing it for 20+ years. They have the LOWEST national test scores . I wonder why?? Could it be the “incentives” given to parent to choose K12 etc?? Maybe parent don’t put their kids best interest first given the” right” incentives.
After 40+ years of the Democratic Controlled State Government having their way with Maine’s schools and all Government, I say you had your turn, now let’s give Republicans a chance and let the new laws and policies work! Most of the new laws and policies won’t even come into effect until 2013. I think Charter Schools and the 5 year High School with a step toward College or Technical Schools is the right direction, also accountabilty for teachers. We saw & experienced with Democrats in control: no oversight with Maine Transportation, Maine State Housing, and whatever else may be still uncovered after 40 years. I can’t afford to carry anymore Democratic wants, they broke Small Business’ backs, drove out our kids to other States where their policies have promoted business and good paying jobs. I want Republican policies that hold teachers, and government agencies accountable, and take care of those who cannot work and not those who don’t want to work. Republican accountability is just what Maine needs!
Ever since the conception of The Federal Department of Education, it has destroyed the schools with mandates of maddness. do this do that or you won’t get funding.. They just want to control everything.. Money can’t buy a better education in the public schools systems. The truth is so twisted to show better learning results or lower drop out rates.. Like any public entity the pension funding is costing people as much or not more then the cost of running it. Getting back to basics would be a start. Kids don’t need to be indoctorinated about liberal social issues.. The teachers need the power to hire and fire the supers and principles… You are not getting anymore money to teach junk and propaganda.. and after this rant I am sure your children will be fine at their private school.
Schools are failing and the state and government have been just throwing money at the problem. Unions are part of the problem. We have fine teachers in Maine but education was better years ago. Look at all the money wasted from the Obama stimulas and lots of it given to schools. Education is not better, every year we hear cuts have to occur in our schools, scare tactics and an excuse for more wastful spending. The buildings are better but education is not.
Let’s put 2 & 2 together. How many of you read this comment in the “Morses’ Code…” by Dr. Perzonofski:
“Outside the state of Maine, it is rather known that Maine high schools are in dire straits. For example, The New York Times, during a recent Maine gubernatorial election, reported that Maine high schools ranked last in a national evaluation of all high schools in the U.S. This places Maine high school students entering the university system at a terrible disadvantage.
As a professor, I am obliged to confront this problem in my classes. I find it my responsibility to exercise considerable time in motivating, supporting, helping and encouraging my students. I disagree with the university process of forcing full professors to teach high school courses and actually branding them as college courses.”
School reforms championed by people like Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and many other governors who’ve reversed the ‘dire straits’ of their high schools are being implemented in Maine under governor LePage.
These governors delight in being held accountable since the results are astounding….”“Governor Bush has been at the forefront of education reform,” said Michael W. Grebe, president of the Bradley Foundation, which has donated generously to education reform projects, while honoring Jeb Bush earlier this year. “During his administration and since, Florida students have made incredible gains.”
Today, improving America’s public schools is a cause ostensibly embraced by both political parties. Twelve years ago, however, when Jeb Bush became governor of the Sunshine State, it was a partisan minefield — and there was little reason to believe that government could turn things around quickly or decisively. That’s what seems to have happened in Florida, however, with ripple effects that have spilled out across the country.”
I doubt if LePage will have the same degree of success, but he will have reversed a slowly declining educational system—-already many diff. types of charter schools are being proposed around the State.