Downeast Schoolhouse » MDOE

…and the worst shall be first…

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:00:28 +0000

…in line for all that “free” federal money. See “State lists ‘lowest-achieving’ schools“, BDN, 3/10/10

Now let’s talk about inversion, perversion, and subduction* (my new favorite word).

The federal government makes money available for “failing” schools. States compete for the money, putting forward their sub-standard candidates. If sucessful, they get the federal money.

So, the [...]

Thoughts on Federal Money

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:15 +0000

Weekend reading:

I got a-plenty of friends who’ve taken all they could get and were honest in figurin’ they had it comin’ to them. They’ve paid taxes for years and seen other people take the benefits. Now at least they’re gettin’ a little of it back. That’s the whole point, though, that’s what’s wrong. There [...]

Snide*ness Alert!

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:00:24 +0000

It’s entirely possible that the press didn’t get this right, and by error, selection, or omission, end up misrepresenting this exchange.

But I doubt it.

The news that Maine had signed on to the pilot program came as a surprise for some, including Maine Education Association President Chris Galgay. “For the last couple of hours, [...]

Third World Just Around the Corner*

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:00:55 +0000

Matt Stone is on the case. Read this Report Card blog entry and see how you feel about what he reports:

A $190,000 grant the Department of Education is offering Pownal will allow the Cumberland County town to study the cost-sharing formula that’s saddled it with a 35 percent increase in its local funding obligation [...]

State Puts a Lid on Talent!

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:00:02 +0000

The School Department will receive about $200,000 less in state subsidy for gifted and talented programming after the state discovered that the city had been using some of that money for unapproved curricula. – Bangor loses gifted and talented funds, BDN, 4/11/09

The State wants G&T funds used for children who fit the following criteria:

[...]

They Said That?

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:00:44 +0000

Do you get an uneasy feeling when the legislature is in session? I do, and I’ve realized that it’s not just because of what our solons might do. The possibilities for mischief from that quarter are endless of course. But there’s more. It’s also the things that you learn about, that you hadn’t quite known [...]

DOE Reflects, Changes Mind,…

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:00:24 +0000

for which they are to be commended.

This was the situation:

In Westbrook, School Committee members were left in a bind: either take the computers and the associated costs, or have teachers at the high school and vocational center return their state-provided laptops.

Local teachers have built their curriculum around the laptops since they received [...]

Good Writing About Blatant Venality

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:23:35 +0000

There’s a nice bit of insight into the Chicago-style political hardball that now infects our Department of Education in the article Thumb on the scales?: A tale of two fiscal notes at the MDISchools site. Amazing!

A note: “blatant”, “venality”, “Chicago-style”, “hardball”, and “infects” are all my words and phrases. Mr. Hubbell tells the tale [...]

A Tale of Two Headlines

admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:00:11 +0000

Two stories, actually the same story presented in two different ways, caught our eye last Friday. We saw the BDN story (“Study gives Maine an F for evaluating teachers“) over our first cup of coffee.

It begins:

Although a national group has given Maine a failing grade in the way it retains good teachers and [...]

“Clarification”? Epic Hooey!

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:00:43 +0000

The Commissioner sent out a letter (“Clarifications: Reorganization Plan Costs and Voter Rejection” ) on Friday. It was addressed to “officials in regions with pending referendum votes on school administrative reorganization plans.” In it she addresses three “concerns”:

projected costs of teacher contracts, Cost impact of property value decline in one community on other communities [...]

“Unsustainable”

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:00:39 +0000

That’s what they say:

“What has been sustainable in the past will certainly not be sustainable in the future,” David Connerty-Marin, the Department of Education’s communications director, told an audience of legislators, lobbyists and others.

Well thanks David!

It was said Monday at this conference. All rather cosy. As though it were an act of [...]

“While money doesn’t talk, it swears”*

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:00:21 +0000

One could argue — as Gordon Donaldson does in this piece — that we aren’t really considering the full real cost of consolidation as we decide how to vote on the issue locally. If a single RSU has $1.5 million in hidden costs, one has to wonder what the aggregate (that is, state-wide) hidden costs [...]

Budget Update

admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:04:32 +0000

From the short AP story:

Gov. John Baldacci is unveiling a two-year state budget that includes plenty of pain for everyone.

The $6.1 billion state spending package proposes deep cuts due to the recession and increased cost of providing services. It would eliminate 219 state positions, requiring 139 layoffs. It would trim some state tax [...]

“How would you cut $140M state budget gap?”

admin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:05:54 +0000

That was the title of a recent article in the Kennebec Journal. The legislature’s Appropriations Committee began hearings today on the $140 million “gap” in the current year’s budget.

Some solons speak of this occasion as an “opportunity.” Heaven help us!

I was reminded again today of Mark Twain’s aphorism: “No man’s life, liberty, or [...]

“redefine the concept of high school”

admin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:05:39 +0000

Big announcement:

Maine will collaborate with New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to redefine the concept of high school, while sharing ideas for boosting high school graduation rates and enrolling more students in college.

A $1 million grant from the Nellie Mae Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will bankroll the effort.

Ho [...]