FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 12, 2010
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR ELIOT CUTLER CALLS FOR “NO EXCUSES” POLICY ON EDUCATION REFORM
PORTLAND, Maine – Independent candidate Eliot Cutler said today that as governor he will adopt a “No Excuses” policy on education reform. Cutler cited a report from NECAPS, a new multi-state consortium that assesses the performance of our education systems, which shows Maine finishing behind New Hampshire and Vermont in both Grades 3-8 reading and Grades 3-8 math as evidence that Maine schools are not making the grade.
“We are failing our children and denying them the opportunity to reach their highest potential in an increasingly competitive world,” Cutler said in a commentary published today in Brunswick’s The Times Record. “Maine needs to innovate, to hold educators accountable for student performance and to create a culture of expectations and achievement that gives every Maine kid a fair shot at success, wherever she or he lives in Maine.”
Cutler said that while Maine has one of the most expensive public school systems in the nation, too many young people are graduating from high school without being ready for either college or skilled employment. He noted that we are doing many things well, but that there are twice as many lower performing and less efficient schools and school districts in Maine than there are higher performing and more efficient schools and districts.
Cutler also pointed out that Maine’s student-teacher ratio has become the second most favorable in the nation at 11.3:1 versus a national average of almost 16:1. “If we increase our student-teacher ratio to 13.5:1 – the average of several rural states that are currently performing as well or better than Maine – we would save $155 million each year,” Cutler said. “We could invest some of those savings in reforms that will make a real difference to our kids.”**
As part of his “No Excuses” approach to education, Cutler has put forth the following reform proposals:
- Negotiate a statewide teachers’ contract that makes teaching and education leadership a true profession with advancement opportunities.
- Increase teacher compensation. (Maine’s average teacher salary is about $9,000 less than the national average.)
- Provide merit pay and performance bonuses for teachers that are linked to student growth and achievement. Eliminate the Maine law that creates a firewall between teacher evaluation and pupil performance.
- Provide pre-school for all 4 year-olds in Maine. Investing in early childhood education makes sense for both parents and kids.
- Make vocational and technical education broadly available so that Maine will be ready to replace our aging skilled workforce and keep jobs here.
- Increase the length of the school day and the school year in elementary and secondary schools. Maine’s school year is 175 days, while it’s 180 days in New Hampshire and 31 other states, and well over 200 days in China (where the school day is also about 30% longer).
- Use existing facilities to create magnet high schools for foreign languages at UMFK, for agricultural sciences at UMPI, for marine sciences at UMM and for creative arts in Lewiston-Auburn.
- Merge our two separate systems of higher education – the University of Maine system and our community colleges – and operate a fully integrated Pre-K to Lifetime public education system.
Lastly, Cutler renewed his call for charter schools in Maine. “Let’s tear down the bureaucratic and political walls that protect mediocrity and keep out innovation,” he said. “Let’s authorize charter schools and charter districts in Maine, and take a fresh look at education by creating exciting new places of learning designed around the needs of students, their families and the community.”
Cutler has strongly criticized Democratic leadership in the Legislature and the Baldacci Administration for bowing to the teachers union and defeating a bill that would have allowed charter schools in Maine. By not authorizing charter schools, Maine stands to lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars under President Obama’s “Race to the Top” education initiative.
“Instead of joining the Race to the Top, we continue to scrape along the bottom,” Cutler said. “Maine needs a governor with the courage and independence to put kids first, a governor who won’t rest until all Maine children receive a quality education, a governor who will be a champion for innovation, and a governor who understands that economic activity, jobs and incomes require an educated and skilled workforce. I am ready to be that governor.”
**Note as of 6/21/2010: The Maine Department of Education has just determined that the teacher data provided to the National Center for Education Statistics was incorrect and resulted in the US Department of Education miscalculating the student-teacher ratio. The corrected ratio is 11.3:1, not 9:1 as originally reported by the USDOE and the MDOE. Based on this revised information, Maine ranks second in the nation, immediately behind Vermont, in the fewest number of students per teacher for 2007-2008.
Tags: charter schools, Innovation, MEA, Public Schools, Schools