AUGUSTA — Education organizations in Maine opposed a bill to repeal the state’s involvement in the Common Core State Standards over objections that the standards are confusing and rob communities of local control over their schools. The bill, LD 1492, sponsored by Rep. William Tuell, R-East Machias, would end Maine’s participation in the Common Core […]
common core
Posted inLetters
D. Holcomb: Putting students into boxes
This is in response to a Bangor Daily News article printed in the Sun Journal, “Standardized test gets pushback” (March 2). Finally, parents and students are finding out the dangers of the Common Core national standards’ scheme since this is the year when standard assessments hit the fan. The testing seems to have more to […]
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Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Oxford Hills, The Franklin Journal
No Common Core Maine group plan regional meeting
DENMARK — A former Norway mother of three is on a crusade with others to stop what she calls “a tidal wave of discontent,” over the implementation of Common Core standards in public schools in Maine and other states. Donna Dodge, who lives in the southern Oxford County town of Denmark, is spending nearly every […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine panel begins assessment of controversial Common Core education standards
AUGUSTA, Maine — A discussion about whether Maine will become the latest state to dump national Common Core public school standards began in earnest Tuesday at the hands of a fast-tracked new panel whose recommendations will go to the Legislature next year. Education Commissioner Jim Rier told the group Tuesday morning that the Common Core […]
Posted inLetters
A. Elze: Common Core woes
As recently reported in two stories about the schools of Lewiston and Auburn — I think both are products of Common Core. Auburn Superintendent Katy Grondin doesn’t know how many teachers the district has, as she didn’t include music, art or drama as teachers. I would beg to differ. We see quick results of the […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Erick Bennett: Don’t let Common Core take away local control
On Aug. 14, the Maine Equal Rights Center issued a press release announcing its campaign to repeal education’s Common Core state standards initiative. Two days later, Education Commissioner Steve Bowen resigned. On Aug. 21, MERC held a press conference outside Gov. Paul LePage’s office and on Sept. 5 he issued an executive order blocking the standards. […]
Posted inMaine
Common Core worries prompt LePage executive order reaffirming school privacy, local control
AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage signed an executive order on Wednesday reaffirming that Maine schools are locally controlled and that students’ personal information remain private in light of concerns about new uniform benchmarks in reading, writing and math. The Republican governor’s order comes just weeks after opponents to the Common Core Standards, which have […]
Posted inMaine
LePage signs executive order to keep federal educational standards out of Maine schools
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage signed an executive order Wednesday that prevents Maine schools from adopting federally mandated educational standards. The executive order is designed to ensure that Maine schools maintain local control in light of concerns about new educational benchmarks in reading, writing and math. “Higher standards play an important role in that, but […]
Posted inLetters
J. Perkins: One size fits all won’t work
Your editorial (Aug. 23) on the Common Core standards ignores two fundamental problems and one process issue. You suggested Maine had adopted the proposal after due thought, but the standards hadn’t been established when Maine’s Legislature voted unanimously and Maine’s current governor signed the bill as a way off the No-Child-Left-Behind hook. The fallacy of […]
Posted inOur View
We must not abandon Common Core
We tried setting education standards locally. Didn’t work. We tried having each state adopt and apply its own standards. But results varied wildly from state to state, leaving millions of children with inadequate educations. Finally, U.S. governors, educators and corporate leaders put their heads together and decided that children, to be successful adults and competitive […]