The Portland Press Herald published an Op/Ed today by gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler. In the Op/Ed Cutler outlined his displeasure with the Baldacci administration’s decision not to pursue charter schools in Maine. Cutler called the decision “tragic, crassly political and wrong”. The MEA and its Democratic allies receive criticism from Cutler as well. Cutler believes the MEA and its allies oppose Charter schools because union contracts would not govern hiring, salaries, or benefits in those schools. “Partisanship and close ties to special interests,” says Cutler ” once again have trumped the public interest in Augusta: no charter schools, no Race to the Top funding.”
Cutler won no friends in the MEA with his Op/Ed, but he did make a clear statement. Cutler is running independent because he is dissatisfied with how Democratic Party has become beholden to special interests. Cutler is hoping that Mainers of all ideologies agree.
In related news, the Gates Foundation will be awarding grants of up to $100,000 each to nine school districts. The Gates Foundation are donating the grants to help schools receive Investing in Innovation federal grants. Not to be confused the with Race to the Top, Investing in Innovation (I3) focuses on improving K-12 achievement and close achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, and improving teacher and school leader effectiveness.
Districts receiving grants from the Gates Foundation included in Philadelphia, New Haven, Conn., New Orleans, Minneapolis, Houston, and El Dorado County, Calif. What criteria did Bill and Melinda Gates judge who should receive grants?
Officially, Chris Williams, a foundation spokesman, said these nine cities all have strong charter school sectors, with at least one high-quality charter management organization. And more broadly, Williams said, “We sought places where districts and charters were breaking through old barriers to transfer knowledge and information across organizational lines.”
Maine leadership seem dead set against charter schools. A recent study slammed Maine’s informational systems, giving them a ‘D’. This lack of interest in exploring innovations does not preserve the Maine way of life. The stubborn insistence on maintaining the status quo will destroy Maine’s future. The only way to preserve Maine is to evolve. We must have the courage to try new and innovative things. The longer we wait the further behind we will be.
Account
Start a blog
Send us your news
Post an event
See it. Fix it.