[HCCN] Fwd: Public Hearing for Ed Com on May 2

[Dick Atlee]

I thought you might like to see the <irony> bright future </irony> for 
public education being laid out by the radicals in the State 
legislature. Hearing on these will be held on Monday.

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LD 250-- An Act To Permit Tuition Subsidies by Municipalities

SUMMARY

This bill allows municipalities to give subsidies from their general
funds to parents to reimburse them for part or all of the tuition the
parents paid to private schools that are precluded from receiving
tuition funding from the State.

In Joyce v. State of Maine, 951 A.2d 69 (Me. 2008), the Law Court
essentially acknowledged that it would be constitutionally permissible
for municipalities to adopt such subsidy programs, but held that current
Maine law, the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 2951,
prohibits municipalities from doing so.

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LD1316--An Act To Expand Magnet Schools in Maine

CONCEPT DRAFT SUMMARY

This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.

This bill proposes to give school districts across the State authority
to create magnet schools, either within their communities or in
partnerships with other districts. Magnet schools that are created under
this bill will be eligible for state funds under the essential programs
and services funding formula.

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LD 1388--An Act To Allow Schools To Adopt Approved Alternative Curricula

SUMMARY

This bill amends the school restructuring statutes to encourage school
administrative units to collaborate with approved private schools to
develop alternative curriculum frameworks to achieve school
restructuring at the middle school or high school level. The bill allows
a school administrative unit that is undergoing restructuring at the
middle school or high school level to request a waiver of the rule
requirements related to the system of learning results established in
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20A, section 6209 if the waiver is
necessary to achieve school restructuring and an alternative curriculum
framework proposed for the school administrative unit's school
restructuring differs from, but does not conflict with, the rules
related to the system of learning results.

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LD 1424--An Act To Enhance Parental Roles in Education Choice

SUMMARY

This bill allows parents to petition for the restructuring of a school
that is not making adequate yearly progress. Restructuring may include
closure of the school, conversion of the school to a charter school,
replacement of school leadership and teachers and oversight by the State
of structural improvements. This bill is based on a process referred to
as the "Parent Trigger" adopted by the State of California in 2009.