[Local-Maine-Schools] Current Debate: Education Reform

[Earl Brechlin]

It was in the Islander. I thought it might get some peoples' attention

Best

Earl

Earl Brechlin
Editor, Mount Desert Islander
Maine and New England's Newspaper of the Year
P.O. Box 900
310 Main Street
Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
207-288-0556
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Murphy" <paul at exploreacadia.com>
To: "Gail Marshall" <gmarshall at wildmoo.net>; "Local Maine Schools List" 
<local-maine-schools at lists.svaha.com>; "Margaret Jeffery" 
<mjeffery1 at gwi.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Local-Maine-Schools] Current Debate: Education Reform


> Did everyone see Ms Gendron's self congratulatory lecture to us in the BHT
> (or was it the Islander?) this week and the puff piece in the BDN today?
> What a joke!
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Margaret Jeffery" <mjeffery1 at gwi.net>
> To: "Gail Marshall" <gmarshall at wildmoo.net>; "Local Maine Schools List"
> <local-maine-schools at lists.svaha.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 11:40 AM
> Subject: [Local-Maine-Schools] Current Debate: Education Reform
>
>
>> It is good news that the DOE has backed down on increasing class size.  I
>> hope that it reveals the decrepit character of the rest of the Governor's
>> proposal.  For those who know the history and think through each 
>> provision
>> of LSRS, the DOE's most recent position will show the unsubstantiated
>> conception and destructive outcome of LSRS.
>>
>> Unfortunately, most of the alternative proposals are comparably, if not 
>> as
>> thoroughly, flawed.
>>
>> There are those who congratulate the Governor and Gendron for waking us 
>> up
>> - bringing education spending to the fore of public debate.  It is my
>> opinion that they should have done so in a much more responsible
>> method.  The amount of time that my colleagues and I have spent ... well,
>> I'm sure that we could have been generating a fair amount of taxable
> income
>> - maybe even organized a few start-up businesses - rather than putting 
>> out
>> wildfires in Augusta over the past two months.
>>
>> I wonder how many young families have chosen to steer clear of resettling
>> in Maine because of this upheaval.
>>
>> It is ironic that the most productive suggestion that been revealed
> through
>> the debate has not appeared in any of the proposals: the MEA and the DOE
>> need to be actively involved in negotiating reasonable health insurance
>> costs to teachers.  This suggestion was raised by Mia Brown on January 
>> 22,
>> then thoroughly and eloquently laid out at the public hearing in Augusta,
>> and again raised by Gail Marshall in response to Chris Galgay's
>> editorial.   Unfortunately, it appears that there are no efforts to bring
>> health insurance costs in line.  I imagine that it would have been far
> more
>> productive if the legislature, the DOE, the MEA, my colleagues and I had
>> spent the last two months in efforts to realign health insurance costs 
>> for
>> teachers.
>>
>> I commend all of those who stay on top of the issues and continue to 
>> voice
>> their opinions.  The legislature is still searching for answers, and 
>> still
>> piecing together information.  It is essential that the public continue 
>> to
>> provide its invaluable input.
>>
>> In these times, the mere fact that there continues to be active debate
>> speaks loud and clear: there is a lot to lose from consolidation mandated
>> from the State.
>>
>> And I return to generating taxable income ...
>>
>> Margaret Jeffery
>>
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>
>
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