The Court’s decision on Carson v. Makin could stop this kind of state-sanctioned favoritism for good and put religious schools on equal footing with public ones.
Browsing: Education
On June 21, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in the case of NCAA v. Alston…
On June 9, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) updated its PreK-12 and Adult Education Public Guidance. Though Gov. Janet…
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new light and perspectives to many issues we may never look at the same: politics,…
On Monday, May 24, nearly eight months after it was first ordered, Maine Gov. Janet Mills lifted the state’s universal face…
Lawmakers on Maine’s Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Wednesday on LD 864, “An Act To Protect Teachers’ Privacy While…
Over the last few weeks, a central pillar of pandemic-era decision making crumbled. The arbitrary measuring stick for defining whether…
Illinois legislators last week voted in favor of enacting new “Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards” in the state’s teacher…
As district school closures enter their 11th month, many parents are frustrated and angry. They may see private schools that…
The coronavirus pandemic and our collective response to it has changed (for better or worse) the way we live, work,…
The pandemic has revealed something many of us have believed for a long time: Parents want more choice and more…
Last year, the Maine Legislature and Governor Janet Mills enacted a pair of bills curtailing the growth of the state’s…
A pair of lawsuits that mirror a Maine-based legal challenge (currently pending in the First Circuit Court of Appeals) has…
Bowing to pressure from the Mills administration, the Maine Principals’ Association announced Thursday that it will not allow football or…
Last week marked the beginning of my 37th year at the University of Maine Machias and my 47th consecutive September…
School closures have affected over 55 million K–12 students in the U.S. since March as the nation deals with the coronavirus pandemic.…
The Maine Principals’ Association’s (MPA) Interscholastic Management Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to accept the recommendation of the association’s Sports…
In mid-August, the board of directors of Regional School Unit 18, a school district spanning five towns just west of…
Opening schools this fall should not be a partisan issue, but it is and will be. The physical and mental…
A recent commentary published in the Journal of Pediatrics encourages schools to reopen, citing that children rarely transmit COVID-19 to…
On Friday, Governor Janet Mills released guidelines for schools as they consider whether or not to return to in-person instruction…
As the school year fast approaches, only one item in the curriculum seems guaranteed: change. Maine students will resume school…
A survey conducted by Rep. Justin Fecteau and Rep. Heidi Sampson indicates that Maine students are eager to return to school…
Now that Governor Mills has signaled through her executive orders that the 2020 summer tourist season was over before it…
A pending ballot initiative is quietly seeking to expand negotiable items for teachers’ unions to include class sizes and planning…
These days, in states across the nation, public health officials are discovering more and more cases of COVID-19 among their…
During periods of crisis, some of the most innovative solutions to problems have been developed. Consider, for instance, some of…
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to strike down a Montana provision prohibiting state aid to religious schools. …
In mid-May, I spent almost 15 hours over two days in a Zoom training/symposium on the learning management system that…
On June 11, Maine’s Department of Education (DOE) released a working draft listing a series of recommendations that may be…
On Thursday, April 9, Maine Policy Institute hosted a panel of veteran homeschoolers and educators for a virtual townhall to…
A few short weeks ago, could you have imagined what you’d be doing now: Homeschooling? Do you want to homeschool?…
Who should be in charge of local education policy? Should it be parents and families, or labor unions? This session…
Lawmakers on Maine’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee are holding a public hearing Wednesday, Jan. 15 on LD 1894, “An…
The Maine Heritage Policy Center and EdChoice recently filed an amicus brief in Carson et al v. Makin, a case before…
Hundreds of bills failed to become law in the First Regular Session of the 129th Legislature. Among them was LD…
There has been quite a bit of debate in recent years about whether too much is spent on school administration…
On Wednesday, June 26, United States District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby issued a ruling that upheld a current law…
As we approach the ten-year anniversary of Maine’s historic public charter school system, there is much to celebrate about how…
The Maine House of Representatives on Monday, June 3 voted 87-51 along party lines to pass a heavily-amended version of…
The Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business heard several bills last week that would cost Maine millions to…
This session, lawmakers in the Maine Legislature are considering a pair of bills that aim to increase access to higher…
Quite often we hear politicians and special interests say that the quality of a child’s education should not be determined…
I have sponsored LD 665, “An Act to Enact the Campus Free Expression Act” this session to codify into state…
A lawmaker from Portland appears to have a personal vendetta against public charter schools. Rep. Michael Brennan is sponsoring a…
High school guidance counselors, parents and popular culture have spent decades telling young people that the key to success is…
Senator Rebecca Millett, the chair of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee, has introduced LD 898, “An Act to Provide…
On Thursday, Feb. 14 the legislature’s education committee held a public hearing on a bill, LD 464, that would greatly…
State Representative Michael Brennan of Portland recently introduced a pair of bills concerning the future of virtual schooling in Maine.…
In 2009, I graduated from high school and left for college. I planned to spend four years away and return…
It is no secret that the Mills administration and legislative Democrats are planning to launch a big push for a…
Maine’s town tuitioning program, first adopted in 1873, is the second oldest school choice program in the country. The program allows students…
It’s no secret that Maine’s public K-12 education system needs work. Bloated bureaucracies keep money from flowing to the classroom.…
It’s the political season and a lot of misinformation is flying around. I want to make sure you have the…
Government meddling in competitive industry invariably hurts all citizens, and higher education is no exception. America has the highest tuition…
In 2010, The Maine Heritage Policy Center shared an article titled, “School Choice working for Alna, therefore must be stopped.”…
When it comes to the student loan debt crisis, government-oriented reforms are not the solution; they are the problem. One…
Something beautiful happened this week – something that should scare every elected official who thinks their opinions supersede those of…
On Monday, April 9, at 1:30 p.m., Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs will hold public hearing…
Education in Maine is captive to progressive administrative and structural stagnation. Our educational system has become the dream of progressive theorists…
James D. Herbert’s Feb. 11 column in the Portland Press Herald, “Are We Just Another Echo Chamber?” drew less attention than one…
The nationwide school walkout scheduled for Wednesday, March 14 at 10 a.m. is not a meaningful civics lesson or a…
Maine’s experimental education model, proficiency-based learning, has received strong pushback in recent weeks from various communities around the state as…
When conservatives in Augusta pushed to implement the law enabling charter schools in Maine in 2011, their goal was to…
Democrats can pretend to have made out like bandits in budget negotiations, but it’s no enigma who truly won the…
The Common Core State Standards, since their adoption in 2011, have been an expensive and harmful experiment that threatens Maine’s…
Yes, I know, I know. This past November, voters narrowly passed a referendum presented by liberal special interest groups that…
During his first term in the legislature, Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, R-Androscoggin, spearheaded legislation that established the first charter…
I agree with Governor LePage. Teachers should be paid what they are worth. More broadly, everyone should be paid what…
Good teachers are critical to Maine’s future, so let’s pay them adequately. Our children are our most valuable asset, and…
He strikes again. Mike Tipping, the communications director of the Maine People’s Alliance (MPA), may be the king of tweeting…
Democrats say they want to reduce property taxes. But they don’t have the courage to actually do it. You can’t…
While liberals ridicule Gov. Paul LePage’s stance on school regionalization, the real issues plaguing Maine’s public school system get lost…
There’s nothing more enjoyable as a constituent than seeing your elected officials keep their word. Last July, I attended the…
Those who read the first half of my take on the aftermath of Question 2 know that Maine will need…
The debate around the destructive 3 percent surtax on Maine’s individual income has turned largely toward one key issue: How…
We are going to miss Matt Gilman. Chances are you don’t know him, but he lives in Alfred. He was…
Nearly two weeks after nixing a House Ethics Committee review of Rep. Ryan Tipping’s ongoing ethics scandal, Democratic Speaker of…
Despite recent controversy surrounding its House Chair, the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation is forging ahead. The Maine Republican Party…
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Someone should relay this message to Rep. Ryan Tipping, D-Orono, who…
Union lobbyist Ryan Tipping should resign his House seat. Legislators who line their own pockets rather than represent their constituents…
Every child is unique. What may work for one, will in many cases not work for another. When it comes…
If it weren’t for double standards, Speaker of the House Sara Gideon (D-Freeport) wouldn’t have any standards at all. Yes,…
For those concerned about the education of Maine’s youth, Gov. Paul LePage has taken another step toward improving the efficiency…
If we want to put more money in our classrooms, we need a more efficient education system. We often hear…