Final count shows Maine voters passed new tax for school funding
By a narrow margin, Mainers approved a measure to tax the state’s highest earners to raise money for education, according to final results announced early Thursday. With all 589 precincts reporting,...
View ArticleSpurwink awarded $20 million grant for team-teaching program
A Portland-based nonprofit has won a five-year, $20 million U.S. Department of Education grant to expand a program that helps high school freshmen, officials announced Thursday. Spurwink, which...
View ArticleUMaine System records enrollment turnaround, gets warning on graduate center
MACHIAS — The University of Maine System board of trustees got welcome news on enrollment Monday, but students and faculty pushed back on a recent trustee vote to approve a new joint graduate business...
View ArticleBrunswick schools agree to pay $125,000 to settle bullying lawsuit
The Brunswick School District will pay $125,000 to settle a human rights lawsuit brought by a former student who said school officials did not do enough to prevent the bullying and abuse he experienced...
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Portland school board approves 3-year contract with teachers
Portland’s Board of Education and the teachers union have reached agreement on a new three-year contract. The contract, which is retroactive to Aug. 26, will include a 1.5 percent salary increase for...
View ArticleRecounts requested for legalized marijuana, school surcharge votes
Opponents of ballot initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana and tax the state’s highest earners to help fund public schools have submitted requests for recounts. Petitions seeking recounts were...
View ArticleFormer president leaves legacy of family atmosphere at SMCC
SOUTH PORTLAND — Wayne Ross, longtime former president of what would become Southern Maine Community College, died Monday at age 80. Ross was appointed director of Southern Maine Vocational Technical...
View ArticleMaranacook high school students launch into virtual flight on simulator
AUGUSTA — Friday was a rough day for the virtual Cessna 172 airplane. While it had numerous safe takeoffs and landings, it also got going so fast its wings fell off, was spun into barrel rolls and...
View ArticleLePage acts to keep his pick at helm of education commission
Gov. Paul LePage is again bypassing the traditional legislative confirmation process in naming a new leader for the Department of Education. On Monday, LePage announced the appointment of Robert Hasson...
View ArticleReadfield parents say teacher put bag over girl’s head
AUGUSTA — A Readfield couple is suing the Maranacook school district and Laura Reville, a fifth-grade teacher at Readfield Elementary School, charging that Reville placed a bag over their daughter’s...
View Article‘End-around’ in filling education post means instability, Maine lawmakers say
This week Gov. Paul LePage hand-picked the seventh and latest person to head the Department of Education on his watch, using legislative loopholes to bypass the traditional nomination process to ensure...
View ArticleGlenn Cummings formally installed as USM president, after 17 months on the...
It was pomp and circumstance at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham on Friday as the campus community turned out for the formal installation of President Glenn Cummings. Cummings, the former...
View ArticleVirginia school district weighs banning 2 classic books
A Virginia school district has pulled copies of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from classrooms and libraries while it weighs whether it should permanently ban the...
View ArticlePortland Symphony Orchestra musicians enhance learning at Portland elementary...
The kindergartners laughed when Brian Thacker mentioned the word “pizzicato.” “Is that a type of cheese?” he asked. “A fancy pizza?” “NO!” the class bellowed as one, knowing better than to fall for...
View ArticleUSM School of Music gets surprise $600,000 donation
The University of Southern Maine got an early Christmas present Friday – a $600,000 surprise donation to the university’s School of Music. And it wasn’t even something university officials asked for. A...
View ArticleState approves Cornville Regional Charter School’s proposal to add pre-K and...
CORNVILLE — The Cornville Regional Charter School, Maine’s first elementary charter school, has been given state approval to add a high school and pre-kindergarten classes to its program. Travis Works,...
View ArticleMost Maine students proficient in English, science, new test shows
A majority of Maine students are performing at or above grade level in English and science, but less than half of them are proficient in math, according to the results of new statewide tests released...
View ArticleElliott Schwartz, Maine’s best-known classical composer, dies at 80
Elliott Schwartz, one of Maine’s most influential classical music composers and a longtime Bowdoin College music professor known for inspiring students during a 43-year career, died Wednesday. He was...
View ArticleAfter further testing, schools in Benton, Clinton taken off bottled water
After weeks of using only bottled water for drinking and cooking, two schools in Fairfield-based School Administrative District 49 are allowing students to use tap water again. Benton and Clinton...
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Do you know if your public school has tested its water for lead?
Maine water officials are urging hundreds of schools in Maine to test their water for lead – many for the first time – after a water crisis in Flint, Michigan, this year brought nationwide attention to...
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