Governor Temporarily Withdraws Nomination of Education Commissioner

AUGUSTA, Maine - Governor Paul R. LePage today announced the temporary withdrawal of his nomination of Dr. Bill Beardsley as commissioner of the Maine Department of Education.

The Governor halted the nomination upon learning Education Committee members admitted they plan to reject Dr. Beardsley's confirmation for political reasons unrelated to his qualifications for the job. Democrats have repeatedly used this tactic to denounce nominees. The Governor cited the vitriolic mistreatment of former nominees by Democrats playing partisan political games, including Dr. Bruce Williamson of the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Susan Dench, who was nominated to the University of Maine System's Board of Trustees.

"I am temporarily withdrawing Dr. Beardsley's nomination because Democrats on the Joint Standing

Panel convened by Education Commissioner to improve Maine learning results, public input sought

Recommendations will inform improvements the Maine Department of Education intends for the state’s math and English language arts standards
 AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine’s Education Commissioner is asking the public and a panel of parents, educators and business leaders to inform improvements his Department plans to make to the state’s learning standards for mathematics and English language arts. 
 
Maine Department of Education Commissioner Jim Rier announced today that a 24-member panel will begin work this week to assess the rigor and clarity of the standards.
 
Learning standards set what students should know and be able to do at each grade level.
 
In Maine, standards in eight content areas make up the Maine Learning Results, adopted in 1997. While the standards are established for all public schools by the Maine DOE with approval by the Legislature and the Governor, how educators support students in achieving them is a local decision.
 
Since 1997, there have been four updates to the Maine Learning Results, most recently in 2011 to the

Education Commissioner Celebrates Washington County School Improvements On First Day of Report Card Rollout Tour

*Maine Department of Education Commissioner Jim Rier returned to his native county to present Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School their A grade and Narraguagus High School their C. Both schools have higher rates of low-income students than the state average and spend less on classroom instruction, yet both improved by two letter grades.*

MACHIAS, Maine - Maine's Commissioner of Education spent Monday in Washington County, recognizing two schools there for raising their grades on the 2014 school report cards that will be released to the public on Thursday.

This week Commissioner Jim Rier is touring the state to celebrate the 110 Maine schools that have seen their grades improve by at least one letter since the first report cards were released a year ago under the new Maine School Performance Grading System.

Monday's first stop marked a homecoming for the Commissioner, a Washington County native. He spent the morning touring Rose M. Gaffney School, the Machias elementary school where he and all three of his sons attended.

While there, Commissioner Rier presented Principal Mitchell Look an advanced copy of the school's 2014

Education Commissioner Applauds Strong Start of New Maine Charter Schools

*Monitoring by the Maine Charter School Commission of the two charter schools that served students during the 2012-13 academic year show the state's first charters are meeting their missions*
Augusta, Maine - The State's Acting Education Commissioner is applauding the state's first two public charters after their inaugural monitoring reports show the central Maine schools are engaging students and adapting quickly to meet emerging needs.

Cornville Regional Charter School in Cornville, which served approximately 60 grade K-6 students, and the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences (MeANS) in Hinckley, which served 52 students grades 9-12, opened in the fall of 2012 after Maine, under the leadership of Governor Paul R. LePage, became the 41st state to allow public charter schools.

As part of its oversight responsibilities, the Maine Charter School Commission evaluates performance of the state's charter schools on an ongoing basis and releases an annual monitoring report based on multiple site visits and extensive document review. The Commission finalized and made public their first reports earlier this month.

In their opening year, both schools met all of the expectations of their contracts and excelled at engaging students and families, according to the Commission's findings for the 2012-13 school year. Parents told Commission members there "were no cracks for kids to fall in" at Cornville Regional and that students were "learning like never before" at MeANS.

"Maine's new public charter schools are delivering on their commitment to put students first," said Acting

Bowen to honor student Veterans Day essay winners

Maine - As with many of Gov. Paul LePage’s cabinet members, Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen will be participating Monday in an event to mark Veterans Day. He will speak briefly to recognize students who have written winning essays on the theme of “What Freedom Means to Me” at the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor.

The three winning middle school students and three winning high school students all interviewed veterans at the museum before writing their essays for the annual essay contest. The contest is in its 15th year. Each student will be accompanied by the veteran they interviewed for their essay.

The essay contest program will follow the dedication of a memorial to 112 Bangor High School students who served and perished in World War II. The dedication is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the essay contest program to follow about 30 minutes later.