Wednesday:
Work Session
9:00 a.m. –
L.D. 76: Resolve, To Study the Feasibility of Expanding the Curriculum of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics
LD 353, FY10-FY11 Biennial Budget:
Department of Education Programs, including:
GPA for Local Schools
Maine School for Science and Math
Maine Education Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Jobs for Maine’s Graduates
Impact of Federal Stimulus Funds
1:00 p.m. –
LD 353, FY10-FY11 Biennial Budget:
State Board of Education
Department of Education Programs (continued from a.m.), including:
Adult Education
After-School Program Fund
Criminal History Record Check Fund
Education in Unorganized Territories
Federal and State Program Services
Leadership Team
PK-20 Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
School Finance and Operations
Special Services Team
Child Development Services
Learning through Technology
Professional Development and Education Fund
Fund for Healthy Maine – School Breakfast Program
Fund for Healthy Maine – School Nurse Consultant
Retired Teacher Group Life Insurance
Retired Teacher Health Insurance
Teacher Retirement
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EPS and SPO's "accept it"...
Ms. Freeman is a smart woman and no doubt understands that EPS was designed as a floor for educational spending, not a ceiling. She should, therefore, acknowledge that the formula was not intended as the be-all-and-end-all for "mak[ing] sure it provides enough funding for every child in the state to get a good education."
I hope that someone (not employed by, or subcontracted to, the Department of Education), someday soon does a correlation between the Learning Results and the EPS formula. Since EPS currently does not distinguish among types of teachers (art, phys ed, grade 5 classroom, high school AP calculus, high school Spanish, middle school French, for example), but simply creates a blanket 15, 16 or 17-students-to-1-teacher ratio, it should be adjusted to accurately reflect the requirements of the the Learning Results and/or the new "Standards-based" High School Diploma should that be enacted into law.
The EPS student-teacher ratios for each school in the state should also be posted on the DoE's website. Right now, the only place to see the school-by-school information is on ED 279s which are given in hard-copy-only to superintendents' offices around the state. Citizens should be able see that if the EPS formula supports 10 teachers in a school of 170 elementary school students (17-1), but also requires those students to be exposed to visual/performing arts, learn foreign languages, have physical education, etc, then the mythical 17-1 ratio evaporates. Add in special education which is separated out in the EPS formula but regulated by federal law and you have LD 1 limits being exceeded, but kids getting what they are supposed to have by laws of the same state.
Finally, it's important to remember that the state GPA subsidy is allocated to school systems as a lump sum, just as it has always been. School boards and committees, led by their superintendents, determine the budget which is presented to voters. They can use the state subsidy however they want once it's theirs. In one small school system in Aroostook County with fewer than 350 students, there is 1 superintendent with 2 administrative assistants and a Curriculum Coordinator. The system is exactly at the EPS allocation. The "system-wide" administration EPS allocation would be 350 students times $208. That's just about $70,000. I'm quite sure the system is spending well over that amount for the 4 positions (even if some of them are part-time). Therefore, the system must be spending less on teachers, Ed Techs, bus drivers and other employees in order to make up for the "excess" central office staff.