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Attendance, curriculum review and safety grants among other bills Portland board will monitor
Summary
Committee members heard briefings on several additional bills: proposals to move DOE to attendance best practices and repeal the truancy law, a mandated review of the Learning Results curriculum, teacher-salary discussions, and a grant program to help nonprofits secure facilities after recent tragedies.
Representative Michael Brennan ran through a set of other bills that the Portland Public Schools committee should track during the upcoming legislative session.
Attendance and truancy: Brennan said he has a bill directing the Department of Education to adopt attendance best practices and that he supports repealing an older truancy law in favor of noncriminal, attendance-promotion approaches. He cited current statewide absentee rates in the 20'28% range and said rulemaking is underway.
Learning Results review: Brennan described LD 1701 (referred to in discussion) directing a complete review of Maine's Learning Results (the statewide curriculum framework) for the first time since 1996. The review will consider thematic approaches and how to integrate Wabanaki studies, African American studies and Asian American studies; committee members asked that Portland be represented on any working group.
Reading, math and teacher pay: Brennan noted a prior $10 million reading initiative that has largely been spent and said additional funding may be required. He also referenced a proposal to raise minimum teacher salary to $50,000 and discussed ongoing support needs for career/technical education and statewide reading initiatives.
Safety and security grants: Brennan said he recently filed a bill to create a grant program for nonprofits and houses of worship to apply for funds to secure facilities after high-profile violent incidents; he described the proposal as modeled on programs in other states and said the governor and legislature are paying attention following recent tragedies.
Ending: Committee members flagged the learning-results working group, priority bills and rapid-response outreach strategies as topics for the board's next meeting in January.
