According to some conservative critics and liberal experts, America's educational system is broken and needs to be fixed with yet another round of educational reforms. This time the remedy being touted by the Obama administration is a series of competitive grants offered to winners of the Race To The Top (RTTT).
    The trick is that only one-third of applicants will receive the RTTT grants, and in order to be competitive Maine has to revamp programs that produced solid results for students over the last two decades.

RTTT Requirements

    U. S. Commissioner for Education Arne Duncan set the price of an RTTT lottery ticket with criteria in three policy areas: states had to certify that there were no prohibitions against linking student test data to teacher evaluations and preference would be given to states that authorize charter schools and embrace a national curriculum embodied in Common Core Standards.
    Given the economic downturn, the Maine Legislature was sorely tempted to ditch its proven system of public education for a chance at winning big money. Three bills were introduced by Maine Commissioner of Education Susan Gendron to meet the guidelines, none of which was popular with educators.

Student tests tied to evaluations

    LD 1799 proposed the removal of a 25 year old firewall between teacher evaluations and student testing. MEA opposed it, saying that it was sound public policy and that the legislature would be breaking a promise made to teachers with the introduction of the Maine Educational Assessments.
    MEA further argued that teacher evaluation is a complex process that should be thoughtfully carried out by local school boards and not based on a simplistic or arbitrary test.
    Faced with strong opposition from teachers, LD 1799 was revised in the Senate and compromise language adopted that provides safeguards for educators' interests. Senators Dennis Damon, Justin Alfond, and Jerry Davis were particularly effective in defending teacher interests.
    That produced a counter-campaign by school boards and anti-teacher interests who want to tie teacher evaluations to student test scores as described in the original draft of LD 1799.
    Maine School Management pulled out all the stops in opposition to the amended version of LD 1799 and barraged legislators with emails and calls.
    The Department of Education (DOE) said the amendment would threaten federal ESEA and Stabilization funds and hurt Maine's bid for RTTT grants.
    "You're putting the union in charge of vetoing the system by which they are assessed," warned Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, who was joined in his criticism by Senator Carol Weston.
    After a firestorm of controversy in which the amended version was defeated in the House, the Senate stood firm behind the amendment. Following a caucus, House Democrats rallied to support teachers and the Senate version of LD 1799 gained passage.
    Representatives John Piotti, Ed Mazurek and Seth Berry helped reframe the issue for legislators. Senate President Libby Mitchell and Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree were instrumental in gaining passage of the amendment.
    As enacted, LD 1799 requires school administrative districts to select one or more of the evaluation models developed by DOE and approved by a stakeholders' group comprising MEA, Maine Principals' Association, Maine School Boards Association, Maine School Superintendents Association, and Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities.
    If school districts want to include student assessments as part of teacher evaluations, they must use one of the models developed at the state level. "We are hopeful that models can be developed that provide for fair evaluations," MEA President Chris Galgay. "We will categorically oppose any simplistic measures using student test scores."

Innovative Schools

    Two RTTT companion measures, LD 1800 & LD 1801, were also enacted. MEA neither supported nor opposed LD 1800 which adopts the national Common Core Standards Initiative, noting that it may be a good idea but could override the good work being done on Maine's Learning Results.
    MEA worked with DOE to develop LD 1801 which adapts the concept of charter schools to fit Maine's tradition of local control by providing safeguards for students and accountability to school boards and children.
    On other legislative issues LD 570, An Act to Improve the Laws Governing the Consolidation of School Administrative Units, was signed into law providing greater flexibility for noncompliant school districts to conform to the school consolidation law.
    The bill also establishes collective bargaining procedures for the Alternative Organizational Structures' (AOS) central offices if they become an employer of individuals in a collective bargaining unit who have previously been employed by a school unit.
    LD 1776, An Act to Protect Teacher Retirement Income, was enacted allowing teachers to purchase time for furlough days during school years 2009-10 and 2010-11. It helps teachers close to retirement buy back lost time to preserve their average final compensation.
     And, the legislature restored funding for the state stipend paid to National Board Certification teachers in 2010-2011 which had been eliminated for 2009-2010.  It will be prorated because the amount appropriated was not increased while the number of Board-certified teachers increased.